US-China Education Review2013 (10A)

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Volume 3, Number 10, October 2013 (Serial Number 29)

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US-Chi na
Educ at i on Revi ew
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Volume 3, Number 10, October 2013 (Serial Number 29)

Contents
Teaching Technology
Pulling and Pushing Forces for ICT Use in Initial Teacher Preparation for
Secondary Schools 707
Adula Bekele Hunde, Giuseppe Tacconi
A University in the Digital World: Using Technologies for Learning and Management 722
Natalia Tikhomirova
Higher Education
Planning a Productive Higher Education System 730
Christopher Vas, Thomas Koruth
Curriculum and Teaching
Organizing, Teaching, and Assessing for Student Success in Introductory College Physics 739
Daryao S. Khatri, Anne O. Hughes
Using Extraction Experiment as a Tool for Teaching Scientific Process Skills 754
Hasan zyildirim, Husnuye Durmaz
Hand-Washing: Knowledge of Nursing Professionals in a Secondary Hospital Institution 763
Patrcia de Carvalho Nagliate, Paula Cristina Nogueira, Simone de Godoy,
Denise de Andrade, Isabel Amlia Costa Mendes
Creativity and Language Usage in Interactive and Integrated Projects 769
Tanja Psonder

Learning About Herbs and Spices in the Preschool Period 777
Marjanca Kos, Janez Jerman
The Phonemic Principle Revisited 784
Iftikhar Haider
Platform Construction for Extra-curricular Learning and Personal Academic
Development of Physics Students at University 791
Yang Dong-hua, Chen Min, Zhao Fu-li
A Primary Study on Netspeak 797
Ma Yan-hong

US-China Education Review A, ISSN 2161-623X
October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 707-721

Pulling and Pushing Forces for ICT Use in Initial Teacher
Preparation for Secondary Schools
Adula Bekele Hunde, Giuseppe Tacconi
University of Verona, Verona, Italy

The transformative use of ICT (information and communication technology) in the educational setting is
demanding continually assessing bottlenecks and conducive conditions with the aim of consolidating the
pre-conditions and to dry the drawbacks from their root. As a result, this qualitative research approach employed to
explore enablers and barriers of using ICT in initial teacher preparation in the context of J U (J imma University),
Ethiopia. The study employed in-depth interviews with student teachers and teacher educators. Participants
perception of ICT as a vehicle for quality learning and multiple access to ICT use pointed as supportive conditions.
Whereas, mismatch of methodologies being used in teacher education and schools, resource constraints,
marginalizing teacher education program, unsuccessful experience of learning via ICT, and lack of clear directive
and expertise on the use of ICT were some of the major issues forwarded by the participants. Redesigning of the
teacher education program in the way of using ICT is clearly indicated, the system that forces and reinforces the use
of ICT in place is among the recommendations forwarded.
Keywords: ICT (information and communication technology), teacher educator, student teacher, teacher education,
Ethiopia
Introduction
The ubiquitous overflow of knowledge in our time is becoming beyond human minds understanding.
According to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) (2002), the worlds
knowledge base doubles every 2-3 years, about 7,000 scientific and technical papers flourishing everyday and
graduates of secondary schools exposed to enormous information than their grandparents have in their life time
(pp. 14-15). Therefore, the bloom of knowledge in quantity and form is requiring new skills and a new way of
thinking, which is definitely challenge the traditional way of considering teachers and textbooks as an ultimate
source of knowledge. Exposing learners with dynamic and ill-structured information while they are at school is
one way of preparing them to the huge demands lying in front of them as they grown up as adult. Therefore,
schools, which are implementing teaching-learning process that let learners learn by sorting relevant
information, organizing, and synthesizing knowledge on their own, are in the position of assisting their learners
develop skills to function effectively in the dynamic, information-rich, and ever existing change of
environments.
A growing body of literatures shows that such transformation is hastened by using ICT (information and

Adula Bekele Hunde, Ph.D. candidate, researcher, Department of Philosophy, Psychology and Pedagogy, University of Verona.
Giuseppe Tacconi, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Philosophy, Psychology and Pedagogy, University of Verona.
DAVID PUBLISHING
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PULLING AND PUSHING FORCES FOR ICT USE IN INITIAL TEACHER PREPARATION

708
communication technology), though, it is not the only means (UNESCO, 2002; Angeli & Valanides, 2009;
Engida, 2011). ICT can be in the form of hardware, software, and/or networks that primarily meant for
facilitating students learning. In the first case, ICT assists teachers to transform and teach topics which are
difficult to be understood by learners or the one they could not represent easily (Angeli & Valanides, 2009).
According to Zhang, Tousignant, and Xu (2012), using ICT in education setting assists teachers to expand
broadness and depth of their teaching. Besides, ICT facilitates collaborative learning and the redefinition of
relationships among students and teachers (UNESCO, 2002). Here, students realize the possibilities of learning
independently at their own times and learning in collaboration with their colleagues and relevant experts.
Moreover, teachers use of technology enables students to see simulated environments in a class, get exposure
to the same thing from different perspectives that supports them not only to broaden their knowledge, but also
to challenge their understanding, which leads them to be remained active learners (Whetten, 2007). Similarly, it
allows students to get connected to external experts and relevant classrooms even in other countries, just from
their classrooms. In this manner, learning can be initiated in the classrooms, then, students continue with at
home or other places where they could get an Internet connection (Tacconi, 2009). By and large, ICT also
assists teachers as a tool to continue to learn in the course of improving their teaching repertoire (J ung, 2005).
Therefore, using ICT in education has multifaceted wins in letting students get deep understanding of the topic
they are learning, to consider and amalgamating ever changing development in their environment and areas of
their study.
Cognizant of this fact, countries have already turned their faces to integrating ICT in their educational
settings disregarding their socio-economic background, which is witnessed by the numbers of policy papers and
publications emerging as per planning, implementation, and assessment of ICT use in the arena of education.
Coming to Ethiopia, ICT is already considered as one of the six quality improvement packages that the
government is embarking on as an instrument for enhancing the quality of general education (MOE (Ministry
of Education), 2010). Nevertheless, the integration of ICT use in educational setting is not an easy task, and it
has been a challenge all over the world (Goktas, Yildirim, & Yildirim, 2009). In order to utilize ICT in school
settings, teachers need to be equipped with the capacity of integrating ICT in the curricula and their teaching.
The prime venue where they could be trained to do so is the teacher education (Koehler, Mishra, & Yahya,
2007; UNESCO, 2002). According to Zhang et al. (2012), the use of technology should be emphasized on
teacher education program so that the graduates will have reasonable abilities of using ICT in their teaching.
Thus, this ultimately requires the integration of ICT use in teacher education program.
Based on this assumption, we have conducted a qualitative study on the use of ICT in the new secondary
school teacher education program (consecutive model), named hereinafter as PGDT (Postgraduate Diploma in
Teaching), which is hosted at the Institute of Education and Professional Development Studies at J U ((J imma
University), Ethiopia). Thus, this article is part of the major study that devotes itself to the unavail factors to be
strengthened and others that would be ameliorated so as the attempt of equipping would be teachers with ICT
competence is realized.
Context of the Study
Initial teachers preparation for secondary schools in Ethiopia has undergone reform as of 2011 with the
intention of absorbing high caliber entrants to teaching profession from graduates of a three-year bachelor
program in discipline related to secondary school contents (MOE, 2009). Ten universities with sound teacher

709
education background have been selected to host the program, and J U is one of them. In this manner, the MOE
screens potential candidates on the basis of academic achievement and sends them to the hosting universities
for the final decision. Thereafter, the hosting universities admit after conducting further screening. However,
we have a feeling that this approach may not guarantee the recruitment of best teachers to the system in the
way that the ministry intended. Experiences from countries with high performing schools, such as Finland
(Sahlberg, 2012) and Singapore (Goodwin, 2012), witnessed that a selection of teachers need to go deep into
the academic background, achievement on matriculation, and personal passion that the applicants have for
teaching. In these countries, teaching is among the top professions that attract best achievers. For instance, only
one of the 10 top applicants have the chance to join teacher education in Finland (Sahlberg, 2012). Taking back
the issue to the point of our discussion, prospective teachers that we have been discussing are recruited from
social sciences, humanities, and natural science disciplines, as these are harboring subjects that can be taught in
secondary schools. These disciplines, particularly, programs which have a direct relationship with secondary
school subjects are the least field picked by university entrants. As a result, the academically less prepared
students forced to join the program, and at the end, relatively best achievers among them are recruited for
teaching force.
Coming to the program components and approaches, the same curriculum was used across all teacher
education institutes. All program aspects and procedures were designed centrally by the MOE and distributed to
teacher education institutes for implementation. For instance, curriculum framework of the teacher education
program and detail syllabus for each course developed at the center and dispatched for implementation. The
same trend is happening in the government secondary schools. All secondary schools are using the same
textbooks, and for many subjects (nine), satellite plasma television has been in operation to transmit the lesson
directly from South Africa (MOE, 2012). In plasma-televised lessons, each session has 42 minutes, out of
which, 30 minutes covered with plasma, while the live classroom teacher use the remaining minutes for
introduction and conclusion. Having said this, we will proceed to the next section, as our aim is not to argue for
or against the use of plasma television. However, we would like to recommend the following references for
those readers who are interested to know what has been written down about the situation of plasma teaching in
Ethiopia (FDRE (The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia), 2004; Bitew, 2008; Dahlstrm & Lemma,
2008). In a nutshell, this is the context in which the study was conducted.
Research Methodology
As already mentioned, this article is part of the major study conducted to explore the application of ICT in
the selected teacher education program from the perspective of student teachers and teacher educators. As a
result, we used qualitative research believing that it would enable us to draw practitioners experience-based
knowledge about the use of ICT. As discussed in Evans, Coon, and Ume (2011), getting into deeper and inner
experiences of practitioners is mandatory in the attempt of drawing practitioners experience about the use of
ICT. Such case is possible through the hearings of testimonies from practitioners (Tacconi, 2011);
understanding the phenomena from the viewpoint of participants (Mortari, 2009); and then, systematically
constructing evidence grounded knowledge (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). In a nutshell, the study made use of the
mix of grounded theory and narrative inquiry on the basis of qualitative research tenets elaborated above.
Having this in mind, we conducted an in-depth interview with 12 teacher educators and 14 student teachers.
All interviews were recorded, and then, transcribed verbatim. Then, we used grounded theory principles

710
(Strauss & Corbin, 1998) to generate categories as per factors related to ICT use in the process of teachers
preparation. Accordingly, the analysis was done through reading and re-reading of interview scripts and labelling
descriptions into concepts. The two authors did this first independently, then, through joint discussion. The
coding was done by considering the major idea brought out by the sentences in relation to ICT use. In doing so,
we tried to use terms used by the participants in order to keep the code close to the reality accounted by the
participants. In addition, we made explanatory notes during coding for each concept (factors noted: what, how,
and when it happens and influences the use of ICT). In the process of coding, we compared descriptions against
the code already provided within, as well as across cases so as to maintain consistency across labels. Following
similar procedures, we worked together in letting concepts emerged into core categories (see Figure 1). Finally,
presentation of categories accompanied by the corresponding narratives produced by the participants. Moreover,
conceptual categories in the report appeared in terms of the rate of recurrence taking into consideration narratives
from both sources: student teachers and teacher educators. As an evidence, we tried to present extracts from both
sources under conceptual categories as long as the page limit allowed us to do so. So as to differentiate the
source and the particular place in the interview transcript where a given excerpt has taken, code has been used at
the end of each excerpt. In this way, T refers to teacher educators interview while S stands for that of
student teacher. Then, the next two consecutive numbers represent the order and round of talk in the interview
respectively. For example, in T4/6, T is to mean teacher educators interview, 4 signifies the number of
interviewee (order), and 6 refers to round of talk in the interview.

Figure 1. Pulling and pushing factors for ICT use.

In general, all decisions made in the analysis were informed by the critical analysis of testimonies of the
participants. For example, the participants narrations led the study also to the critical analysis of existing
guiding documents for secondary school teacher education program, including Education Sector Development
Program IV (2010/2011-2014/2015 (MOE, 2010)), Secondary School Teacher Education Curriculum
Framework (MOE, 2009), Teacher Education Syllabuses, and JUs E-learning Policy (J U, 2011).
Pulling
forces
Pushing
forces

711
Results
Analysis of the participants interviews reveals the existence of both favorable and hindering conditions in
the course of ICT use in the initial teacher preparation. Hence, the following sections will present these factors
one after the other.
Pulling Factors
Assuming ICT as a tool for improving teaching and learning process. Both teacher educators and
student teachers repeatedly mentioned the value of ICT in enhancing the quality of learning. Among the other,
keeping students and teachers updated about the new development in their discipline was emphasized by both
groups. Hereunder are some of excerpts taken from their interviews:
... Chemistry is a science, and as you know, science is dynamic. As a result, doing of all projects given need students
to refer to online resources. If they depend only on printed texts, all what they are getting and doing may be outdated.
(T4/6)
According to the current global situation, I think ICT use is mandatory. If we do not use ICT, we are putting
ourselves out of the domain. As a teacher, if I am not getting updated information on the current issue and also teach my
students about current development in the subject I am teaching, I draw back myself and my students from the
contemporary world. Later on, at the moment we join others who have been living with updated information and
knowledge, we find ourselves at the back of their tail. (S4/2)
Thus, the above excerpts show that student teachers and teacher educators have positive impression on the
effectiveness of ICT in equipping teachers with the timely demanded knowledge. As of the respondents, having
updated knowledge as a result of ICT use would enable teachers to assist their students to get relevant
knowledge and skills. Moreover, the above quotes also have an implication that student teachers learning
through ICT would enable them to learn new developments at their own time.
In addition to addressing updated knowledge to learners, the participants of the study considered ICT as a
tool for presenting a lesson in effective and efficient manner. The following remarks illustrate this:
There may be animation and the like to be shown to students. For example, there may be some physical activities with
video, and we can show to students if these facilities are available in the classroom. Otherwise, drawing on the blackboard
is time-taking and boring for students. (T4/4)
I can see the picture of moving objects on text, let say pendulum and teach students pendulum movement is like this
and that; it moves with this distance... with that speed and so on. Here, ... when I use a computer, let alone my students, I
myself see directly the movement and get a clear understanding of why, to what extent, and how the movement was done.
(S12/6)
Therefore, ICT assists teachers to visualize the theoretical concepts they want to teach for the better
understanding of learners. Besides, the process assists student teachers to internalize the matter under
discussion.
Multiple access to ICT facilities. As we would describe later, teacher educators and student teachers
complained that resource constraints did not allow them to use ICT in teaching and learning process. However,
as indicated hereunder, some student teachers emphasized that as far as student teachers interested in the use of
ICT, access to a computer has no problem, as there are libraries equipped with Internet-connected computers.
They added that making teacher education classes in shifts: either in the morning or afternoon has given them
adequate time to get access to a computer for a relatively long time.

712
In J U, access to Internet has no problem. We can get access to a computer and Internet from libraries and computer
centers. It is well scheduled for each department and you can use accordingly. There is no problem as it is available
from different library branches. (S1/8)
First of all, we do have adequate time as we are learning in shift. If one group attends classes in the morning, the
other group will have lessons in the afternoon. This means you are at least free on one shift in a day and that is a good
opportunity to use ICT. So, I do not think that there is a barrier as long as you need to use it. (S1/10)
In a resource constraint environment where the demand and supply of ICT facilities do not balance each
other, establishing service centers where users are able to get access to at least in shift is one way of allowing
equitable access to ICT. Here, an interesting point is users understanding of such limitations, and at the same
time, possibility of getting access service centers under specified situation is promising.
Commitment from government and the university to enhance ICT use. Two of the teacher educators
participated in the study were taking part in the management of the institute at different levels and they claimed
that there is a clear direction from the government and the university to expand access to ICT. As shown in the
following excerpts taken from the interviews, as of the academic year 2013/2014, all teacher education
classrooms will be furnished with ICT facilities and the coverage of wireless will be extended to dormitories
and other areas where students could get access to Internet easily.
As of the next year, all classrooms will be furnished with ICT facilities, so that all teachers can use ICT services in
class as needed The expansion of wireless access across all classrooms and dormitories is also another hope for the
future. (T7/6)
At the government, university, and institute levels, there is a clear understanding that every teacher should have the
skill of using ICT in teaching and learning process. No question on this. (T10/2)
Realization of educational innovation in general appears to be ideal if there is no support from
administrators (Fullan, 2007). However, in the context of this study, it seems that university management and
government in general has an intention of expanding access to ICT facilities, which is encouraging for the
successful integration of ICT use in teacher education.
In a nutshell, it seems that participants perceiving of ICT use as a tool for enhancing student teachers
learning has a pivotal role for gearing student teachers and teacher educators activities toward the use of ICT
in their teaching errands. This is a glimpse of hope for the future as long as what one does fairly depends on the
value he/she attached to it. On top of this, the direction towards expanding access to ICT and furnishing
classrooms with ICT facilities are hopes for the future success.
Pushing Factors
Lack of clear directive for ICT use. One of the main factors pushing back the application of ICT in
teacher education is the absence of clear directive from the course syllabus. Among all teacher educators
interviewed in this study, only one teacher educator who witnessed the inclusion of ICT use as a portion in the
course was facilitating. Moreover, being asked if there is anything that set to push them to use ICT in their
teaching, some reported the recommendation of using some Websites as a resource in the course syllabus, but
they did not make use of it, as some of them were meant for commercial purposes while the link provided for
some were not functioning. To illustrate:
... The course syllabus should have been in support of ICT use since we are expected to teach according to the
syllabus. (T4/4)

713
In my course, there is no portion that deals with ICT use. (T4/2)
Specific Websites where you can get some resources included in the syllabus. However, the issue is if users could
access to these materials when they go to the Websites. ... I tried to go on some of the Websites provided, and some are
already removed and some are requesting for a fee. (T1/8)
I have never tried to use plasma even for myself. I did not know how plasma based contents delivered. I have no such
experience. I did not see from the syllabus a part that talks about the use of plasma television. (T3/2)
Thus, it is not difficult to imagine the difficulties in integrating ICT use in teacher education if there is no
clear directive from the curriculum guide or if the prescription lacks feasibility in the way indicated above.
Moreover, lack of connection between technology use in secondary school and the practice in teacher education
vividly shows the gap in application of ICT. The gap is clearly seen if one looks at the course designed to teach
the application of ICT in teaching in teacher education program instructional technology course. The course
syllabus, which was prepared centrally at the MOE, is too broad, and at the same time, it gives undue emphasis
to the theoretical knowledge including some aspects which are almost outdated. For example, the use and
preparation of overhead projector.
Lack of enforcing factors for the use of ICT. The participants of the study also indicated that the lack of
a system that enforce student teachers to use ICT could be one possible hindrance to the successful use of ICT.
To put flatly at least what two of the participants have said:
There is nothing that forces learners to use ICT. I am sure and I have also seen that all of them will use ICT in any
way if there is something that force them to do so. (T12/4)
All teachers are giving us an assignment, at that moment, we used our way to get access to the computer even if we
are not officially allowed. (S6/6)
For example, I can go to education library and use for 30 minutes. Even I can use more if there is no person
waiting for the service next to me. Besides, I kindly ask computer attendants if the computers are free. In most cases, for
example, in the afternoon, many computers are free, hence, it is possible to use as long as I want. (S6/8)
As can be understood from the above excerpts, student teachers could use ICT in the process of teaching
and learning had it been there were systems that push them toward such use. In this case, in the context where
student teachers perceive the use of ICT as a mandatory, either permanently or for a time being, they were
actively devising means of getting access to ICT. This implies that, lack of clear system that enforces student
teachers and teacher educators to use ICT in the teacher education program under discussion is one of the
factors pulling back the successful application of ICT.
Lack of expertise to use ICT. According to the participants of the study, perceiving ICT as handmaiden
for improving quality of learning and making physical resources available for use does not guarantee the use of
ICT in teaching and learning. Rather, both parties need to have skills of using such technologies and this has
been indicated as a gap in the process of applying ICT in the teacher education program under investigation.
The followings are remarks taken from teacher educators interviews:
Our candidates skill of using the technology should be areas to be worked on. They are justifying their
unsuccessful use of ICT also from lack of skills for using it. I asked if they have taken an ICT course in their
undergraduate degree, then, they responded that they had only just learned the theoretical aspects. (T7/6)
It is not only prospective students, but also we need support and training. For example, you need to be able to use
multimedia comfortably in order to use in your teaching, and teach student to use it in their later teaching. (T8/4)
I do not have knowledge about plasma television. Had it been I have some, at least I could have informed them
theoretically during my lessons. (T11/6)

714
As can be understood from the above excerpts, teacher educators were lacking computer skills and that
may be the priority areas to be addressed. They also underscored that they themselves need support to use
specific instructional technology like plasma television which is being used to deliver secondary school
contents in selected disciplines. As this was already discussed, many secondary school subjects have been
transmitted via plasma television. However, as teacher educators do not have further training or exposure of
mediating plasma instruction, it has been a problem for them at least to touch the theoretical aspects in their
course. Moreover, even if the institute has basic computer skills training package as one of the components of
professional development training for academic staff across the university, teacher educators from the institute
are seen speaking for ICT skills related training and support in order to use in their classroom teaching.
Resource constraint. The participants witnessed that ICT related resource limitation is one of the
bottlenecks for the successful application of ICT in their programs. Among these, the one which repeatedly
raised as shown in the following quotes, is having unfurnished classroom with ICT facilities that even inhibit
teacher educators from using of the PPT (PowerPoint) presentation in their teaching. To illustrate:
The classroom I am using for teacher education has no ICT facilities. There is no computer and no Internet connection,
so how could I assist them to be good at using technology facilities. (T2/2)
At the beginning, I decided to use ICT in my presentations. Consequently, I tried to carry all materials from my
offices. But this is difficult and time-taking, as it needs you to fix everything in front of the students who are waiting for
you. For example, plugging in, turning on computers, checking and the like took me at least five minutes. Again, since the
class is not meant for the use of PPT, the walls are not clear enough or adequate in size for projecting slide on. As a result,
I have tried for the first three or four lessons and then I stopped as it is time-taking and also not legible for students. (T4/4)
One of the participants who is part of the management of the institute confirmed similar feelings with
other teacher educators, however, he justified the point mentioning that the teacher education program is new
and additional one to the institute, and as a result, the number of classrooms belongs to them is less to
accommodate prospective teachers. Hence, it needs the institute to borrow from other colleges through the
universitys registrar (an office which is also responsible for monitoring and distributing classroom for colleges
and institutes). However, he said that the registrar has a power only to lend unfurnished classroom as others are
furnished and locked by the respective colleges.
... This program is conducted during the summer. The number of classes we need during summer is huge. For
example, normally, we need four classes for both regular and summer program students. But for this program, we need 20
more classes. Classrooms are normally managed centrally by registrar office. However, furnished classrooms are managed
by the respective colleges. The mandate of the registrar is only on the unfurnished classrooms since colleges have already
taken the keys of furnished ones and locked them out. Therefore, at the moment, we requested for 20 classrooms for the
program, the registrar has offered us only unfurnished classrooms. (T11/6)
However, our concern here is that if colleges are allowed to furnish and keep their own classrooms for
their own purposes, it is not clear why did the institute fail to furnish four or half of the classroom they have, so
that at least teacher educators facilitating instructional technology course could make use of these classes.
Moreover, lack of access to Internet-connected computers on campus is also indicated as one barrier to the
application of ICT. These student teachers are living on campus and served on board where the expense is
covered by the government. Besides, they are employed and receiving a monthly salary as a starting teacher at
secondary school, which is 1,600 Ethiopian birr, while $1 =18.37 birr, according to the currency exchange rate
on February 12, 2013. Therefore, even if student teachers are getting services on board and receiving salary, it

715
would be difficult for them like any other Ethiopians with similar income to save from their salary for
purchasing personal computers in the context of ever escalating living expenses in the country. Cognizant of
this fact, the university has been working aggressively to avail computers at all branch libraries, opening of
different computer centers and laboratories at central levels, as well as for a specific program or department.
However, as shown in the following script, student teachers are still not getting access to ICT facilities to the
level of their need. The mismatch of the number of users and the resource supply is one to mention as a barrier.
Sometimes, the number of computers we have do not match to the number of students we have. There is a
mismatch. Because of this, there is no adequate time to expose prospective teachers to ICT facilities. Otherwise, the
intention and the interest are there from staff, students, and government, as ICT is indispensable for everybody, let alone
teachers. However, still the gap between the demand and the supply is huge and that is the problem we have (T10/2).
As we already mentioned, student teachers had a feeling that access to ICT was not a problem since there
are libraries and computer centers that serve students at least in a scheduled manner. However, teacher
educators underlined that the large number of students admitted to the university for different programs, which
inhibit individual student teacher to get adequate opportunities of practices with ICT facilities.
Mismatch of ICT use in teacher education program and secondary schools. Mismatch of ICT use in
teacher education program and that of secondary school is mentioned as an obstacle for the smooth utilization
of ICT in both contexts. In the first case, constraints of resources particularly in remote secondary schools do
not allow student teachers to try what they have learned in school context. This could be a source of resistivity
for learning the application of ICT, as they might ask themselves the value of learning something that they may
not use in their teaching. Conversely, they articulated this as follows:
Even if they (student teachers) are encouraged here to use ICT, the existing infrastructure in secondary schools
may not allow them to use ICT. I know that there is an IT (Information Technology) subject there, but they are teaching
only the theoretical part, let alone letting teachers of other subjects use in their teaching. (T1/14)
Students themselves are telling us that even some schools in remote areas do not have plasma televisions. Some
student teachers assigned in towns even complained that their school does not have adequate computer facilities. Some are
using only for office purpose. As a result, learning about technology for some of them is just knowledge to knowledge as
they are not practiced here, as well as at their school. (T8/8)
The other inconsistence mentioned was the fact that schools are using certain instructional technology that
teacher education institutes do not know about. It has been more than eight years that secondary schools use
televised instruction on six subjects, which mounted to nine in 2013 academic year. However, teacher
education program has neither push forward themselves to study the new developments in secondary school
and incorporated into their program nor able to receive the content in the course syllabus from the ministry. In
this manner, it seems that teacher education and secondary schools are not reading each other in the course of
using one anothers output. J ust for the sake of space limitations, we opted to present narration produced from
one educator, which represents directly or indirectly what has been said by others.
In the university, we are training teachers as if ICT is not in secondary school, but secondary school is actually using
technology mediated instruction. So, there is a huge mismatch. Therefore, I simply can say the pedagogical training has
to be remodeled here in PGDT towards the involvement of ICT, there should be space for involvement of plasma
television if it keeps going in secondary school. During supervision of student teachers at a practicum site, we observed
that classroom teachers have only 10 minutes While the rest is covered by plasma teacher. So, the classroom teacher has
no active role in the class. So, what do they do? And what can we observe for evaluation as our student teacher is a mere

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listener, no movement? Sometimes, the live and plasma teachers are speaking at the same time. And that is a
disturbance. We simply gave some suggestion for example, to write some important concepts and mathematical formula on
the blackboard, while plasma teacher is delivering the lesson. However, that is also disturbance, as students may be
attracted to the live teacher than the plasma television. Therefore, we have to work out on how approaching plasma
television in our program. (T6/2)
As can be understood from the above educators telling, since they and their students do not have exposure
to plasma-based teaching, both get confused regarding what to do and to evaluate during practicum supervision.
He is so open even to share his experience that what he recommended his prospective teacher for action went
wrong. This would not be happened had it been the government were begun orienting the use of plasma
television from teacher education institutions, and push them to include plasma-based instruction in their
program. Actually, universities are expected to originate evidence-based technology use, adapt the existing
technology, and disseminate to the end-users. However, the issue we observed in the above case is the reverse.
Unsuccessful prior experiences of using ICT. It seems that the manner in which student teachers have
learned under professors using PPT presentations in their previous education has shadowed their appetites of
learning under similar condition. If a facilitator presents copious of slides, makes slides full of notes, and
merely read from slides and rushes through without considering whereabouts of students; students would learn
nothing and rather develop phobia towards the use of PPT. Similarly, the fact that student teachers have been
learning merely the theory of ICT use, as of secondary school made them incompetent to use ICT. The
following two explanations from teacher educators affirm this point:
At the beginning of my class, I heard one student saying Hoo! This television comes here with us. I immediately
recognized that he was saying of the PPT slide that I projected on the screen. Then, after a moment, I brought the issue to
the floor. The main reason they hate learning through PPT is that most people are using PPT as a means to go through the
lesson than focusing on students learning. As one of the students mentioned, It is just like plasma television that runs
through to cover the portion and we get tired of it. Thereafter, I tried my best to let them know why and when we need to
use PPT. And also, I tried to show them in practice. For example, using the white board to write down some keywords
during discussion, and putting only main points on slides. I learned that they liked the way I did at the end. (T1/6)
I think they attended some ICT courses during their undergraduate program. But I do not think that they have better
skills. It seems that they attended only the theoretical aspects, because I understand now that they have the knowledge, but
still, they have a problem regarding technical aspects. (T11/2)
This has an implication for reconsidering the way that teachers of all levels use technology in their
classroom teaching. Teachers misuse of technology appear to have negative impact on students to use or learn
through such technology in their subsequent learning.
Marginalizing teacher education program. PGDT is a new program, and trainees participated in the
study were the first batch who were on the verge of finishing the program at the moment of the interview. As
the program is new, and maybe due to its organizational nature, it has been marginalized, and getting access to
ICT facilities was a challenge both at the central and departmental levels. Coming to the central level, service
providers, like libraries and computer centers which are providing services across the university, were not
informed about the candidates program, and as a result, they were preventing them from getting access to the
resource. The following remarks from respondents are speaking about this observable fact:
Many of computers centers belong to specific departments or program. PGDT is a combination of disciplines
organized under the institute. So, computer centers or branch libraries organized for specific disciplines are not allowing
them to get access to, as I heard from students. Even, since their identification named them as evening students, they said

717
that they are not getting other library services too. (T12/4)
We are taking an instructional technology course. We are attending the course, but we are yet to get in contact with
ICT equipments. For example, no computer lab for practice, even for teachers to demonstrate for us. The social science
library, where ample computers with connection are available, do not allow us to use since they scheduled services
according to the department. When we go there, they requested for our department and if the department is not on their
agenda, they will not allow us to get access to the service. For example, PGDT program is new, and at the same time, there
is no undergraduate program in civics education. Therefore, whenever we request for the services telling them that we are
from either civics department or PGDT program, they are responding that there is no such program in the university.
(S6/4)
Marginalizing student teachers are not limited to the central level, but it goes to the home department.
Some of the student teachers who participated in the study reported that they were treated differently from other
program attendants, such as postgraduate and undergraduate regular students. Accordingly, the departments
facility centers are prioritizing other program followers than student teachers.
PGDT students from the other departments, for example, Physics, Biology, and the like are using the departments
computer center. However, we did not get a positive response from our department. They said that the computer lab is
meant only for postgraduate students. As a class representative, I spoke with the lab attendant, tried to convince her that we
are also postgraduate students, but her response was more of an insult... I do not want to repeat. Then, I spoke with the
head of the department, and he responded that there is no space for this year, but they would think over for the forthcoming
year. (S5/2)
... The language lab of the department is not functioning during the summer. It seems that they want the lab only for
regular students who are on vacation at this time. (S9/2)
Marginalizing teacher education program could be seen as treating the program differently just as
something which is an additional job. In this manner, the act could go to the level of lacking access to quality
learning. If teacher educators have similar feelings, they may not concentrate on providing quality instruction
for these students. Cognizant of this fact may also doomed student teachers interest in learning, as well as the
motive to join the teaching profession.
Perceiving ICT as a treat to quality learning. One of the student teachers utterly argued against the use
of ICT in teaching and learning process mentioning that it is a threat to the quality of education than a panacea
for educational problems explained here and there.
I have reasonably different feeling towards the use of the ICT, particularly, the Internet. Because the Internet is killing
our potential for creativity. It leads students to make copy paste rather than developing ideas from their own readings or
thinking. For example, let me tell you one of our assignments in this week on inclusive education. The question was, How
do you treat special need students in your class?. Then, what I did was just putting this sentence on Google, and then,
copying something jotted down over there. So, can we say that ICT assist learning in this case? Another problem is with
the educators. I am sorry to say that some people are becoming technology dependent. They are copying notes from the
Internet and provided us as a handout. You can take one hand out of a student and confirm this just by putting on the
Internet site. The other point is using of PPT presentation, some are copying notes from the Internet and put on a PPT slide.
Then, they come to class without preparation, because they are to read from the wall. There are teachers who cancelled
classes when the power supply is interrupted. (S11/2)
We are doing something that we think as worthwhile, as our feelings affect our actions. In the same way, if
student teachers observe the misuse of ICT by themselves, as well as by teacher educators, the extent to which
they use ICT in their subsequent learning is very low. In the above excerpt, the respondent presented his own
experience of ICT use, from which he concluded that ICT is against enhancing quality learning. Thus, it seems

718
that he will not use such device in his later career unless he encountered productive experiences that may let
him to reconsider his current perception.
Discussion
Successful implementation of educational reform depends on the existence of enabling factors embedded
in the given educational institutions (Fullan, 2007). Putting it in another way, in a situation where the hold back
factors overweigh its counterpart, it would be difficult to implement educational reform envisaged in the way it
is supposed to be. As shown in Figure 1, more inhibiting factors (eight categories) than promising factors did
emerge regarding the use of ICT in teacher education program under this study. Though, this is not evaluative
research, the target was to reveal the existing situation from the perspectives of student teachers and teacher
educators who are in the heart of the system. In this way, the surpassing of pushing factors by half that of
pulling factors is an indicator for the level of ICT integration in the teacher education program under
investigation. In any ways, we will re-conceptualize these factors beginning from the positive aspects in the
following way.
As per the pulling factors, the first and repeatedly raised by the participants was considering ICT as a tool
for improving student learning. Belief and vision about technology integration in an educational setting has
strong impact on the use of ICT (Goktas, Yildirim, & Yildirim, 2009). Therefore, the participants perception of
ICT as a way of getting relevant and updated knowledge, considering ICT as an effective and efficient way of
getting required information, presenting learning tasks in a clear and vivid manner, and letting students learn on
their own are driving forces for the use of ICT in teacher education program under investigation. In addition,
government policy on expanding ICT, for example, putting ICT use as one of the six quality improvement
packages at secondary schools (MOE, 2012) and the aggressive work from J U in expanding access to ICT are
promising conditions for the application of ICT. Lastly but not the least, the availability of different centers
providing access to Internet-connected computer and provision of services in schedule in the way to
accommodate the large number of students are also promising conditions.
Among the factors inhibiting the application, lack of clear directive for ICT use is repeatedly mentioned.
As already explained as a promising condition, the government is giving attention to the use of ICT, and as a
result, currently embarking on materializing inputs. In a similar way, J U is working hard to realize its vision of
letting all course instructors use a blended approach in 2013 (J U, 2011). For example, in 2011/2012 academic
years, two subjects from each program selected for providing blended learning. In the same way, the university
embarked on expanding wireless Internet access zone, furnishing classroom with ICT facilities, and established
e-learning office. However, all these events were forgotten in the teacher education under study. Even learning
of operating ICT and its application in the course designed for this purpose did not get emphasis. The course
content gave more emphasis on instructional media, where prospective teachers learn the preparation and
utilization of locally available instructional materials than focusing on using ICT. Similarly, it is only in one
discipline didactic course that teaching of ICT use is indicated, though, some teacher educators were going
beyond the syllabus to address the need. At the university level, the program was even more forgotten as ICT
facilities facilitated for other programs were not in place. It seems that all these points could be considered as
resource constraints, however, we have an impression that the program was not getting the attention it deserved
compared to other programs harbored by the university.
Similar to lack of clear directive and resource constraints, lack of expertise to use ICT has been reported as

719
factors pulling back the application of ICT. It is obvious that teacher educators need to have the skill to
facilitate learning via ICT. In the same way, student teachers need to have rudimentary skills of operating ICT
if they are to learn successfully through ICT use. However, even if the university has training package on
implementing e-learning, as well as on basic ICT for academic staff, the participants did not report of mastery
of such technology and they pleaded for tailored training and ongoing support. Moreover, it seems that student
teachers were not competent in using ICT in the teacher education program since they did not get the
opportunity of practice while they were learning the use of ICT at university or lower levels. Besides, looking
at teachers including teacher educators who were abusing the use of PPT and Internet, student teachers
appetite for ICT use for teaching and learning purpose has downgraded.
The mismatch of ICT use in teacher education and secondary schools is also reported as one possible
barrier for the use of ICT. For example, government is engaged in reaching all state schools with plasma
television, and currently, 71.6% are users of the technology in nine selected subjects (MOE, 2012). The same
document showed training has been provided for teachers regarding the operation of plasma television
transmission. However, teacher education institutes do not have the program in their curriculum. They were
also neither participating in such training organized for school teachers on plasma television operation nor they
themselves approach to amalgamate the practice there with their preparation of the would be teachers. On the
other hand, prospective teachers were encouraged to use ICT in the teaching and learning process, though, not
to the level high. However, as they are newly recruited teachers, they have been placed in remote areas where
the getting of ICT facility is difficult. According to a recent report from the MOE, only 26.1% of schools can
get access to Internet services (MOE, 2012). It is obvious that schools in urban areas where student teachers
placed are without such services, and it is difficult for them to realize the value of learning such skill in their
teacher education.
Moreover, lack of factors that enforce teacher educators and student teachers to use ICT and student
teachers perception of ICT even as a threat to the quality learning indicated as a plausible bottleneck for the
use of ICT in teaching and learning process.
Implications
The study comes up with the following points as areas for further action in order to ameliorate application
of ICT in the preparation of pre-service teacher education.
(1) There is an understanding that reconsidering the planning process of integrating ICT in teacher
education program both at the ministry and the university levels is relevant. Developing teacher education
curriculum including details of the course syllabus is the mandate of the ministry. Hence, the ministry can lead
review of the course on Instructional Technology in the way that it emphasizes more ICT aspects. In addition,
it has been shown that the application of technology in teaching is effective when teachers are able to
amalgamating it with their knowledge of pedagogy, content, and context. One of the areas where such matrix
may be exercised in the teacher education program is in the discipline of didactic courses, which is lacking in
the current curriculum. Hence, the ministry may reconsider the redesign of the courses from this angle;
(2) As shown in the study, there may be a possibility of realizing learning by using ICT in all teacher
education courses had it been there were something that force or reinforce student teachers and teacher
educators toward that end. Thus, this is again an area where the institute can embark on, of course, in
consultation with other stakeholders;

720
(3) The institute can also scale up the attempts of teacher educators who have tried their best to integrate
the use of ICT in their course. Moreover, organizing ICT skill training and ongoing support for teacher
educators, reserving ICT furnished teacher education classroom, and ensuring the accessibility of a resource
center are areas deserving immediate attention of the institute;
(4) Learning the operation of ICT in teaching and learning is skill-based, and skill-based learning requires
practice, otherwise, what is learned remain to be inert knowledge. Therefore, training students on ICT at
different levels needs to be reconsidered. Thinking the way of maximizing the utilization of existing resource is
one way of realizing the practical application of the training rather than taking lack of resource as an excuse for
practical training.
The program participants have the feeling that the program was marginalized, and as a result, they were
not getting services they deserved. As such feeling has strong impact on the impression they may develop, even
on the teaching profession, it needs further investigation and actions.
Limitation of the Study
The study is qualitative in nature, and qualitative research is not interested in drawing generalization to the
source population. Instead, it intends to present thick and rich description of the participants account, so that
readers will draw their own conclusion. However, we were more selective as page limits did not allow us to
present accounts from different participants.
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October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 722-729
A University in the Digital World: Using Technologies for

Learning and Management
Natalia Tikhomirova
Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics, Moscow, Russia

The Internet penetrates deeply into the everyday life due to the availability of broadband networks and mobile
devices. The widespread of the Internet, along with the development of innovative services, social networking, and
tools (known as Web 2.0), gives rise to the phenomenon of the digital world. A university striving not to be an
ivory tower should meet the needs of the Net Generation, prepare the graduates for professional work and life in
the digital world and comply with the social demand for providing lifelong learning services, especially, in the
vulnerable crisis times. MESI (Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics, and Informatics) started
implementing ICTs (information and communication technologies) both in the academic and administrative
processes more than 15 years ago. Today, its unified e-learning environment allows rendering educational services
to students of all levels and forms (both on-campus and off-campus) and 24 x 7 x 365 support (24 hours7 days in
a week365 days in a year). Information system for administration comprises electronic document management
systems, students records, and the results of their individual learning activities for the current, interim, and final
assessment. The university management system empowers centralized management of its Moscow headquarters
and branches, as well as regulation of teaching/learning process. Long-term development of education in Russia is
directly dependent on large-scale introduction of e-learning tools, design and implementation of new methods of
organization of educational process on its base, creating and using an appropriate electronic teaching and learning
practices, and new approaches to the management of the education system and educational institutions.
Keywords: new generation, e-learning, university management model, ITs (information technologies),
SMART-education, lifelong learning services, ICTs (information and communication technologies), knowledge
Introduction: What Has Appeared in the Digital World?

As a 20th century person, suffering from a constant lack of time, was given an opportunity to subdue space
to a considerable degree. Long distance was always an obstacle for people to achieve their goals. Within
several minutes, the underground can move us from one side of a town to another; travelling time of the high
speed trains between different cities has been reduced for several times; and it takes us only few hours to get
from one continent to another on a jet airliner. The broadband availability and the popularity of mobile devices
are the reasons why the Internet has entered our daily life. Its widespread availability, together with the
development of social networking innovative services and Web 2.0, gives rise to the phenomenon of the digital
age.
TNS (Retrieved from http://www.tnsglobal.com) Russia has given the results of Web Index (TNS Web

Natalia Tikhomirova, D.Sc., professor, rector, Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics.
DAVID PUBLISHING
D
USING TECHNOLOGIES FOR LEARNING AND MANAGEMENT
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Index, 2011) survey on the number of mobile Web users and Web in Russia on the whole at the end of
February 2011. Ninety-five percent out of young people aged 12-24 years use the Internet, 51% of them use the
mobile Internet. According to the Moscow house of books survey, 35% of respondents read e-books and 29%
intend to use them in the near future. A Russian online user on average spends 51 minutes on social networking
sites, 26 minutes on portals like yandex.ru, mail.ru, and google.com, and five minutes on education. One
hundred and seventy thousand million American bloggers out of 20 millions are making money through their
blogs and 452 thousands use blogs as the main revenue source.
Generation Y or netters are the so-called young people who were born after 1980. They grew up in the
era of virtual reality, computers, and digital technologies. Ninety-seven percent of the Generation Y
representatives have their own computers. Seventy-six percent use instant messaging systems (like ICQ (I
seek you) or Google Talk) with 15% of full-time onliners (users of mobile devices), and people regularly
communicate in social networks. Thirty-four percent ignore all mass media except the Internet from where
they get all news reports, they trust word-of-mouth advertisements more than paid advertising. Fourty-four
percent read other peoples blogs, and 28% keep their own blogs (Scott, 2011). People of this generation are
impatient, they cannot wait for the results of their activity, and they want everything here and now.
The new generation is significantly different from the previous one, and especially, as far as the business
qualities are concerned. They do not want to learn information consistently by reading books and coursebooks.
They would rather participate in an experimental study. They create their own interactive and collaborative
learning regardless of whether we acknowledge it and take it into consideration or not. All of them have new
approaches to their work: They are aimed at competition, they are excellent team players, and they are not
afraid of taking risks. They need other skills and they get them differently. Twenty-five percent of students use
the Internet to find information for their work or study, 17% gain new knowledge, and 14% share information
on work or study.
In modern society, rapidly changing technologies and new needs of students are challenging the entire
system of education. It has to evolve due to the growth of knowledge that never appeared in the history of
humankind before.
According to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization), in 2009,
people created more data than that of the past 5,000 years. The quantity of technical information doubles every
two years. For a student, it means that half of what he was learning for the first year will be out of date by the
third year of the studies. The development of ICTs (information and communication technologies) and their use
in education give an opportunity to offer students up-to-date knowledge, implement flexible and inclusive
education focused on consumer demand. UNESCO representatives consider that open and distance education
and ICTs expand access to a high-quality education. The Internet gives students access to communications and
expanded resources, and gives them the ability to use sound, graphic, video, and text. Open information
environment allows placing online courses and tutorials, holding live broadcasts and video recordings of
lectures and presentations, and organizing teacher and student communication involving people from different
countries. Open educational resources became greatly widespread. Such projects, such as MIT (Massachusetts
Institute of Technology) OpenCourseWare, YouTube EDU, and Academic Earth, give an access to countless
number of video lectures from hundreds of the best institutions of the world. Libraries 2.0 is already available
for users. They comprise online services, such as electronic catalogues, RSS (Rich Site Summary), Wiki, and
blogs. Social networks are becoming a widespread tool for an up-to-date educational process. They allow
724
arranging educational process in a students familiar environment, help overcome territorial and organizational
obstacles, provide for open discussions and information exchange, and develop the concept learning as a
lifestyle.
However, the information society brings forth a set of problems for a present-day manage, which requires
the development of the new approach to the management system. The key management objectives are narrowed
to the development of the well-coordinated business systems, and are capable of competing in the information
society.
If the management process of every company is considered from the standpoint of four main management
functions (preplanning, administrating, motivating, and monitoring and controlling) (see Table 1), the
elaboration on their filling-up and the increase of such functions adaptability to the modern conditions is
required. Whereas, the planning and motivation functions require the application of the new approaches less, the
adaptability of the administration and control functions are the core basis for modeling the competitive business
systems.

Table 1
The Main Management Functions in the Information Society
Main management functions
Major problems at the modern stage of
development
Application of the management functions
in the information society
Preplanning
This is one of the means by which the
management guarantees the unified effort
of all members of an organization to reach
its common goals. The management
process starts with this function and the
organization success closely depends on its
quality.
Rapid depreciation of information. This
increases the cost of mistakes in planning
and forecasting. The possibility of
transition from the controlled system to
the state of bifurcation, rendering it
unstable to the changes is increasing
which leads to the known state of
uncertainty.
The implementation of ITs (information
technologies) permits to monitor the
internal and external changes, not only in
the operational mode, but also online,
thus, enhancing the relevance of the
information in use and reducing the
uncertainty of the decisions made.
Administrating
To facilitate the decision implementation
from the administrative side, i.e., to create
the managerial relationships, providing for
the most efficient relations between all the
elements of the controlled system.
Imperfection of the typical administrative
structures of the modern companies (while
the new ideas repose down, the right to
allocate recourses for their realization is
concentrated at the top of the modern
companys hierarchy).
The shift to the more adaptive forms of
administration, such as network and shell
organizations. Implementing the
principles of the learning organization,
which creates the conditions for
education, exists in the constant
self-perfection, and, by doing so, changes
the world around.
Motivating
The process of stimulating oneself and
others in order to reach the defined goals.
The loss of confidence in the former
management systems. The modern
economic realities present the cases where
the top managers incomes are boosting
while their companies are on the verge of
collapse.
The increase of the business processes
transparency, aimed at strengthening the
confidence between the market
participants and enabling the transactional
costs reduction.
Monitoring and controlling
The process to support the achievement of
the goals set by an organization. It presents
a system of monitoring and checking the
compliance of controlled sub-system
functioning to the approved decisions, as
well as a system of generating certain
activities to perform.
The inconsistencies in the processing of
the key performance indicators due to the
untimely and incomplete control checks
performed, the depreciation of the adopted
standards, and the communication
channels barriers.
All-encompassing implementation of the
controlling and monitoring system aimed
to coordinate the systems of managerial
interaction and their efficiency control
into the organization practice. Controlling
and monitoring system is designed to
provide the information analysis support
of decision-making process to the
organization management and may be
engaged in designating decisions in the
framework of the certain managerial
systems.
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The Role of Modern Universities in the Information Society
Nowadays, a modern university management model is management of the global networked organization
based on ICTs. The system of information and communication provision allows implementing the principle of
everything is in the net (management, faculty, students, and content). A joint portal university system provides
tools, on the one hand, for administrating for creation, updating and using of the content within the academic
process, and on the other hand, for the arrangement of a management system of the distributed university. ITs
provide effective human resource management: the organization of e-learning, electronic document management,
processing of electronic reporting, interviewing personnel, etc.. In order to illustrate the modern approaches to
development and management of the well-coordinated business systems, we would like to share the experience
of the MESI (Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics, and Informatics).
The Russian economys modernization and restructuring, the national innovation systems development,
and the information societys (or knowledge-oriented society) evolvement put forward the new requirements to
the higher professional education.
The universities and higher educational establishments introducing the innovative educational programs are
assigned with the task to prepare all-around practice oriented experts of a new type, which will be in demand in
the realities of the innovation economy. The relevance of such processes is explained by the integration of the
Russian universities into the international educational standards and joining the Bologna process (Tikhomirova,
2009).
According to Hans (2003), five major factors that changed the conditions of universities operations as well
as their trends of development and functional capabilities can be distinguished as:
(1) Information and knowledge become the main resources of society;
(2) Global informatisation and fast-moving development of the ICTs are the base of the new economy;
(3) Novelty, transience, and acceleration are the distinctive features of the information society life. The
production and social technologies turnover cycle makes up from six to eight years;
(4) Increasing globalization will gradually result in global struggle in global markets;
(5) On-going disputes about the personal and public responsibilities in the sphere of higher education.
The strategy of the information society development in the Russian Federation determines the key trends of
the state policy in the sphere of ITs, which in the current historical context turns out to be the backbone elements
of the social infrastructure, as well as the main factor for acceleration of the innovation processes and the
modernization of economy. Such processes are closely tied to the modern challenges faced by the economy in
general and by each higher educational establishment in particular, comprising:
(1) Rapidly changing technologies permitting to implement flexible and all-encompassing education;
(2) Unparalleled to the former human history experience growth of the knowledge scope;
(3) Development of the ICTs;
(4) Orientation to consumers demand rather than on supply;
(5) The need to attract new sources of income;
(6) The need for the high quality and clear educational standards;
(7) Fast transition from the elite to the mass and totally accessible higher education;
(8) The need for flexibility of structures and programs implementation as a part of the lifelong learning
approach to higher education.
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Elements of a Unified Information Environment of MESI
Nowadays, MESI is a sub-divided, electronic university representing a business system based on the
self-learning principle of organization. Apart from the classical university education, MESI moves towards the
SMART-education, which implies the flexible learning process in the interactive environment with the use of the
global and freely accessible content. The universitys main objective is to provide the maximum accessibility of
knowledge.
The university is managed in the integrated information space comprising the integrated system of
continuous qualifications upgrade, the integrated system of education quality management, controlling and
monitoring, and the integrated system of education. The integrated system of continuous qualifications upgrade
embraces the new methods of education, the ICTs, and the modern pedagogy. The integrated system of education
quality management, controlling and monitoring implies the implementation of the integrated ITs. The integrated
system of education stands for the integrity of the educational programs and the learning courseware of students.
The integrated information system and its functioning model are built on the principles pertinent to the
management of the complex production facilities. The core is the principle of the single-door entry of information,
which secures the maintenance of the high level of the knowledge warehouses accuracy, and, therefore, procures
the reliability of the whole integrated information system. This system permits to develop the industry-driven
approaches in education and to implement the unified and standardized learning procedures, thus, providing for
the flexibility and personalization of education. Based on the integrated information system, a set of interrelated
norms, rules, and values is adopted to regulate and administer the administrative management, academic staff,
and students behaviors.
As it can be seen from the above, the ITs and the integrated information environment change the tools and
methods of the managerial impact on the major and accessory processes that are reflected in Figures 1 and 2.
In addition, MESI actively develops the academic knowledge management system, which suggests the
formation of the universitys integrated knowledge environment by means of generating the scientific and
research studies, conducting the scientific and methodology work, choosing the best practices for
implementation of the above, as well as opening educational internal and Internet-based resources. The system
provides for the complete lifecycle of the educational content in the sub-divided online environment.
Moreover, the content is constantly kept updated by means of the disciplines information centers (information
centers are run and applied for these purposes by the relevant chairs for each of the education courses
disciplines).
For more than three years, the university has been using e-learning system virtual campus, which allows
teachers to work together using Wiki, distribute topics of the reports, essays, control tasks, manage subject
calendar, and publish notices. In MESI, teachers also use electronic journals to monitor student activity in
electronic environment considering student attendance and publishing marks for the SCA (semester control
activities).
Teachers were also offered to use such tools as Web 2.0, twitter, and blog. Teachers had to create twitter
accounts or continue using this service where they had to post short messages on the subject with reference to
the blog or some interesting articles or other Websites. On Blogger.com (one of the Google resources), teachers
were blogging on the professional themes. That was a pilot project which showed positive and negative sides of
the usage of those tools in educational process.
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Figure 1. Integrated communication systems of the education process management and organization (Tikhomirova,
2009).

Figure 2. The financial management system in the sub-divided electronic university (Tikhomirova, 2009).
728
Speaking about the usage of twitter, it has become obvious that the shortness of the messages does not
allow discussing serious issues, because the service is quite informal. Nevertheless, many teachers have
approved of the service referring to the fact that instant communication with students allows to inform them
about interesting events relating to the subject.
The results of blogging have shown that it lacks most drawbacks of twitter. Teachers marked out such
advantages as easy navigation, information transparency, and possibility of self-PR (energetically promoting
yourself on the Internet) in a professional environment. Moreover, teachers can use blog as a means of their
professional growth through creation of the professional community. Among disadvantages, they marked out a
failure to find universal and attractive topics for all students.
It should be noted that hereinabove tools are quite useful in general if a teacher does not have a
ready-made e-learning system. It depends on a teacher which tools he/she will choose to use and implement in
educational process. In one of the projects, participants pointed out that the activity of a teacher is the best
impetus for a students activity.
Today, 97% of the staff, administrative and managerial staff, faculty and branch students have accounts in
information networks of MESI: Outlook mailboxes, access to SharePoint of MESI, Skype, and ICQ.
The improvement of the quality of foreign language teaching, increasing of amount of foreign language
classes, implementation of foreign language subjects, and development of language programs and courses
require improvement of language skills of the faculty and staff members. Knowledge of a foreign language will
give them an opportunity to participate in international scientific conferences and other events, to make
publishing in foreign editions, to take part in the international research projects together with foreign partners,
and to expand export and import of educational programs and courses. Good language skills of teachers will
guarantee the increase in the number of foreign students of different modes of study, development of academic
mobility of students and postgraduates, and cooperation with non-governmental international organizations and
international professional associations.
MESI carried out an investment project that implied teaching faculty and administrative and managerial
staff English. Those, who passed the final exam, were given an opportunity to work on probation in one of the
leading language schools in the UK, the English Language Center, that collaborates with MESI.
Social Network Service as a Tool for a Modern Teacher
Due to appearing of the new conditions, teachers must help students acquire new competencies that include
self-motivation, self-organization and planning of personal educational process, personal methods of work with
informational resources in electronic environment, and willingness to be engaged in lifelong learning. Using of
the disciplines information centers, teachers can offer students topical content. Disciplines information center
includes student works, research findings, journals and magazines, books, articles, and information from
conferences and seminars that are constantly updated by the tools of Web 2.0. Distributed teams of teachers are
working at the creation of digital content and new academic materials. Teachers talk face-to-face or in groups
on thematic forums or on blogs, exchange experience and upgrade their qualification on YouTube. This is the
way the full life cycle of educational content functions in distributed online environment.
Today, universities are not just the suppliers of education services; they are providers of a platform for a new
production of knowledge and unique developments as well. Therefore, the faculty is becoming more focused on
informative and financial aspects (commercialization and innovation) than on publication activity and
729
participation in research and conferences. MESI tends to carry out effective fundamental and applied scientific
research and to set up scholar schools.
Globally changing economy, the information society brings in the innovations into peoples life business,
states and education systems, and requires the modern managers to make the corresponding managerial
decisions.
The modern university management system has to be aimed to the ongoing external changes, meet all the
information society requirements, use the scientific attitude towards the management process, thus, becoming
an effective instrument to increase the level of the education services offered and its competitiveness. The
perfection of the management process must be oriented to the higher educational standards and current
demands of the modern society.
References
Hans, V. G. (2003). Re-thinking the university of the XXIst century. Higher Education Today, 7, 71-80.
Scott, D. P. (2011). Retrospective review of technology and the native youth HIV prevention media project: 2005-2011. Houston,
Texas: Sage Associates Inc.. Retrieved from http://www.sageassociatesinc.com
Tikhomirova, N. V. (2009). The management of the contemporary university integrated into the information space: Conception,
instruments, methods. In Series e-university (p. 264). Moscow: Finance and Statistics Publishing.
TNS Web Index. (2011 February). Monthly reach. Retrieved from http://www.tns-global.ru/eng/

October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 730-738
Planning a Productive Higher Education System

Christopher Vas
Murdoch University, Perth, Australia
Thomas Koruth
Think Education Group, Sydney, Australia

In the face of continuous changes taking place in the education system, universities have to traverse mode 1
(teaching and knowledge production), mode 2 (co-production of knowledge with heterogeneous groups), and mode
3 (encompassing social responsibility). In this context, two aspects begin to gain prominence for universities: (1)
embracing an entrepreneurial and innovation ethos integrated with productive societal relationships; and (2)
ensuring a quality education combined with a superior experience for its learners. This paper undertakes a
comprehensive meta-analysis of the literature matched with emerging systemic trends to argue the challenges
associated with creating a productive higher education system.
Keywords: higher education, quality, innovation and entrepreneurial university
Introduction

Higher education has played an important role in influencing self-identify and individual beliefs about
politics, national identity, religion, and other similar values (Eickelman, 1992). However, in recent times,
higher education has been going through transformational change eroding this value. This greater purpose has
been overlooked in the search for economic objectives, such as better jobs, career progression with higher
salaries and ultimately higher living standards. Both objectives are important and should not be treated in
opposition to the other.
Recent changes, such as the advent of the MOOCs (massive open online courses) has seen learning and
knowledge assimilation transition from campus to the online space. This has been compounded by
developments with some higher education providers in the transnational offerings of programs. In the face of
such structural changes, creating value for the learners through a productive higher education system must be
effectively managed. In order to prepare for future changes that are likely to abound in the higher education
system, provision of innovative opportunities beyond learning spaces, and in doing so, maintaining quality are
important considerations. This is what this paper sets out to achieve.
This paper pursues a meta-analysis of current literature in arguing the point that there are systemic changes
led by the advancement of technology, that are beginning to engulf the higher education system. While such
changes are making the university more responsive and expansive in its mandate, advancements in a
universitys mandate must be underpinned by an entrepreneurial and innovation ethos built upon higher
principles of quality so that an integrated and productive ecosystem can be created for learners.
The paper commences with an in-depth analysis of transformations that have taken place in the higher

Christopher Vas, Ph.D., M.B.A., B.E., academic director, Executive Education Centre, Murdoch University.
Thomas Koruth, Master of Quality Management, Bachelor of Business and Hospitality, Graduate Certificate of Higher
Education, program manager, William Blue College of Hospitality Management, Think Education Group.
DAVID PUBLISHING
D
PLANNING A PRODUCTIVE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM
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education system paying close attention to issues relating to principles of quality. This is followed by enquiry
over the diverse modes of higher education functions namely teaching and knowledge production (mode 1),
co-production of knowledge with heterogeneous groups (mode 2), and encompassing societal responsibility
(mode 3). In order to keep pace with developments and evolving needs of learners, the latter part of this paper
hones in on aspects that relate to an entrepreneurial university within an integrated education system.
Institutional Change
The landscape of higher education is constantly being challenged in order to keep pace with developments
in other sectors. In this race against development, higher education quality has taken centre stage (Harvey &
Stensaker, 2007; Filippakou, 2011). Over the decades, with increasing uncertainty in the external environment,
such as drop in public funding and a push to deliver value-for-money, the need to adopt quality-based
approaches has continued to heighten (Seymour, 1996).
Looking back into history, the late 1980s saw the emergence of the evaluative state (Neave, 1988),
which led higher education systems to become more complex, while at the same time, forcing them to remain
flexible and open to change (Amaral & Rosa, 2010). Quality within an educational context was ambiguous,
seen more of a means to impose control and ensure that basic standards were maintained to meet the needs of
the community (Saarinen, 2010). This pressured the system to embrace and adopt principles of quality in order
to provide for more flexible, less heavy and faster guidance mechanisms that would allow for increased
capacity for institutional adaptation to change (Neave, 1988, p. 11). This adoption of quality principles was
not without its challenges.
These challenges were initiated by the reluctance of universities to use management and operational
practices from the manufacturing sector where it was used as a means to develop and evaluate standards for
operational effectiveness (Srikanthan & Dalrymple, 2003; Ehrenberg & Stupak, 1994). Although reluctant, it
was emulated by the higher education sector with a focus on improving the learning experience of students
given the rising number of student enrolments and higher education providers across the globe (Yeo &
Marquardt, 2011; Zou & Du, 2012).
Academic freedom and quality control were issues that followed (Srikanthan et al., 2003). This led
universities to be driven by individualistic behaviour (Colling & Harvey, 1995) rather than being group
orientated which was an important requirement to achieve consistent quality standards. Higher education
institutions, predominantly universities tended to look after their own performance and reputation. This was
mainly due to a perception that university systems were complicated and hard to understand, and therefore,
there was no provision for its quality controls to be looked at by outsiders (Shattock, 1996). This continues to
be a wide held perception even to today. Hence, evaluation of quality was usually done through self-appraisals
or internal teaching groups and not necessarily using independent external reviewers (Srikanthan & Dalrymple,
2003).
Australias Experience With Quality
In Australia, the focus on quality came about mainly through government initiatives, which emerged
following the experience of Europe in the context of maintaining quality across the higher education sector due
to the increased growth in higher education providers and student numbers. The Australian governments focus
on quality impressed upon higher education providers to develop their own quality management systems in
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order to comply with government regulations as a form of voluntary adaptation and further improve their levels
of teaching and learning (Pratasavitskaya & Stensaker, 2010).
In the 1950s, there were approximately 30,000 enrolments among nine universities within Australia, which
has now grown to more than a million enrolments among 39 universities. Added to these 39 universities, there
were also approximately 85 non-university higher education providers operating as of 2011 with approximately
66,500 enrolments (Universities Australia, 2013). Owing to the large number of higher education providers, the
Australian government began focusing its efforts and a large proportion of funding ($1.1 billion) to ensure that
the growth in higher education enrolments was underpinned by a focus on quality. One of the driving forces
created to follow through with the governments quality initiatives was the formation of the TEQSA (Tertiary
Education Quality Standards Agency) in 2011 in order to provide quality assurance to higher education
providers (DIICSRTE (Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary
Education), 2013).
Universities, now focus on quality through the development of continuous improvement approaches
focussed on strategic planning and budgeting, strategy implementation, performance monitoring, and
performance development (UNSW (University of New South Wales), 2013). These approaches are funded and
rewarded through various government initiatives, such as funding through the facilitation funding of $420.6
million and the reward funding of $116.3 million (DIICSRTE, 2013). The governments structural adjustment
fund of $377.2 million is another avenue available for universities to use as a means to improve the quality of
the teaching and learning experience for their students. Excellence in universities is rewarded through project
and award funding of $58.7 million, as well as positive reviews from the MyUniversity Website in 2013 and
beyond (DIICSRTE, 2013).
These higher education policies impressed upon by government will see universities work towards
creating an integrated system that not only offers learners the opportunities to build knowledge but also look to
create a positive experience for students.
Innovation and the Entrepreneurial University
A higher education system that is productive and rich in quality is important to boosting innovation and
national competitiveness. Understanding the place of education and its role in developing individual capability
is hence important. This must be further enhanced through systemic integration of business capability and
knowledge capitalisation in order to add value, thereby, promoting innovation and competitive advantage, i.e.,
conversion of science into capital (Braverman, 1974).
Knowledge spillovers are useful for growth. The resulting innovation from spillovers generally takes place
at the interface when university and business interests converge. This value-added enrichment and integration
of a knowledge base is increasingly becoming important to a changing higher education system. Such change
has been prominent in the field of biomedical science, which has transitioned incrementally from focusing on
basic research to trans-disciplinary research and all the way to clinical practice (Swan, Bresnen, Robertson,
Newell, & Dopson, 2010).
Transform swiftly across mode 1 (teaching and knowledge production), mode 2 (co-production of
knowledge with heterogeneous groups), and mode 3 (encompassing societal responsibility) (Gibbons,
Limoges, Nowotny, Schwartzman, Scott, & Trow, 1994; Nowotny, Scott, & Gibbons, 2001) is quickly
emerging as the new normal. Mode 2 has been depicted as a way of creating useful scholarly driven
733
knowledge that is highly relevant to practice and in some cases extending to innovations through non-linear
networks, such as the one discussed by Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff (1997) called the THSoI (triple helix
system of innovation) (Rothwell, 1994; Coombs, Harvey, & Tether, 2003). These developments are
characteristic of what Friedland and Alford (1991) referred to, as the continuously morphing institutional
logicshared institutional beliefs and practices that has guided decision-making and a belief to make
academic endeavour fit for purpose and relevant.
Expanding beyond university and industry relationships, the THSoI between university-industry-
government is also known to have an immense potential in sectors that are predominantly product oriented, e.g.,
technology being the most popular of these sectors specifically in the area of technology transfer. The rapid
increase in the number of spin-off companies and firm formations are known to have developed through a
series of ongoing interactions between university-industry-government. The THSoI, as a spiral model of
innovation between university-industry-government captures multiple reciprocal relationships, each taking the
role of the other, in creating, disseminating, and capitalising knowledge (Etzkowitz, 2002).
Furthermore, such interactions provide for the development and stimulation of knowledge-based strategies
and expedites the rate of socio-economic development. Such a framework effectively fills gaps (and can also
substitute weak or missing players) of players who need to be involved from discovery to application (Dzsiah
& Etzkowitz, 2008). In terms of the role each actor occupies, a university plays a prominent role in such an
innovation cycle that is on par with industry and government. Fostering collaborative relationships wherein
innovation is an objective formed by interaction rather than prescription by stakeholders is paramount. This
allows each institutional sphere to implicitly assume the role of the other, e.g., university can take on the role of
government as an initiator of projects or that of an industry whose role is that of firm formation. Thus,
innovation in a knowledge-based society can be enhanced through continuous interactions taking place between
university-industry-government. The movement of people around and within institutional spheres enhancing
creativity, ideas, and skills development subsequently contributing to knowledge development, dissemination,
and capitalisation, thus, becomes central to innovation. And thus, follows the emergence of an entrepreneurial
university (Leydesdorff & Meyers, 2007). An entrepreneurial university maximizes its value as a knowledge
provider of choice. It functions as a learning organizationone that remains skilled at creation and
dissemination of knowledge, facilitating learning of its engaged community, and continuously transforms its
own behaviour to reflect new knowledge, experience, and insights (Obasi & Motshegwa, 2005).
Integrated Approach
For instance, in Australia, the discourse reflecting the need for an integrated tertiary systemone, which
fosters a seamless pathway between different tiers of education, e.g., vocational education and training and
higher education offerings, has also gained momentum. Whether this is best undertaken by providing learners
with skillset based hands-on practical experience, and then, building on the theoretical and knowledge
components or vice versa is uncertain. What is increasingly becoming evident, though, there is a need to blend
conceptual and practical learning in the development of well-rounded individuals (Langworthy & J ohns,
2012).
Given the breadth and depth of discipline specific coverage in higher education, it is apt that higher
education institutions take the lead in fostering an integrated approach to learning that spans vocational training
and higher levels of learning while also taking into account practice-based workplace learning requirements.
734
For higher education institutions, to lead the development of this integrated system in partnership with industry
and government, four dimensions, an extension from Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff (1997), must be adhered to:
(1) Internal transformation of each stakeholder within the system;
(2) Influence of each stakeholder over the other;
(3) Creation of an overlay of influencing helices;
(4) Wider influence of the newly developed institutional spheres.
Internal transformation within each stakeholderin the context of a university working with industry and
government, this dimension encompasses acknowledgment from each stakeholder believing the end objective
can only be attained by collaboration and cooperation with the others. In the case of the industry stakeholder, an
internal institutional acknowledgement is needed to understand that its mission to develop a new and innovative
product or service cannot be fully achieved without the involvement of a knowledge powerhouse like a
university. Similarly, for a university, it is critical for it to acknowledge that industry plays an important role in
the development and improvement cycle. Thus, partnership or alliance formations are key aspects that require
consideration and thought within this dimension. This acknowledgement in itself creates a heightened
awareness in each organizational sphere transforming the understanding and willingness of individuals to seek
collaborations external to their organization.
Influence of each stakeholder over the otheronce, institutional acknowledgement and internal
transformation begins collaboration or partnership, arrangements are the next step. Institutional representatives
begin to span organizational boundaries and influence to each other through dialogue and interactions. For
instance, in the technology context, university and industry acknowledge the critical role of the other, i.e.,
universities create the requisite knowledge through its research activities while industry capitalises such
knowledge through product enhancement. Here, where the development of a tangible product development is
most often the end objective, a university plays the role of firming formation, technological and regional
development, as well as the entity that develops knowledge through research for the purpose of developing
well-trained individuals; government takes on the role of supporting new developments through funding
programs and creating a regulatory environment; and industry takes on the responsibility of promoting training
and research (Etzkowitz & Leydesdorff, 2000). Hence, it is in this stage that innovative advances are
conceptualised through dialogue and ongoing conversations.
Creation of an overlay of helicesthrough the establishment of collaborative efforts, each stakeholder
can leave behind institutional representation working towards a common objective within the network. Most
of the activities take place within this stage, and hence, can be the most time onerous stage of network
enhancement. This stage requires bringing relevant institutional representatives together in a neutral
environment so as to have open discussion of strengths and weaknesses of partners, leading to a heightened
focus on risk and quality. Accurately identifying opportunities, limitations, and barriers that have to be
overcome through the formulation of an action plan will be required here. It is within this dimension that a
wider circulation of people (through lateral mobility), ideas and innovations (dissemination of results using
reciprocity among partners) must occur (Dzsiah & Etzkowitz, 2008). Given the convergence of various
institutional representatives in this overlay of helices, this dimension sees the clashes of minds, personalities,
and thinking approaches. Through these interactions and ongoing discussion, institutions begin to assume the
role of the other. Hence, this is the dimension within which most advances are made and critical issues can be
encountered.
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Figure 1. Integrated higher education system.

Wider influence of the newly developed dimension of institutional spheresthis signifies the
establishment of an integrated system. This dimension also reflects the early stages of influence from the newly
created networkinternally within individual institutions and externally on stakeholders, such as the
community, consumer, and other institutions or organizations. One could question, if the significance of this
dimension always needs to be reflective of a successful outcome. In most circumstances, if the critical issues as
identified in the earlier stages are not effectively resolved, then, failure would occur in that very stage.
Teaching and Learning
In the creation of an integrated entrepreneurial system, two attributes require further consideration in the
context of internal transformation. The perception and identity of academics and their relation to conceptual
versus practice-based learning is the first consideration. As Akerlind (2011) pointed out, the professional
identity as a researcher influences the identity as teacher and vice versa which is why well thought out teaching
strategies must be matched with existing context-based academic identities. Emerging from this is the second
consideration, i.e., a focus on teaching styles. By the very nature of science and technology disciplines,
academics are less likely to focus and reflect on individual teaching styles, as opposed to other disciplines, such
as social sciences (Olsson & Roxa, 2012). Thus, it is important that a change in mindset and approach is
encouraged for academics to better conceptualise the relation between teaching styles and learning outcomes
and subsequently put in place practices that enhances the student learning experience.
Furthermore, the need for academics to constantly reflect on their teaching styles and the use of
appropriate pedagogy is important, especially, as technology-enabled learning gains momentum. As outlined by
Stupans and Orwin (2012), synchronous Web-conferencing software is being used for distance students to
provide live virtual tutorials, in which students can acquire and practice counselling skills in the same role
736
playing exercises typically used in traditional classrooms for students studying in an on-campus mode This
means that students can participate in role-plays and (provide) feedback to those undertaking the role-play can
be provided by other students and by teaching staff.
From a students learning perspective, research evidence suggests that students engaging in online study
can fare just as well in critical thinking and task-based activity, similar to students who engage in face-to-face
learning. The development of these skills is as important as verbal and written communication, information
literacy, working with technology, working in teams, and numeracy (Stupans & Orwin, 2012).
The pace of technology advancement, rise of social networks, and developments, such as the creation of
MOOCs by a consortium of leading higher education providers, e.g., Coursera, are trends that will start to drive
technetised value (Vas, 2012) for learners and end-users. Technetisation, a concept ridden with converging
socio-economic value drivers is becoming important for higher education institutions in a bid to transform and
continue to be place of learners choice. Within an integrated system, institutions will have to explore new ways
of engaging learners to impart new knowledge from emerging trends, e.g., social strategies becoming the
cornerstone of business sustainability, technological infrastructure, and social network formations that drive
sustained socio-economic growth (Centre for Value-Adding Services, 2012).
These attributes align with Ernst and Youngs (2012) report of University of the Future, wherein, the
report suggests that universities will need to reorganise their operations and asset base, while incorporating new
teaching and learning delivery mechanisms, organizing multiple channels to diffuse into the market, and
manage stakeholder expectations for increased impact. The report outlines many drivers of change that are
influencing the state of higher education in addition to digital technology developments and global mobility.
Democratisation of knowledge and access, market contestability, funding, and integration with industry are
other challenges that will shape the future of universities. These trends underpinned by technology
advancements may not be confined to the higher education landscape. Primary and secondary schooling
structures may also be influenced in the coming decades by embracing a higher level of technology dependence
in teaching and examination strategies, re-formation of the schooling stages, i.e., a yearly movement into higher
grades might no more be relevant. Furthermore, with the emergence of technology as an equaliser in society,
learners may be compelled to graduate from courses that are delivered by well-renowned high achieving
professorial individuals as opposed to highly ranked institutions. These are changes that abound in the future
education.
Finally, the integration of sustainable development aspects into learning is continuing to become
important for education systems the world over. The World Summit on Sustainable Development and the
establishment of a Decade of Education for Sustainable Development have affirmed this need. It continues to
promote education as the basis for sustainable human society and to strengthen international cooperation
toward the development of innovative policies, programs, and practices of education for sustainable
development (Pigozzi, 2003). As Reid and Potocz (2005, p. 3) emphasised, sustainable development is more
information-driven and a participatory concept that (must) encourage educators and learners to interact,
debate, and foster learning that emerges from experiences and creativity. This aligns with the views of some
scholars who advocate for newer and sustainable leadership approaches that are context and environment
specific, embraces a distributed approach, is more collaborative and participative (J ones, Lefoe, Harvey, &
Ryland, 2012).
737
Conclusions
This paper set out to synthesise existing scholarly discussion matched with emerging trends outlining how
systemic changes are taking place in the context of a higher education system. Quality advancements must
remain central to the development of an entrepreneurial higher education system. To enhance a focus on quality
within higher education, insights from this paper provide a platform to pursue further research on perceptions
of quality by academics within higher education given its characterization: As a slippery concept, because it
means different things to different individuals. Everyone agrees about the importance of providing a quality
education but disagreements begin when we try to explain the meaning of quality (Harvey & Green, 1993, p.
12).
In light of the importance to ensure higher education remains a learners provider of choice, it is necessary
that an integrated and sustainable education system continue to encompass economic and social dimensions.
This can be achieved by an embrace of technological advancements that results in the creation of social
learning networks reshaping the space for learning and transforming the place of a university within the
evolving ecosystem.
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October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 739-753
Organizing, Teaching, and Assessing for Student Success in

Introductory College Physics
Daryao S. Khatri, Anne O. Hughes
The University of the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C., USA

As part of a doctoral dissertation, Ben (2010) completed a study that extends to 462 pages. After a careful
examination of this study and others that are in print, there seems to be a direct relationship between the decline in
physics enrollment at the postsecondary level and the increase in the number of studies that have been carried out to
determine why have we been off the mark in identifying the real problems that are contributing to the declining
enrollment and the decreased student success in physics courses? One problem is introductory physics books are
generally written using a deductive approach, and because the teachers follow the organization of these books, they
teach in a deductive, boring, and confusing way, and then, blame the students for being unprepared when they do
not succeed. This approach distances the teachersand physicsfrom the experience, knowledge, and initial
interest of many beginning students. Another problem has been the absence of any alternative curriculum to the
deductive one. In this paper, we describe a fully-developed alternative curriculum, really a detailed course design
for Introductory College Physics I and II, each with its own text presented in the format of a three-ring binder, one
for students and one for teachers which closely parallel one another. The course content is constructed to be both
teacher and student friendly, so that a teacher can teach physics in an inductive, exciting, and clear manner. In
addition, we describe and provide examples of the pedagogical and classroom management techniques that have
proven extremely successful.
Keywords: physics, teaching, enrollments, success, inductive, deductive, dialogue, pedagogy
Introduction

According to Smyth and Hannan (2006), students choose the subjects that they study based on their
interests and ability, and also, in the perceived usefulness of the subject to a future career. According to
Grayson (2006), during 1980-2000, the emphasis changed to the use of computers in the mid-1980s and to
curriculum matters in the early 1990s. In recent years, research on physics education seems to cover them all,
with a new emphasis on teaching.
This descriptive article is a result of more than 30 years of observation, classroom experimentation,
discussion, and grant-funded small teaching-learning research studies involving quasi-experimental designs.
Through these studies and our own classroom teaching, we also tested and refined our teaching techniques
and their effects on our students academic achievement and retention rates in our courses. And along the
way, we have streamlined and pruned the content being used in our courses to the essentials. All of these

Daryao S. Khatri, Ph.D., professor, University of the District of Columbia.
Anne O. Hughes, Ph.D., professor (retired), University of the District of Columbia.
DAVID PUBLISHING
D
ORGANIZING, TEACHING, AND ASSESSING FOR STUDENT SUCCESS
740
activities have required translations and applications of learning theory and research basically derived from
psychology and education (Dewey, 1938; Maslow, 1954; Skinner, 1948; Hilgard & Bower, 1966), to name a
few.
This effort has resulted in a well-described and fully documented inductive approach in the delivery of
science content. This approach really works in physics, mathematics, and organic chemistry, producing student
retention rates in these sciences ranging from 90% to 100% for first-generation and minority students in an
open admissions city university. In most instances, the approach has been developed in the introductory courses,
since these courses are where the student attrition typically begins. A grade of D or F in an introductory course
says to a student, Maybe you should be thinking of something else to major in. An A or B says, You did
well here; maybe this field is worth exploring some more.
In all of our teaching-learning efforts, three assumptions have guided us:
(1) Our students can and will learn whatever the discipline is;
(2) If the students lack sufficient knowledge or have gaps in their knowledge in a key supporting discipline,
usually in mathematics, then, we must see to it that they are instructed by us in the math essential to learning
the present discipline, in the case of this article, physics;
(3) If our students are still struggling, then we are at faultnot themthat they are not learning, and the
fault lies in how we are delivering the content. It is up to us to change our ways.
In this article, we present the basic course model we have developed and tested (Khatri & Hughes, 2002;
2005; 2013a; 2013b; 2013c; 2013d) as it has been applied in introductory physics.
Organizing the Course
Planning the Course
Often, planning really means the faculty just choose the latest and fanciest edition of an introductory
level physics textbook. Obviously, this approach is the easiest option to choose. In contrast:
(1) For us, planning means eliminating the non-essentials, e.g., historical material, biographies and
pictures of famous physicists, and reams of problems for homework. It also means selecting the problems that
best illustrate the key principles and concepts of different physics topics and those essential for succeeding in
subsequent courses;
(2) For us, the planning has come to mean preparing both the students and teachers materials in parallel,
so that everyone is reading off the same sheet of music. That is, the students notebooks will come to have
much of the same material for each session that the teachers notebook will have (with certain notable
exceptions, such as the student-teacher instructional dialogues);
(3) We use a common agenda for each class session that presents the instructional topics and activities for
the session for both the teacher and the students. The common agenda is critical to the efficient management
and time distribution of the learning activities of every class session. Each agenda is printed on a piece of
colored paper, which itemizes the topics and instructional activities to be included in that session. We program
for approximately an hour and a half. The agenda and assessment tasks let everybody know exactly what the
particular session will address. In addition, they prevent both the professor and students from wandering off the
main highway on to side roads that may be interesting to only the professor. Such side roads waste precious
instructional time, and they never show up on quizzes and exams.
Each agenda contains the following items: review of math skills and concepts, review of course skills, and
741
concepts, chapter topics, class problems, and points to remember. The assessment component has three parts:
exit questions (a quick check on what has just been taught), practice homework (typically repeats of problems
done in the class session with different numbers), and priming homework (a gentle little push toward what will
be taught in the next session for which the students probably have enough information to solve it or can find the
information on the Internet from each other, or some other sources). Samples of both the Session Agenda and
the Assessment are next provided.
Session agenda.
(1) Review of math skills and concepts
(a) Converting units of distance;
(b) Converting units of area;
(c) Converting units of volume;
(d) Converting units of ;
(e) 1 mm =_____ m;
(f) 1 nm =____ m;
(g) 1 kg =____ g;
(h) 500 g =___ kg;
(i) Density of water in the CGS (centimeter, gram, second) and MKS (meter, kilogram, second)
systems of units;
(j) Density of mercury in the CGS and MKS systems of units;
(k) Expressing the circumference of a circle in terms of its diameter;
(1) Expressing the area of a circle in terms of its diameter.
(2) Review of course skills and concepts
(a) Units of work, energy, K.E. (kinetic energy), P.E. (potential energy), and torque;
(b) Units of force, weight, and tension;
(c) Unit of power;
(d) Unit of distance;
(e) Unit of area;
(f) Unit of volume;
(g) Units of stress, pressure, and youngs modulus;
(h) Unit of strain;
(i) Conversion of pressure units:1 atm =____ lb/in
2
=____ N/m
2
;
(j) 1 torr =____ mm of Hg;
(k) Relationship of pressure and volume;
(l) Unit of specific heat.
(3) Chapter topics
(a) Amplitude and displacement of a wave;
(b) Period, frequency, and wavelength of a wave;
(c) Sinusoidal vibrations;
(d) Crest and trough portions of a wave;
(e) Transverse and longitudinal waves;
(f) Period of vibration of a simple pendulum;
742
(g) Hookes law;
(h) Period of vibration for a spring;
(i) Nodes and antinodes in a standing wave.
(4) In-class problems
(a) One day, your teaching assistant had a spring in his hand, and a mass was attached to the end of the
spring. He pulled the mass down and observed that the vibrating mass came to within 14 cm of the floor
and raised to a height of 38 cm above the floor. It reached the point closest to the floor 30 times per minute.
He wanted to know the frequency, the period, and the amplitude of vibration of this spring;
(b) During a laboratory experiment, you took a 1-lb object and hung it at the end of a spring. During
this process, the spring stretched to 12 inch. With what frequency will this spring vibrate under the weight
of the object?
(c) When demonstrating the formation of nodes and antinodes in a string, your professor measured a
wire to be 120 cm long, and he adjusted the hanging weights to make the wire vibrate with seven nodes,
two of the nodes at the two ends. Find the wavelength and speed of the wave in the wire if the wire is being
vibrated at 800 Hz.
(5) Points to remember
(a) Time period, T =1/f, where f is the frequency;
(b) There is an inverse relationship between T and f;
(c) Nodes are points of zero displacement;
(d) The word spring is a signal wordit is a hint for you to use Hookes law and the equation of the
time-period for a spring;
(e) c =f is used for the speed of light, c, and the speed of sound as well, wherec becomes the speed of
sound, usually denoted by v;
(f) f and are inversely related.
Assessment: Exit questions, practice homework, classical problem, and priming homework.
(1) Exit questions
(a) What is the unit of stress?
(b) What is the unit of strain?
(c) What is the unit of pressure?
(d) What is the unit of youngs modulus?
(e) What is the unit of density?
(f) A wave with a lower energy has a higher wavelength. True or false?
(g) f and are directly proportional to each other. True or false?
(h) What is the spring constant of a spring that stretches to 6 inch for a force of 100-lb?
(i) What is the area of cross-section of a rod with a diameter of 4 cm?
(j) What temperature is the same on both the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales?
(k) What is the relationship between P and v at constant temperature? Direct or inverse?
(l) What is the relationship between v and T at constant pressure? Direct or inverse?
(m) What is the relationship between P and T and constant volume? Direct or inverse?
(n) What is the relationship between f and (given c = f)? Direct or inverse?
743
(o) Simplify:
9-10
-9
3-10
-9
.
(2) Practice homework
(a) One day, your teaching assistant had a spring in his hand, and a mass was attached to the end of the
spring. He pulled the mass down and observed that the vibrating mass came to within 12 cm of the floor
and raised to a height of 40 cm above the floor. This mass reached the point closest to the floor 20 times
per minute. He wanted to know the frequency, the period, and the amplitude of the vibration of this spring;
(b) During a laboratory experiment, you as a student, took a 0.5-lb object and hung it at the end of a
spring. During this process, the spring stretched to 6 inch. With what frequency will this spring vibrate
under the weight of the object?
(c) When demonstrating the formation of nodes and antinodes in a string, your professor measured a
wire to be 100 cm long, and she adjusted the hanging weights to make the wire vibrate with five nodes,
two of the nodes at the two ends. Find the wavelength and speed of the wave in the wire if the wire is
being vibrated at 750 Hz.
(3) Classical problem
An initial mass of 300 gram is used to stretch a particular spring by 29.4 cm. A second unknown mass
is then used to achieve a period of vibration of 12.56 second for the same spring. How large is the second
mass?
(4) Priming homework
(a) What is the unit of distance in the MKS system?
(b) What is the unit of area in the MKS system?
(c) What is the unit of volume in the MKS system?
(d) What is the unit of energy?
(e) What is the definition of power?
(f) What is the unit of power?
(g) Simplify:
9-10
-12
3-10
-
;
(h) Simplify:
9-10
-12
3-10
-12
;
(i) 1,000,000 =10
?
;
(j) 1,000 =10
?
;
(k) 10 =10
?
;
(l) 1 =10
?
;
(m) Log 10
6
=____;
(m) Log 10
3
=____;
(o) Log 10
1
=____;
(p) Log 10
0
=____;
(q) Log 1 =_____.
First Day of the Course
The first day of any class sets the tone and the basic framework for how a particular course is going to
744
be carried out. Bear in mind students are excellent observers. They quickly tune into whether or not a
professor: (1) really loves his subject; (2) wants all of the students to learn it successfully; (3) cares about
their learning; and (4) treats them as real people. Here are our guidelines for setting the stage for student
success:
(1) Welcoming the students wherever possible by name (use name cards and the class roster to help you)
and finding out something about them, e.g., their majors, goals, etc.;
(2) Reassuring them about their possible feelings of shakiness in math and noting that whatever math is
needed for the problem solving in physics will be reviewed, taught, and practiced;
(3) Explaining that learning is an interactive transaction between you and the students and what that
involves. This transaction involves an agreement (the management rules) for you and the students regarding the
governance of the class;
(4) Reviewing the syllabus.
Classroom Management
Without full control of the class, you cannot effectively teach the group. Full control means
everybodyfrom the swifties in the front seats to the here because I have to be and the scaredy cats in
the back row.
Management rules for students. The behaviors noted below are all the distracters to students learning.
The excuse of multi-tasking does not work here.
(1) No cell phones in class;
(2) No bathroom trips unless there is an emergency;
(3) No naps;
(4) No student conversations when professor is presenting;
(5) No vague complaints about not understanding something; students must be specific about what in a
given problem they do not understand;
(6) No eating in a class;
(7) Being on time.
Management rules for professors. The professor will have to take the main responsibility for enforcing
the rules for the students at the beginning of the class. Later, they will play an active role. The rules that follow
do not pertain to class sizes that occupy amphitheaters and auditoriums (the section assistants must do that):
(1) Being on time for the class and laboratory sessions;
(2) Learning each students name within the first class meeting or two. Knowing the names of the students
is important to classroom management (classes of from 200+are another matter);
(3) Checking homework at the beginning of the next class session (one or two problems at most);
(4) Making sure to call on as many students as possible in a class session based on their differential
knowledge bases (we explain this technique fully in the later section);
(5) Adhering to the agenda as stated, no wandering off onto side roads;
(6) Avoiding student putdowns, such as I covered this yesterday. Where were you?;
(7) Leaving problem solutions on the chalkboard long enough for students to copy them down accurately;
(8) Periodically checking on the adequacy of students note-taking (most students are not very well
organized, and a lot of teachers are in the same boat, too).
745
Pedagogical Techniques
Inductive Approach Versus Deductive Approach
Inductive approach. As defined here, we move from the students practical experiences with or
recognizing particular instances in their daily lives as applications of a key concept or principle in physics, such
as a washing machine which uses centrifugal force in its operation or a lift for raising cars in a garage so they
can be worked on efficiently as an example of hydraulics. The big point here is we begin with what the students
know rather than what we know.
Then, we note that applications of physics principles are all around us in our daily lives. What this
approach does is to reassure the students that physics and its many applications often are completely accessible
daily events; they are not remote events out in the stratosphere somewhere.
In short, the students are already recognizing they have experiences to contribute that we as teachers can
build upon, and more importantly, they are starting on the road to believing they really might be able to learn
this stuff after all. And if the dialogues between the students and us reveal some shakiness in the math needed
for solving some of the problems, then we will review that, too.
Deductive approach. With this approach, the teacher typically starts from the top down. The teacher defines
the concept or principle (the top), gives several examples (the lower levels or the bottom of the pyramid), and
refers the students to the appropriate chapter. Each chapter of whatever textbook is being used will basically be
organized in the same way. The students dutifully take notes of both the definition(s) and the examples, and then
promptly forget about them until it is time for the first quiz. The excitement of physics is not there for most of
them right from the start. If the students reveal some difficulties with the math involved in dealing with the first
problems, the teacher probably will tell them they need to review their algebra or trigonometry, and then,
concludes they are not really prepared for the course. This approach has sometimes been labeled the empty
receptacle approach, where the teacher, the font of all wisdom, pours the knowledge into the students.
Principal Instructional Techniques
Learning each students name in the first day or two. This technique sends a message to each student
that you basically care about them as people. That is, they are important to you, and their learning is important
to you as well.
Conducting the class session in the form of what we call dialogues. The dialogues are really
conversations between the teacher and the students to provide the information necessary to understanding and
then solving the physics problems. Our Physics I and II notebooks contain the dialogues used. All you have to
do is use your own students names, and then proceed.
Reviewing the math that is needed to solve the problems. This review of the needed math skills and
concepts will continue until everyone in the class has the necessary information at their fingertips. The
review is oral; it occurs at the beginning of the class session and involves as many students as possible. As
the course progresses, key systems and equations in physics will predominate, and the math will not be so
prominent.
Anchoring the new material to something the students already know. This technique is at the heart of
the inductive approach and it requires the teacher to elicit experiences the students have had that directly
illustrate or are relevant to the principle or process that is to be introduced. One of the really great benefits of
the approach is that it allows the students to discover the solution to the problems as the key to explaining the
746
principle or the process.
Utilizing students DKBs (differential knowledge bases). Utilizing students DKBs is one of our most
important techniques. For DKBs to work, the teacher must know the name of every student in the class and
have an accurate assessment of the knowledge that each student brings to the course. No two students possess
exactly the same amounts of knowledge. Moreover, a swiftie who works in a garage may have a lot to say
about hydraulics, but may be really out of it when it comes to sound under various conditions.
Also, the math knowledge of the students will vary. Students whose math is fresh typically will retain
more than the students who have been away from formal coursework for a while. Your task in obtaining
necessary information for problem-solving from your students is to direct questions of varying levels of
difficulty to the particular student(s) who can answer them.
At the beginning of the course, DKB translates to questions and activities that are less demanding for the
students who are less prepared or rusty in their recall. But, as the course progresses, this process needs to
upgrade the questions or inputs asked for, so that eventually the early marked differences in the DKBs of
various students really tend to disappear.
Practice. It is absolutely essential to the mastery of physics. J ust understanding a concept or principle or
what has involved in working a problem is not necessarily master. Much practice is required before a student
has the item at his/her fingertips. Often, if a problem is a classic one or is simply long and involved, we ask
the students to work on the solution to it three times. Something amazing happens when they do thistheir
overall understanding of the problem really improves, and they approach an exam or a quiz with more
confidence.
Problem-solving in parallel. Most teaching in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics) subjects proceeds advertisment seriatim, i.e., one-topic-at-a-time, and that is also true of the
textbooks as well. What we have found is that many of the topics in a given course are very much related to one
another. When this phenomenon occurs, we have found that it is much more efficient to teach these topics in
parallel. The result is that it saves precious classroom teaching time, and more importantly, the students
understanding of the topics involved is much improved over the one-topic-at-a time approach. They really
begin to see the connectedness of the phenomena and processes of physics. The two examples of
problem-solving given later in this paper show this technique in action.
The course toolbox. Just as the trades, e.g., carpentry, plumbing, electricity, etc., have essential tools for
solving problems in a particular trade. The tools are usually contained in an easily carried box, and we have
found the academic disciplines also have their necessary tools. The contents in our version of the toolbox are
there to facilitate the problem-solving of the students. In introductory physics, the toolbox may contain such
items as symbols for terms, such as weight and mass. It usually contains equations and units that are relevant
for the session.
Teaching dialogue. The pedagogical technique is a natural outgrowth of the inductive approach and its
handmaiden, anchoring, with nods to its ancient origin by Socrates and its more recent development by the
philosopher, J ohn Dewey. The whole point is to elicit and guide the understanding of a problem, and then, its
solution from the experience and knowledge of the students. In our use of the inductive approach, all of the
teaching techniques described above come into play here. We introduce equations as the need for them arises,
and the students realize the need. If a student has difficulty in a part of the problem, we elicit assistance from
another student or other students, and then, the process of solution continues to its successful end. As the
747
course proceeds, we also add bonus points to be given for challenging problems or for a beautifully described
solution.
As with the math and course skill and concept reviews, we involve as many students as possible in the
dialogues. The students really pay attention because they never know when we will target one or two of them.
Illustrations of the dialogues show the exchanges between one of us as the teacher and the students and the use
of the different teaching techniques.
Problem 1. During a laboratory experiment, you took a 0.1-N object and hung it at the end of a spring.
During this process, the spring stretched to 10 cm. With what frequency will this spring vibrate under the
weight of the object (Given: You can assume g =10 m/sec
2
for the solution of this problem)?
To place the solution in perspective for the readers, the professor has repeatedly reviewed the concepts of
mass and weightstudents by now are familiar with force, weight, and tension as synonymous in terms of
their units. They know that the word weight is a signal word, and they are supposed to find the mass before
attempting the solution of the problem. They also know that the units of weight, force, and tension are the
same in a given system of units. In addition, the students know that the value of g =32 ft/sec
2
or 9.8 (10)
m/sec
2
.
In terms of the pedagogical techniques that are used in the solution of this problem, the main approach is
inductive. The specific techniques are:
(1) Anchoringstudents help solve the problem from past knowledge and their life experiences;
(2) Use of student names;
(3) Everyone in the class is made to participateeven the unwilling ones;
(4) Students are called on seemingly at random, but actually they are being selected based on their DKBs;
(5) Continuous testing of students;
(6) The solution is written on the board in a parallel way.
Solution for Problem 1. Interactive solution is provided in Dialogue 1.
Dialogue 1.
Teacher: This is a classical problem in physics, and professors love to test you on this because it uses several
equations to arrive at the final answer. So, let us start with J erry and ask him to read the problem (J erry seems to be a laid
back guy, and therefore, needs some poking without being too hard on him).
J erry: (He reads the problem.)
Teacher: Thank you, J erry.
Harry: Weight of 0.1-N, but we need to change that to a mass in kg according to your instructions in our daily review.
Therefore, the mass will be 0.1/10 =0.01 kg.
Teacher: You guys surprise me sometimes with this instant knowledge. Bill, what is the keyword in this problem?
(Bill is quite good in the course.)
Bill: The keyword in this problem is spring, and it signals the possible use of equations 2 and 3, because they are
related to the stretch in a spring, and the oscillatory nature of it if the spring is stretched and then let go.
f =
1
1
Equation 1
T =2_
m
K
Equation 2
F =Kx Equation 3
Teacher: Way to go! J ill, what does the 10 cm represent? (J ill is doing ok in the course.)
748
J ill: That is the stretch, also called displacement, x.
Teacher: Ok! Angie, what is the unknown quantity? (Angie seems to be having problems in identifying quantities,
either given or unknown.)
Angie: It is the frequency, f.
Teacher: This whole discussion is going better than I expected. Now, let us write all of this information down in terms
of the quantities that are given and the quantities that are unknown to make some sense out of it.
Given: Unknown:
W =0.1 N f =?
m =0.1/10 =0.01 slugs
x =10 cm =0.1 m (cm has been changed to meters)
Kya, which equation do we need to use to solve for f? (Kya is pretty good in the course, and she works very hard.)
Kya: Equation 1, because it contains the frequency.
Teacher: Good! What about you, J ames? Do you know T in that equation? (J ames is having difficulty in the course.)
J ames: No, but we can use equation 2, because it contains T and some of the quantities that are given.
Teacher: Excellent observation! Ken, what about the value of k in equation 2do we know its value? (Ken is
enjoying the course.)
Ken: Not really, but we can use equation 3 for Hookes law to find the value of k.
Dave: (J umps right in the middle of this interchange.) Oh, yes! Now, I know why you told us in the very beginning
that we will use multiple equations. I have never seen a problem being done this way. I love this approach. If you want, I
can help you find the various values (Dave is very observant, and he really follows everything in the course).
Teacher: I will love it if you can help. But before we are too deep in the solution of this problem, let us write these
three equations in the context of this problem and draw their connections according to the interchange we just had.
To summarize, although equation 3 is written at the end, this is the first equation to be used here. We use equation 3
first to solve for k. We then substitute the value of k in equation 2 to solve for T. The value of T is then substituted in
equation 1 to solve for f.
Let us first start with Dave helping with equation 3. Then, we will ask Pamela and Kimberly to help us use equations
2 and 1 in that order (these three students are quite shy and doing ok in the course, but they willingly will participate if
prodded).
Dave: You know, Dr. Khatri, this equation does not have W in it, but now, I know why you have been reviewing these
concepts again and again. In this case, W is the same quantity as F.
Teacher: Impressive! (The teacher now writes on the board what the students have provided.)
F =kx
1 =k(1)
or
k =1/1 =1 N/m
Now, I want Pamela and Kimberly to finish the rest of the problem.
Pamela: T =2_
m
k

=2(3.14)_
0.01
1

=6.28 * 0.1
749
T =0.628 sec.
Kimberly: f =
1
1

=1/0.628
f =1.6 cps or 1.6 Hz
Teacher: Impressive! Well done, everybody!
When you, as the teacher, are finished with this problem, it should appear on the board as shown in Table
1.

Table 1
Solution of Problem 1 Presented in Parallel
F =kx
T =2_
m
k
f =
1
1

0.1 =k(0.1)
or
k =1/1 =1 N/m
=2(3.14)_
0.01
1

=6.28 * 0.1
T =0.628 sec.
=1/0.628
f =1.6 cps or 1.6 Hz

Problem 2. Assuming that in a certain physics experiment, an electron with a negative charge is
accelerated to a speed of 2 x 10
7
cm/sec.. The electron then enters a magnetic field of magnitude 0.04 T that is
perpendicular to the path of the electron. Describe quantitatively the path taken (the radius of the circle) by the
electron.
To place the solution in perspective for the readers, the professor has repeatedly reviewed the concept of
centripetal force and the equation for it. Because of the daily review, students have been primed to recognize
the key word electron and assume its mass and charge to be given. In addition, students have been instructed
many a time to recognize the key word magnetic field and to associate it with the equation of a force on a
moving charged particle in a magnetic field.
The pedagogical techniques are basically the same as those described under the solution of problem 1.
Solution for Problem 2. Interactive solution is provided in Dialogue 2.
Dialogue 2.
Teacher: Melisa, will you read the problem, and provide us with a keyword(s) (Melisa is quite well prepared, and she
did well in the first part of this course).
Melisa: Magnetic field, and a circle.
Teacher:Ok! What about you, Jennifer? Can you add something more to what Melisa just stated? (J ennifer is very
well prepared, and she did extremely well in the first part of this course.)
J ennifer: Absolutely! We have to use two equations here. The first one will be the equation of the force due to a
magnetic field, and the second one is for the centripetal force.
Teacher: Magnificent! Let us see if Breanah can give us those two equations? (Breanah has come a long way, and she
works extremely hard.)
Breanah: The first equation is F =qvB, and the second equation is Fc =
m
2
R
.
Teacher: That is the way to go! Let us now ask Deanna about the quantities that are given and that are unknown
(Deanna is a social science major, and she was scared of physics during the first part of this course).
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Deanna: I knew my turn was about to come, so I am ready. The term electron signals that we can assume the
electron mass and its charge being given to us.
Teacher: That is really good. Nene, what else is given? (Nene is a 19-year-old physics major who tested out of two
remedial math courses after taking an eight-week summer program in algebra, and she is very serious about her studies.)
Nene: The magnetic field, B, is given as well.
Teacher: Love it! Let us ask Katherine. What is the unknown quantity, Katherine? (Katherine did not like physics
either, but she loves it now after completing the first part of this course, and she really works hard.)
Katherine: It is the radius of the circle in which this electron will travel.
Teacher: Fabulous! Audrey, can you please put it all together (Audrey is quite bright).
Audrey: We have a force equation due to a magnetic field that puts the electron in the circular path. Therefore, we
should use both equations (The teacher now writes on the board what is provided by Audrey).
F =qvB =m
2
R

Simplification and cross-multiplication will give us
qBR =mv
or
R =
m
qB
Equation 4
Teacher: Audrey, you deserve two points for this effort (it is kind of an award system we have instituted to encourage
students to pay attention in the class and to earn a better grade). Well done! Now, let us ask D. J. and Solianna to provide
the values of all of the variables, and solve for R (Both of them provide the following information, and the teacher writes
that information on the board. D. J . has to be prodded to participate. But, once you get her going, she does not stop).
D. J ./Solianna:
Given: Unknown:
q =1.6 x 10
-19
C R =?
m =9.1 x 10
-31
kg
v =2 x 10
7
cm/sec. =2 x 10
5
m/sec.
B =0.04 T
Solution:
R =
m
qB

=
9.1 x
-31
1.6 x
-19
x
2 x 10
S
0.04

=2.84 x 10
-5
m
(A number of students are asked to come up with this answer to ensure they all are paying attention in the class,
especially the ones sitting in the backseats.)
Teacher: What an effort! Impressive! This is real progress.
The Many Facets of Assessment
We deal with assessment in three ways: (1) daily assessment; (2) periodic assessment; and (3) end of the
semester assessment.
751
Daily Assessment
Continuous daily observations. Continuous daily observations of how the students are doing with the
content of the course are essential. Basically, this observation involves looking for non-verbal cues that students
manifest as to success or difficulties with the topics and the problems. If some of the students look a little
glassy-eyed or non-attentive, we stop right there and check to see if they are following our presentation, the
dialogue as it moves along, or if they are trying to disappear from our view. Immediately stopping and checking
on the particular student(s) problem and addressing the issue right there saves all kinds of time in the long run,
and it sends a message to the student(s) that we really do care about their learning.
Exit questions. Exit questions are stated in the agenda, and they are asked before the class dismissed for the
day. Even if just one or two students stumble a bit, it sends us the message that the particular material involved
will need to be reviewed at the next class session. Such a review will also help the other class members fully
master the material.
Practice homework. Practice homework is also included in the agenda. This homework reiterates the
in-class problems, and often it will use different numbers. Only a few problems are ever given. Overloading
students with problems often results in homework not being done at all. If a problem is a favorite on exams, a
classical one, or just very long and time-consuming with plenty of opportunities for making errors, the students
may be asked to write it out three times in full. We have found that familiarity breeds comfort and
understandingnot contempt.
Priming homework. Priming homework can be viewed as a lively, more accurate, and less time-consuming
substitute for reading ahead (often inaccurately) in preparation for the next session. Building upon what the
students know thus far, priming problems push the students to find new applications or broaden the base of their
knowledge so far. They are free to use the Internet, call each other up and confer, consult other books, etc.. When
the students do solve the problem(s), which are designed to take about 15-20 minutes, they are delighted with
their prowess. When they do not, they are ready to learn.
Periodic Assessment
Regularly scheduled quizzes. Regularly scheduled quizzes are just part of the academic scene. Their
dates should be clearly published in the syllabus or a warning given in the agendas. Most quizzes should be
short15-20 minutes. The material to be included should be clearly stated and previously taught. They should
be scored and returned to the students at the next class sessionnot two weeks later.
Regularly scheduled tests. Regularly scheduled tests are also time-honored characteristics of academia.
Again, their dates should be clearly noted in the syllabus or in an agenda well in advance of the actual testing
date. The testing pool of topics should be given to the students, including sample problems. Also, we find the
use of bonus questions helps to take the sting out of testing, and often can help a student make up for an error
on the main test with a good performance on the bonus question(s). As with the quizzes, the test should be
scored and returned to the students at the next class session; these tests should not grow whiskers or provide
Websites for homeless spiders on your desk.
End of the Semester Assessment
The final examination. The final examination in a course is often viewed as a sacred rite of passage. We
take the position if a student has been making As all semester then he or she should probably be exempted
from the final examination based on all the tests and quizzes. Our final examinations typically do not include
752
all-course coverage; they include new and essential material from the time of the last test and quiz. For those
students who will be standing this examination, we provide a pool of problems and tasks to be covered, and we
announce the material for this examination will be taken from this pool although the numbers and situations
within the problems will vary.
The departmental common-exit examination. The departmental common-exit examination is another
matter altogether. If this examination is a must, then we must make sure that our particular course(s) have
prepared the students for the examination(s). These examinations are typically limited to the introductory
courses.
Students evaluations. Students evaluations of their course experiences at the end of our courses are
particularly valuable in making improvements in our course pruning, management, instructional delivery and
assignments, and testing. The students, very soon, can identify the management and teaching techniques being
used, and they appreciate the absence of fluff stuff in the materials we use. We pay careful attention to their
evaluative comments. Here are just a few examples of these comments:
Before I enrolled in this course, I was worried, because most professors who have taught me physics in the past have
made it so difficult that it does not (have) any meaning to me anymore. In fact, I have phobia to physics. In this class, Dr.
Khatri has made it simple. His folder termed Essential Matter: A Participative Introduction to College Physics 1 (1st ed.)
is a miracle book. I mean the bible of physics. Inside it simple physics explained. With this book, all the concepts
learnt in class are being given as priming homework and assignments. With this in mind, the student are constantly
learning same concept all over and over again. Most of us in the class became physicist(s) at the end of this class. (Biology
major, a junior, University of the District of Columbia)
RepetitionThe use of repetition in this class was a huge help for me. Through this skill, I was able to see the
equations and how to do them multiple times. Unlike most, I did not just copy the problems the last 2 times, I actually hid
my original work from myself and tried doing the problems from scratch, so it helped a lot.
Interactive classroomThe interaction between you and the class on a consistent basis was a big help for me. I find it
easier to learn from a teacher who both wants to teach and wants the students to learn. You have a desire for your students
to learn the subject that you are so passionate about, and it shows... which motivates me to want to learn more and be more
interested. (Candidate, B.S. (Bachelor of Science), Biology and Health Education, Howard University)
The three-ring binder notebook we are using is very useful. It has helped me to organize all of my note taking from
the class
You have a great style and method of teaching. You actually take time to teach and explain the material step by step.
Your method of teaching has helped me to see what I have been missing all along. I have previously taken Physics I and II
classes before and I couldn not grasp the material at that time. Now, I can proudly say that I have gained a lot of
understanding and knowledge in your Physics I class.
Next, writing the word problems twice or three times has helped me to retain the information. You always try to tie in
something that we are all familiar with to explain the chapter being covered, this method has helped me a great deal and I
remember the chapters better.
Another useful thing that I really like from the class is that you never make anyone feel stupid You are not
trying to move too fast or too slow. Another great thing is that you dont move on to the next topic until everyone
understands and masters the topic and chapter that we are covering. (A male student, summer 2013)
The teacher, in short, did not give the student the opportunity to fail, something that every teacher seems to not care
about. This class was the best class I have ever been involved in and it is all due to the teachers attitude towards teaching.
I have never been in a class with a teacher that genuinely wants to help the student (and who) wants to go out of the way
for the student. Not to abuse power is extremely difficult and I feel like Dr. Khatri needs to teach a course specifically for
teachers on how to teach while not abusing their power. Thank you so much for the best educational experience of my life.
I wish all teachers could teach like you, thank you. (Sudent, summer 2013)
753
Dr. Khatri and Dr. Hughes created a book that was very helpful to the student. This text book had everthing you
needed to complete his class. It helped you to stay organized and the language was very understanding Nothing better than
to have an understanding of not only the teacher but the book and work also. I think it is very important to let the both of them
know that they did a wonderful job on the book. Even the way the book was designed. It was designed so that we could add
our notes to each chapter. (Male student, summer 2013)
Conclusions
As we noted at the beginning of this article, we have translated and operationalized many of the findings
of the experimentalists in psychology and education from their research on the learning of animals to successful
teaching and learning applications with human beings in introductory physics courses. The results have been
phenomenal. The student retention and success rates have jumped from approximately one third to close to 100%
in introductory physics courses. And, from the evaluations by the students of these introductory courses, they
have really learned from and enjoyed the courses.
References
Ben, F. (2010). Students uptake of physics: A study of south Australian and Filipino physics students (Doctoral dissertation,
University of Adelaide).
Dewey, J . (1938). Experience and education. Chicago, Illinois: Kappa Delta Pi.
Grayson, D. J. (2006). Rethinking the content of physics course. Physics Today, 59(2), 31.
Hilgard, E. R., & Bower, G. H. (1966). Theories of learning (3rd ed.). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Educational Division,
Meredith Corp..
Khatri, D. S., & Hughes, A. O. (2002). American education apartheid: Again? Lanham, M.D.: Scarecrow Press, Inc..
Khatri, D. S., & Hughes, A. O. (2005). Color-blind teaching: Excellence for diverse classrooms. Lanham, M.D.: Rowman and
Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc..
Khatri, D. S., & Hughes, A. O. (2013a). A teaching guide to revitalizing STEM education. Lanham, M.D.: Rowman and Littlefield
Publishing Group, Inc..
Khatri, D. S., & Hughes, A. O. (2013b). Essential matter: A participative introduction to College Physics I (Student Learning
Notebook). San Diego, C.A.: Cognella, Inc..
Khatri, D. S., & Hughes, A. O. (2013c). Essential matter: A participative introduction to College Physics II (Student Learning
Khatri, D. S., & Hughes, A. O. (2013d). Essential matter: A participative introduction to College Physics I (Faculty Teaching
Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York, N.Y.: Harper.
Skinner, B. F. (1948). Walden two. New York: MacMillan.
Smyth, E., & Hannan, C. (2006). School effects and subject choice: The uptake of scientific subjects in Ireland. School
Effectiveness and School Improvement, 17(3), 303-327.
October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 754-762

Using Extraction Experiment as a Tool for Teaching
Scientific Process Skills
Hasan zyildirim, Husnuye Durmaz
Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey

Laboratory work educates students about the processes of science. But it is suggested that students learning level
is low because of limited application of science processes in their laboratory work. Extraction experiment was
chosen as the topic since it allows students to apply many of their basic chemistry knowledge, and it can be readily
to gain understanding of scientific proceses required for an investigation. This study has been carried out with 40
students who are in the first year of Science Teaching Division at Trakya University, Faculty of Education. These
students were divided into two groups of the experimental group and the control group, each group containing 20
students. The students of the experimental group were given knowledge about basic scientific process skills, and a
procedure in detail to follow was given. But the students of the control group was given a standard procedure. The
students of both groups were asked about what and why they did while they were performing the laboratory
investigation. We observed that the experimental group students used the basic process skills, understood the
extraction experiment, and realized what and why they did from this activity better than the control group students.
The control group students did not know why they did laboratory work and they tended to focus on completing the
task rather than learning from it. We considered that the experience would be helpful for students to improve
scientific process skills if the students successfully acquired procedural understanding. Students scientific process
skills will develop as long as they use the skills.
Keywords: basic scientific process skills, extraction, chemical education
Introduction

Many research studies have been conducted to investigate the role and the educational effectiveness of
laboratory work, generally considered to be an essential part of science education (Hofstein, Shore, & Kipnis,
2004; Blosser, 1983; Wilkinson & Ward, 1997; Linn, 1997; Garnett, 1995). In recent years, science education
literature emphasized the importance of rethinking the role and practice of laboratory work in science teaching
in general and in the context of chemistry education in particular (Hofstein, 2004).
A laboratory should provide the organized experiences and observations that underlie the intellectual
constructs of chemistry, and tying these experiences and observations to the real world can help to provide
motivation for the principles (Kerber & Akhtar, 1996). Laboratory manuals are usually written with clear step
by step instructions. However, this allows students to successfully complete experiments simply by blindly
following the instructions, without any attempt to understand the processes involved. It is rare that a student

Hasan zyildirim, Ph.D., assistant professor, Faculty of Education, Elementary Department, Trakya University.
Husnuye Durmaz, Ph.D., assistant professor, Faculty of Education, Elementary Department, Trakya University.
DAVID PUBLISHING
D
USING EXTRACTION EXPERIMENT AS A TOOL

755
enters the laboratory with the attitude that the three-hour session is an opportunity to gather as much
information as possible on the concepts/techniques involved (Mocerino, 1997).
Scientific process skills is one of the specialities which is gained by the students with the laboratory
experiments. Science process skills are the skills that scientists use to study and investigate the world. Actually,
these skills are in the human nature, they can be used during the whole life, and will develop as long as
everyone uses the skills. When we interact with the physical and biological worlds around us in a scientific way,
we find ourselves observing, questioning, planning, hypothesizing, and interpreting. These actions are some of
the process skills of science (Wynne, 1998).
Successfully integrating the science process skills with classroom lessons and field investigations will
make the learning experiences richer and more meaningful to students (Kl, 2003; URL). Scientific process
skills and explanation are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1
Scientific Process Skills and Explanations
Skills Explanations
Observing
Using the senses (sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste) to gather information about the world around
us.
Comparing and contrasting Looking at similarities and differences in real objects.
Classifying Grouping and sorting according to properties like size, shape, color, use, etc..
Measuring Quantitative description made through direct observation or indirectly with unit of measure.
Communicating
Communicating ideas, directions, and descriptions orally or in written form so others can understand
what you mean.
Predicting
Making reasonable guesses or estimations based on observations and prior knowledge or
experiences.
Inferring Based on observation but suggests more meaning about a situation than can be directly observed.
Hypothesizing Devising a statement, based on observations, to be tested by experiment.
Defining and controlling
variables
Deciding which variables to study or control to conduct a controlled experiment.
Note. Source: Retrieved from http://www.iun.edu/~edujal/e328/doc/dap_&_process_skills.doc.

The statement scientific processes which include different techniques and provide to improve the
scientific findings must be applied accented to improve it in the expectation from education program section
of the new elementary education program, which is started to apply in the first term of 2001-2002 in Turkey
(Kl, 2003).
The role and importance of the scientific process is indicated in the study of Tan and Temiz (2003).
Also, Temiz and Tan (2003) found that the elementary school science education in Turkey is not sufficient for
improving the students scientific process skills. However, zdemir (2004) obtained that the experimental
group students whose laboratory method based on scientific process skills had been more successfully
improved their scientific process skills, and had a higher attitude towards science course and a higher level of
recalling knowledge.
In the study The University Students Basic Knowledge Based on the Organic Chemistry Laboratory
Technique, Adequacy of the Experiments and Suggestions by Ylmaz, Uluda, and Morgil (2001), they
emphasised that the students do not know the basic knowledge about separation and purification of the organic
composites. The method to separate the mixtures, extraction was chosen as tool to improve the students
scientific process skills in this study. Extraction is a very common laboratory procedure used when isolating or

756
purifying a product. In addition, the knowledge relating to mostly one of the basic subject of the chemistry
distinctive characteristics of the substance can be used easily by students, therefore, it can deepen the
understanding of the basic chemistry concepts.
If the lab works can be detailed sufficiently, the students-teacher using performance of the scientific
process skills can be improved. Also, with a lab structured like the following:
(1) Students show what they are doing or thinking better;
(2) Students realize how much they use their scientific process skills;
(3) Better, conceptual learning is provided.
One aim of this study, the base of the above ideas, is to describe a lab studys application structured to
improve the scientific process skills. Another aim is to detect the studentss thoughts about this kind of study.
Method
The study has been carried out with 40 students of the first grade of the Science Teaching Division in
Trakya University and taking the general chemistry laboratory lesson. The students worked in groups, each one
of which is composed of 3-4 students selected randomly. Six student groups (to whom the knowledge about the
scientific process skills has been given) who participated in the chemistry laboratory practice that has been
structured to improve scientific process skills have formed the experimental group, and the other six student
groups (to whom the knowledge about the scientific process skills has not been given) who worked with the
standard experimental manual have formed the control group.
The following questions, that is to say:
(1) What is a scientific study?
(2) What are the reasons that make a scientific study?
(3) What are the scientific process skills?
The above three questions and knowledge regarding the structure of a scientific study have been given for
three hours and discussed.
Knowledge about the scientific process skills has not been given to the control group and they have been
requested to study with the standard lab manual. Without interrupting both of the groups while they are
studying, observing reports prepared beforehand have been filled in by the authors.
In this report, the following questions are asked during the study:
(1) Are the groups using the laboratory instruments in accordance with their aims?
(2) Are they discussing the aim of the process while applying the experiment procedure?
(3) Is there adequate communication within the group?
(4) How delicate are they studying when recording and observing the data, are they taking care of using
unities?
In addition to the questions, including the skills of observing, classifying-comparing, measuring,
predicting, recording the data, inferring, resulting, deducting, and communicating of the scientific process skills,
a structured experimental manual which includes problem and task has been prepared.
Task
Environmental pollution is one of the gradually increasing problems of the world today. While factories
yield various products to us in order to increase our quality of life on the one hand, they damage our
environment on the other hand. Supposing that you are a chemist working in an environmental laboratory and

757
having the environmental awareness, you will see how a study proper to scientific processes is carried out by
using the extraction method like a scientist.
The experimental group has carried out the laboratory study via this lab manual and the control group has
carried out the study through standard lab manual.
In this study, the experiment of extraction as the method of separating the mixtures has been taken as a
tool for developing some scientific process skills.
Data Collection Instrument and Preparation
As different from the standard experimental lab manual, some questions prepared regarding the extraction
experiment by expressing scientific process skills are given in Table 2.

Table 2
Examples for the Questions Associated With Some Scientific Process Skills
Observation
(1) What have you observed during the extraction?
(2) How have you understood that the extraction has ended?
Measuring Why are the amounts of the substances selected in the experiment important?
Classifying-comparing
(1) What is the difference between the extraction and solubility?
(2) Classify the liquids according to their dissolving characteristics
Prediction
(1) Why has the hexane been used?
(2) What kind of solvents can be used instead of hexane?
Inferring In which situations can extraction be used?
Deducting What kind of generalization can you make from this experiment?
Communicating
(1) Have you made pre-planning during the group work?
(2) Have you discussed the results with your group mates?
(3) How do you think of assessing these results?

The answers given by both of the groups have been examined and interviews have been made with the
experimental and control groups which have been selected randomly according to the findings which have been
obtained from what they have written down, and the proofs supporting their answers have been demanded.
After this example study has been completed, the control group students have been given information
about the scientific process skills in a separate time and discussion has been held. Hence, informing both of the
groups in the same way has been provided.
A laboratory study which has been structured by underlining the scientific process skills has been
maintained with 12 groups as two hours in a week and this has continued for eight weeks in the general
chemistry laboratory.
In order to take the students opinions about this study, open-ended questions have been given to them at
the end of the term and they have been requested to express them in writing.
Findings
Only two of the answers given to the open-ended questions included in the experimental lab manual
structured in accordance with the scientific processes have been examined in detail (see Table 3).
The answers received have been examined and interviews have been made with students from the
experimental and control groups selected randomly and they have been requested to go in detail about their
answers (see Table 4).


758
Table 3
Some Questions Asked to the Experimental and Control Groups and Their Answers
Questions Answers received Opinions
Observation
What have you observed
during the extraction?
The experimental group:
(1) Waste water is in the bottom phase, hexane is in the top phase (five);
(2) The hexane and the factory waste water do not dissolve in each other
has been observed (two);
(3) We have taken the oil from the water;
(4) We have observed that there are two separate phases (three).
The control group:
(1) We have observed that the factory waste water and the hexane has not
been dissolved in each other (three);
(2) We have observed that the factory waste in the water have been
dissolved in the hexane;
(3) We have benefited from the boiling point during the extraction;
(4) We have observed the existence of oil in the factory waste water.
It is understood that both
of the groups have made
good observations and
have taken notes during
the experiment.
Inferring
In which situations can
the extraction be used?
(1) In dissolving the waste substances (three);
(2) For dissolving a component from the mixture by means of the solvent;
(3) In the liquids density of which is different from each other and which
does not dissolve in each other (four);
(4) In dissolving and refining the substances which can not be dissolved
from each other via simpler methods (two);
(5) In pharmacy and purifying the substances in the plants (two);
(6) For understanding whether there is oil or not in a nutrient (two);
(7) For dissolving a substance (substances) within the liquid from this
liquid;
(8) For providing the transfer from one phase to another in a mixture or
solution (three).
The control group:
(1) In the dissolving and refining processes of substances;
(2) For dissolving the organic substance in the factory wastes (three);
(3) In oil analysis in factory wastes (four);
(4) In obtaining oil from oils seeds (two);
(5) In cosmetics and food (two);
(6) In petroleum refineries (three);
(7) For obtaining/dissolving the component in the mixture (three).
Better inference has been
made and induction has
been made.

Mostly, general
information has been
given.
Note. The numbers in the parentheses show the number of the groups agreeing with the answer.

Table 4
Detailed Interview Results Taken From the Experimental and Control Groups Related to the Observation and
Inference Processes
Scientific processes examined
Observation
How have you decided that
the waste water is the bottom
phase and hexane is the top
phase?
The control group:
I have already learnt and know the densities of
the water and the hexane; I have deducted by
commenting on this point.
I have put 100 ml water and 20 ml hexane into
the separated funnel and I understood from the
difference between volumes.
Researcher: What do you do for proving this?
The control group:
I put solute matter in one, and insoluble matter in
another one.
I add a little water or hexane into the separated
funnel and observe which phase increases;
I add salt into the samples that I have taken
from separate phases;
I know that water solves the salt whereas
hexane not due to its non-polar characteristic.

759
(Table 4 to be continued)
the waste water is the bottom
phase and hexane is the top
phase?
Common answer:
I look at the boiling points of the samples that I have taken from the phases separately.
Researcher: How would you conclude from the boiling point?
I know that the water boils at 100 .
Inferring
there has been a transfer from
one phase to another during
the extraction?
The control group:
It is written in the information related to
extraction that during the extraction, substances
can be transferred to the phase in which they can
be solved more.
(1) Oil has remained when the hexane has been
vaporized at the end of the experiment;
(2) Color of the water phase has been faded
whereas the hexane phase has been colored in
the separated funnel.
Researcher: What do you do for proving?
The control group:
(1) I look at the boiling point of the oil;
(2) I can boil the water.
I vaporize the hexane when it is pure; after the
process of extraction, I vaporize it again.
Researcher: Why?
If the substance in the water decreases, the
boiling point also changes.
If substance remains after the extraction, I say
that this is the oil transferring from the water
phase.

After the laboratory studies have been concluded at the end of the term, some of the answers received for
the questions related to the general assessment of the laboratory and the scientific process with which these
answers can be associated are shown in Table 5.

Table 5
Some Questions Asked to the Students Related to the Processing of the Laboratory and the Received Answers
Questions Answers
Relation between the answer
and the scientific process
Has there been a change in your
behaviours towards the
laboratory through the
carried-out studies, and how?
We have gained the awareness of the laboratory seriousness , as
we attach importance to using scientific processes the results of
the experiment have been better and we have learnt how to think
scientifically.
Deducting
We have learnt using laboratory materials better in parallel to
their aims.
Deducting
We have begun to look at scientifically, our opinions to share
with our environment have increased.
Communicating
We have learnt the technique of chemistry laboratory; we have learnt
using laboratory instruments and devices properly and we have
learnt how and in which quantities to use the chemicals in practice.
Measuring
Has there been a positive or
negative change in your attitudes
towards the laboratory through
the carried-out studies, and how?
We have seen that the laboratory study is a task that requires
responsibility; as we have obtained positive results at the end, we
have studied more eagerly.
Commenting
Have the laboratory studies
contributed to the learning, and
how?
We have noticed from where and how to deduct and how to
think about a topic. The contribution of scientific processes is
big here.
Deducting
Do you want the lab manual
structured according to the
scientific processes also to be
included in other laboratory
studies? Why?
If the records have not been kept in the notebook, the
experiments could not have been understood in such a detailed
way. word evaporates, writing remains (a Turkish phrase).
Recording the data
Seeing and looking are different things in experimental studies. Observating
We already apply scientific process during the experiment, it is
not important whether it is included or not.
Deducting
I think that this method is correct as our results obtained from the
experiment since the beginning of the termhas been accurate.
Inferring

Throughout the term, student reports have been examined and also the observation forms have been filled
in, and, studies of the student have been followed via oral interviews (see Tables 6 & 7).

760
Table 6
Observation Form Used in the Control Group Students
Expected fact
Number of the group
1 2 3 4 5 6
They have got prepared for the experimental study. + + + - partly +
They use the laboratory instruments and devices properly. + partly + + - -
Intra-group discussion is held between the experiments carried out during the experiment. + - + - - +
Using and writing down the units during the experiments are attached importance. - + - - - -
Predictions about the upcoming stages of the experiment are made. - + + - - -
Discussion over the results is made. + - - - - -
They attach importance to comparing the result they have obtained with the theoretical. - + - - - -
Notes. + represents the expected fact has been practiced by the group, and - represents the expected fact has not been
practiced by the group.

Table 7
Observation Form Used in the Experimental Group Students
Expected fact
Number of the group
7 8 9 10 11 12
They have got prepared for the experimental study. + + + partly + +
They use the laboratory instruments and devices properly. + + - partly + +
Intra-group discussion is held between the experiments carried out during the experiment. + partly + - + +
Using and writing down the units during the experiments are attached importance. + partly partly - + +
Predictions about the upcoming stages of the experiment are made. + partly + partly + +
Discussion over the results are made. + partly + + + +
They attach importance to comparing the result they have obtained with the theoretical. partly - + - + partly
Notes. + represents the expected fact has been practiced by the group, and - represents the expected fact has not been
practiced by the group.
Results and Discussion
Concepts, principles, and generalizations related to the subject of extraction as a method of separating
mixtures have each been handled as an instrument in order to develop the scientific process skills of the
students in this study. Another aim of the study is to determine the opinions of students about a chemistry
laboratory structured for developing these skills.
Before the laboratory study, predicting, inferring, and communicating skills of the experimental
group students, whose scientific process skills have been defined and discussed have been observed as better
than those of the control group students within the standard chemistry laboratory study, and it has been
observed that control group students are at the same level with experimental group students in using the
measuring and deducting skills.
Although, scientific process skills have not been defined and discussed in the control group, these skills
are already being used by the students, and some of them, despite not being mentioned explicitly, take place in
lab manuals. However, the students are not aware of this and can not use effectively.
In the interviews, in which the students have been requested to claim proofs for the answers, they have
written down in the laboratory reports; it has been observed that the experimental group students have carried
out more delicate observations, claimed more acceptable proofs based on these observations, and associated the

761
subject of the structure of the substance, distinctive features of the substance better in the why and how
questions related to the events occurred in the extraction method.
The results of the observation have showed that the communication within the experimental group student
is better than that of the control group students. While the control group students have tried to carry out the
given experiment procedure as a recipe and focused on the result, the experimental group students have
discussed with each other more in the subject of what, why, and how has happened. We can show that the
reason of it as the distribution of scientific processes beforehand and provision of the reinforcement them with
a discussion environment.
In the standard experimental lab manuals, there are only the headings as name of the experiment, aim of
the experiment, theoretical knowledge, procedure of the experiment, calculations, results, and discussion.
However, there have been sentences as predict, discuss, deduct, and prove in the experimental lab manual
which we have structured for developing scientific process skills and transferring them to behaviour (see Table
2). Hence, the students have been directed for being more careful in the things they have seen and made
regarding the experiment and for discussing.
It is impossible to determine what extent the scientific process skills of the students have developed, or
whether there is difference or not between the initial and final levels related to students scientific process skills
by conducting mostly close-ended experiments. The studies in the chemistry laboratory should be enriched with
open-ended experiments in order to develop the students scientific process skills.
The opinions of the students received at the end of the experimental studies structured in order to the
scientific process skills, Table 5 shows that students benefit from these kinds of studies.
Learning and developing their scientific process skills play an important role also in their successes in the
subject of general chemistry. In such a structured laboratory process, students can take notes of their
observations and data better. Moreover, they can be encouraged to make more discussion about the experiment,
connections between the experiment, and our daily life within the groups or intergroups.
Conclusions
The present study attempts to help the students improve their own scientific process skills via the
experiment of extraction. The extraction experiment was designed to get the students acquire scientific
process skills associated with content knowledge about the methods of separating the mixtures. In this study,
the aim was also to determine the students opinions about this kind of laboratory study. The results of this
study show that the experimental group students improved the skills of predicting, inferring, and
communicating better than that of the control group students. Moreover, the experiment reports of the
experimental group students included more details of their observations and evidences to support their own
findings. In addition, the experimental group students had positive views toward the teaching intervention
designed over the laboratory work. The teaching intervention was planned particularly by considering that
students need to have developed an appropriate level of procedural skills and understandings of science in
order to coduct their own open-ended investigations. In conclusion, the present study confirms previous
findings and contributes additional evidence that suggests if the suitable educational environments are ensured,
scientific process skills will develop more quickly and they are seen as to be helpful in conceptual learning
related to the subject.

762
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October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10 763-768

Hand-Washing: Knowledge of Nursing Professionals in a
Secondary Hospital Institution
Patrcia de Carvalho Nagliate,
University of So Paulo, So Paulo, Brazil;
WHO Collaborating Centre for the Development of Nursing
Research, Brazil; Federal University of Alagoas,
Alagoas, Brazil
Paula Cristina Nogueira, Simone de Godoy, Denise
de Andrade, Isabel Amlia Costa Mendes
University of So Paulo, So Paulo, Brazil;
WHO Collaborating Centre for the Development of Nursing
Research, Brazil

Hand-washing is the simplest non-burdensome measure to prevent healthcare-associated infections. The purpose of
this exploratory, descriptive survey was to assess the knowledge of nursing professionals regarding hand-washing.
The research proposal was analyzed and approved by the Research Ethics Committee. The entire nursing team of a
secondary hospital institution from a city in the interior of the state of So Paulo, Brazil, was invited to participate
in the study. Data were collected using the WHO (World Health Organization) questionnaire (2009), which
contains 13 personal and professional identification questions and 13 questions on the theme, with the assistance of
a handheld mobile device (Galaxy Tab). For data analysis, descriptive statistics were performed utilizing
SAS/STAT (statistical analysis) software (2003). Participants of this study were 86 professionals who signed the
Informed Consent Form. There was a prevalence of female professionals (86%), with a mean age of 34.69 years old
(SD =6.72). As for their position at the institution, 75.6% were nursing assistants and 24.4% were nurses.
Regarding knowledge of the theme, 20.9% answered that they had not received any training on hand-washing at the
institution and 56.9% stated that the microorganisms responsible for healthcare-associated infections are in the
hospital environment, and not on patients or in their proximity. Only 32.5% of the participants correctly answered
the question regarding how long it takes for the alcohol preparation to destroy microorganisms present on the hands.
Based on the results, we conclude that continuing education is needed, using innovative strategies, such as available
educational technologies, so that professionals may gain further knowledge in a motivational and pleasant manner.
Keywords: hand-washing, hospital infection, educational technology, nursing
Introduction
HAI (hospital acquired infection) is regarded as a serious public health problem worldwide that
contributes to increased morbidity, mortality, length of stay, and expenses for diagnostic and therapeutic

Patrcia de Carvalho Nagliate, Ph.D., RN (registered nurse), EERP-USP (Ribeiro Preto College of Nursing, University of So
Paulo); WHO (World Health Organization) Collaborating Centre for the Development of Nursing Research; professor, Federal
University of Alagoas.
Paula Cristina Nogueira, Postdoctor, RN, EERP-USP; WHO Collaborating Centre for the Development of Nursing Research.
Simone de Godoy, Ph.D., professor, EERP-USP; WHO Collaborating Centre for the Development of Nursing Research.
Denise de Andrade, Ph.D., professor, EERP-USP; WHO Collaborating Centre for the Development of Nursing Research.
Isabel Amlia Costa Mendes, Ph.D., RN, full professor, EERP-USP; director, WHO Collaborating Centre for the Development
of Nursing Research.
DAVID PUBLISHING
D
HAND-WASHING: KNOWLEDGE OF NURSING PROFESSIONALS

764
procedures (Collins, 2008; Parmeggiani, Abbate, Marinelli, & Angelillo, 2010; Coelho, Arruda, &
Faria-Simes, 2010; Toledo, Arend, Pilonetto, Costa Oliveira, & Luhm, 2012).
HAIs (Healthcare-associated infections) comprise not only infections acquired in hospitals, but also those
acquired in any service where healthcare is delivered, including outpatient clinics and homes. They also include
infections acquired by health professionals in the course of their work while engaged in performing patient care
procedures (Horan, Andrus, & Dudeck, 2008; CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), 2011).

Thus,
HAIs occur in health institutions worldwide, affecting hundreds of patients every year, including patients in
developed countries (Allegranzi & Pittet, 2009).
The undesirable occurrence of health complications related to HAIs is strongly highlighted by the world
literature, as these have continuously increased at an alarming rate in recent decades (Collins, 2008). HAIs are
considered as an adverse event which can be avoided, and constitute one of the quality markers of patient care
related to patient safety (Collins, 2008).
Patient safety is a global health problem that affects countries at every level of development (Andermann,
Ginsburg, Norton, Arora, Bates, Wu, & Larizgoitia, 2010). Patient safety involves the prevention of errors and
adverse events associated with patient care (WHO (World Health Organization), 2009b) This term emerged
from a movement towards quality in health care and was defined by the IOM (Institute of Medicine) in the
United States as: (1) prevention of harm to patients; (2) learning from the errors that do occur; and (3) a culture
of safety that involves health care professionals, organizations, and patients (Mitchell, 2008).
According to the IOM report To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System (IOM, 2000), adverse
events affect approximately two million patients every year in the United States, resulting in 90,000 deaths and
expenditures of about 4.5 to 5.7 billion dollars per year, with additional amounts for patient care (Sheng, Wang,
Lu, Chie, Chen, & Chang, 2005; Kothari, Sagar, Ahluwalia, Pillai, & Madan, 2009).
Studies on patient safety highlight that the main adverse events affecting the inpatients are improper
administering of medications, nosocomial infections, and surgical complications (WHO, 2009b; 2010). Despite
the reconfiguration of the service model adopted by physicians, characterized by a decrease in the number of
inpatients and an increase in outpatient care treatments, as well as a decrease in numbers of hospitalizations, the
frequency of HAIs has grown (Collins, 2008). In 2005, the WHO presented the first global challenge for patient
safety with the program Clean Care Is Safer Care. In addition, the WHO has encouraged global awareness and
the provision of solutions to support the prevention of HAIs (WHO, 2005).
In this context, hand hygiene is the simplest non-burdensome measure for the prevention of HAIs,
although this practice is still overlooked by many professionals (Helms, Dorval, & St. Laurent, 2010; Andrade,
Caliri, & Watanabe, 2011).
Hand hygiene can be performed in two ways: (1) simple hand-washing with soap and water or an
antiseptic; and (2) common hand rubbing with liquid, gel, spray, or cream alcohol preparations that do not
require the use of water (WHO, 2009b; 2010; Siegel, Rhinehart, Jackson, Chiarello, & Healthcare Infection
Control Practices Advisory Committee, 2007).
The topic of hand hygiene has been the primary focus of programs, such as that of the World Alliance
for Patient Safety, an initiative of the WHO, working together with other countries to improve the
compliance of health workers to hand hygiene to improve infection control. In 2005, this initiative released
the Global Challenge for Patient Safety with the motto Save lives: Clean your hands, distributed among
various healthcare institutions around the world to improve compliance with hand hygiene (WHO, 2009a).

765
Based on scientific evidence, this movement has proposed Five Moments for Hand Hygiene, which defines
key situations in which health professionals should perform hand hygiene (Sax, Allegranzi, Uckay, Larson,
Boyce, & Pittet, 2007). Thus, in 2009, because of the importance of this study, the WHO advanced a strong
recommendation regarding the importance of the five moments for health professionals (WHO, 2009b;
2010).
The five moments recommend that hands should be sanitized: (1) before touching a patient; (2) before a
clean/aseptic procedure; (3) after body fluid exposure risk; (4) after touching a patient; and (5) after touching
patient surroundings. Studies have pointed out the importance of the five moments in increasing compliance
with hand hygiene (Erasmus, Daha, Brug, Richardus, Behrendt, Vos, & Van Beeck, 2010; Bolon, 2011).
Purpose
This study aimed to assess the knowledge of nursing professionals at a public, small-sized secondary-level
hospital in an interior city in the State of So Paulo, Brazil, regarding hand-washing.
Methodology
This is an exploratory, descriptive survey-type study. Once, the research proposal was approved by the
Research Ethics Committee (protocol No.14392011), the entire nursing staff of a secondary hospital institution
located in a municipality in the interior of So Paulo, Brazil, was invited to participate in the study.
Data were collected by means of the Hand Hygiene Knowledge Questionnaire for Health-Care Workers
(WHO, 2009c), which includes 13 personal and professional identification questions and 13 questions
regarding knowledge of hand-washing. All questionnaire data were entered into a virtual environment and
accessed via mobile handheld tablet devices. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics with the
software SAS/STAT (2003) (SAS Institute Inc., 2003).
Only professionals who signed the Informed Consent Form participated in the study.
Results and Discussion
Of the 115 nursing professionals working at the institution, 86 (74.78%) participated in the study. Of the
rest, 14 (12.17%) professionals refused, seven (6.08%) were on vacation, four (3.47%) were on sick leave,
three (2.60%) were on maternity leave, and one (0.86%) was on notice of dismissal. Of the 86 participants,
women predominated (86%), with a mean age of 34.69 years old (SD =6.72). Regarding their position at the
institution, 65 (75.6%) were nursing assistants and 21 (24.4%) were nurses, 31 (36.05%) having worked in their
current area for 5-10 years and 41 (47.67%) working in the medical and surgical clinic sectors. In addition, 18
(20.9%) reported not having received training on hand hygiene at the institution.
Table 1 shows the frequency of answers to some questions, which are believed to be the most important
and are thus presented in this study.
Health care environments, such as hospitals contain many sources of microorganisms responsible for
causing HAIs. Thus, the most frequent source responsible for HAIs are the microorganisms already present
on the patient, as well as in the patients surroundings. Regarding this question, 35 (40.70%) professionals
indicated that the microorganisms were already present on the patient or in the surroundings, 49 (56.98%)
indicated the hospital environment, its objects and surfaces as the major sources of microorganisms, and two
(2.33%) indicated the air in the hospital as being the main source (see Table 1).

766
Table 1
Distribution of the Frequency of Answers of the Participants in Relation to the Source of Microorganisms Most
Commonly Responsible for HAIs
Sources of microorganisms n %
Water system of the hospital - -
Hospital air 2 2.33
On the patients or near them 35 40.70
Hospital environment (objects and surfaces) 49 56.98
Note. Data were collected at Ribeiro Preto, 2012.

Table 2
Distribution of Participants Response Frequency in Relation to the Minimum Time of Action of Alcohol Gel
Needed to Destroy Microorganisms
Minimum time of action of alcohol gel needed to destroy microorganisms n %
3 seconds 9 10.47
10 seconds 26 30.23
20 seconds 28 32.56
1 minute 23 26.74

The efficacy of alcohol products intended for hand hygiene is affected by several factors, such as
concentration, time of contact, friction, volume of alcohol used, and whether the hands are wet at the time of
application (WHO, 2009a; Kawagoe, 2009; Rotter, Sattar, Dharan, Allegranzi, Mathai, & Pitte, 2009). Thus, 28
(32.56%) professionals indicated that alcohol gel effectively kills microorganisms in 20 seconds, 26 (30.23%)
answered 10 seconds, and 23 (26.74%) pointed out that the time of action needed for alcohol gel to kill
microorganisms is one minute; nine (10.47%) indicated a time of three seconds (see Table 2).
The alcohol preparation has an immediate effect against various microorganisms present in transient
microbiota, and it is safe for the hands of health care professionals, not only for a short period of time, but also
after the first application (Gaonkar, Geraldo, Caraos, & Modak, 2005). Therefore, the antimicrobial activity
time of alcohol preparations for hand-washing varies from 30 seconds to one minute of application (Gaonkar et
al., 2005). In addition, it is understood that, based on studies related to this area, the minimum acceptable time
for alcohol to be effective is between 20 and 30 seconds.

Table 3
Distribution of the Frequency of Answers of the Participants in Relation to the Type of Hygiene Performed
Before and After Direct Contact With a Patient
Type of hygiene
Before touching a patient After touching a patient
n % n %
Rubbing with alcohol 36 41.86 29 33.72
Soap and water 49 56.98 57 66.28
None 1 1.16 - -

The Five Moments of Hand Hygiene campaign encouraged by WHO educates health professionals
regarding the importance of hand-washing and stresses rubbing hands with alcohol preparation associated with
five major situations occurring in health care, so as to increase compliance with this practice. These situations

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include the first moment before touching a patient and the last after touching a patient (WHO, 2010). Thus,
49 (56.98%) of the health care professionals indicated that they washed their hands with soap and water before
touching a patient, 36 (41.86%) reported using alcohol gel, and one (1.16%) stated that he/she did not perform
hand hygiene before touching a patient. However, regarding the situation after touching a patient, 57 (66.28%)
of the professionals used soap and water and 29 (33.72%) rubbed their hands with alcohol gel. These data
reveal the knowledge of the professionals regarding the importance of hand hygiene, although, they also show
the lack of knowledge and confidence in relation to the five moments of hand hygiene, since alcohol gel has
been proven to be effective for use before and after touching a patient (see Table 3).
The authors emphasize that these data are consistent with the literature, as hand hygiene should preferably
be performed with soap and water, but it is known that the vast majority of hospitals face a high volume of
patients and scarce human resources. In an attempt to encourage hand hygiene, the WHO has conducted studies
that prove the effectiveness and the use of alcohol solutions in situations where there is not enough time to
perform hand hygiene appropriately (with soap and water).
Conclusions
Given the results presented in this study, it is necessary to implement continuing education, using
innovative strategies, such as the use of educational technologies currently available, to allow professionals to
acquire more knowledge in a motivational and enjoyable way throughout their workday (Nagliate, Rocha,
Godoy, Mazzo, Trevizan, & Mendes, 2013; Trevizan, Mendes, Mazzo, & Ventura, 2010).
The practice of mobile technologies used in this study has proven to be efficient as a means of data
collection, as it allowed access to educational content during the workday and in any sector of development of
professional activities, and also prevented the loss of records of the answers provided by the participants.
Promoting continuing education on the topic of hand hygiene among healthcare professionals using
educational technologies adds more safety to the process of care provided, stimulates the process of
decision-making and communication among professionals and allows the opportunity to acquire more updated
knowledge.
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October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 769-776
Creativity and Language Usage in Interactive

and Integrated Projects
Tanja Psonder
Karl-Franzens-University Graz;
FH J OANNEUM University of Applied Sciences,
Graz, Austria

This paper aims at outlining the dual-focused approach used to train architecture students to work independently on
re-development and re-usage concepts in an Erasmus IP (intensive programme) workshop, where English was used
as the working language. The creative tasks were combined with communication skills (social and technical
English, negotiation skills), which were to enable the students to present their outcome publicly in the final
presentation. The underlying concept is that students work in small international groups and develop their own
method to address the given problem in the form of a real project. Through the project-based approach, students
search for information that accompanies their project ideas, which helps them find a viable solution. The creative
work process is completed by a thorough evaluation and intensive reflection phase in order to strengthen the
students learning experience. Additionally, the interdisciplinary approach, as well as the multinational aspect that
originate from different cultural and educational backgrounds of the students, shall contribute to the interactive
work process. This process of interaction is based on the idea of experiential learning that sees knowledge as the
transformation of experience.
Keywords: interdisciplinary intensive workshop, second language, experiential learning, project-based learning,
evaluation, reflective learning process
Introduction

Teachers of ESP (English for specific purposes) are frequently requested to collaborate with content
teachers in extra-curricular projects in tertiary education. The Erasmus IP (intensive programme) outlined in
this paper was designed to implement a dual-focused approach for architecture students to work independently
on re-development and re-usage concepts for a former Cistercian monastery situated in Austria, where English
was used as the working language.
In this article, the dual-focused approach, together with its underlying methods and implications, is
discussed. Before doing so, a few essential aspects need to be introduced briefly. Erasmus IPs are multinational
teaching programmes in an area of specialisation within an academic discipline that last a minimum of 10 days.
Students and lecturers coming from at least three European countries work on topics which do not form part of
the curricula of the participating partner institutions. The IPs are organised and co-ordinated by a lead partner

Tanja Psonder, Ph.D., Department of English and American Studies, Karl-Franzens-University Graz; FH J OANNEUM
University of Applied Sciences.
DAVID PUBLISHING
D
CREATIVITY AND LANGUAGE USAGE IN INTERACTIVE AND INTEGRATED PROJ ECTS
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institution. The aim is to consolidate the know-how of the partner institutions and to foster interdisciplinary as
well as multidisciplinary learning and teaching approaches.
The architecture students coming from the lead partner FH J OANNEUM UAS (University of Applied
Sciences) are in their first year of a masters degree programme and have gained some experience in working
independently in interdisciplinary workshops during their bachelor education. The second language component
is a new aspect for them. The students, in general, have a total of 195 contact hours of ESP tuition over their
five years of education at undergraduate and graduate levels. Austrian students in tertiary ESP courses are not
primarily language learners, although, for some of them, it would be necessary as they have had little exposure
to English prior to their tertiary language training. This particularly applies to graduates of higher technical
colleges. ESP courses in tertiary education are designed to combine the language learning element with
discipline-related topics and intensive social skills training.
Architecture is a manifold discipline in students education. It comprises urban design, re-development,
construction using existing structures, interior design, landscape architecture, etc.. For that reason, the
education of architecture students requires solid foundations in sciences, adequate state-of-the-art infrastructure,
and teaching methods that equip the students with the skills that they will need to work in their career field.
Furthermore, architecture students are expected to be all-rounders with excellent knowledge of their subject and
a range of accompanying social skills, which allows them to work successfully in multidisciplinary and
multinational teams. In this student-workshop, the use of English, in addition to the design and technical
subjects, plays a central role. English as the official project language was used from the kick-off through to the
final presentations of the design proposals developed by the international student project teams.
Following a brief discussion of the rationale behind this interdisciplinary re-development project, the
project structure itself is outlined. In a further step, the paper focuses on the role of experiential learning
specifically with the aim of developing the language skills necessary to cope with the demands of the project,
and later, also with the demands of an architect in a global workplace. It continues with a short description of
the model of IIA (interactive, integrated architecture) and the elements which are designed to improve the
language and communication skills of the participating students. The model of IIA clearly reflects the idea of
the project-based learning approach. The project assessment and evaluation are discussed in the final section of
the paper following the discussion of the pedagogical implications.
Methodology
Masters degree students in the degree programme of architecture at FH J OANNEUM UAS primarily
work with discipline-related texts and oral material to broaden their linguistic horizon in their compulsory
foreign language training. This concept of embedded second language learning mainly aims at a thorough
preparation of the students for their future professional life in a global workplace. Therefore, the focus is placed
on the use of adequate state-of-the-art material that gives the students insight into the correct terminology and
wording in their discipline. The aim of the accompanying language class is clearly defined in the curriculum,
whereas, the teaching methods to achieve maximum benefit for the students can be adapted according to the
students needs. The dual approach used in the IP workshop relies on student-focused, independent learning,
and the simulation of an authentic and realistic work situation in the form of the re-development of an existing
structure. In the IP, the two components of student-focused and authentic learning are consolidated and
complemented by the language component and the international spectrum of the participating students and
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lecturers.
The participants in the Erasmus IP comprised 55 students mostly on masters degree level from five
European countries working together in a two-week workshop with pre-defined tasks in the field of sustainable
architecture and the focus on construction in existing structures. The group of students was divided into smaller
international sub-groups, that is, one student from each country, and followed a daily work programme
including different tasks aiming at the final outcome to present their design proposals in front of a jury at the
end of the workshop in Week 2.
Week 1: Arrival, First Impressions, Excursions, Symposium, Work in Studios, Ideas/Expectations
Versus Realisation, and National Characteristics in Architecture Versus International Teams of
Students
In the workshop, the different national and cultural approaches to architecture, as well as to the planning
process, were simulated using the extension and re-development of the Cistercian monastery as a realistic case
study. In addition to the interactive draft and ideas process in the studio, interim presentations were given and
rounded off by the lecturers critique, which was to enable the students to filter out valuable ideas for their
work progress. Due to the amount of multifaceted information about the project, as well as the impulse lectures,
given by experts during the symposium, a great deal of knowledge was gained within a short period of time.
Furthermore, the ability for teamwork and competition spirit were encouraged by independent work on a real
project, and the self-management of the student groups.
Interdisciplinary student workshops are in general not without problems and challenges for both the
participating students and lecturers. In particular, keeping the students who meet at the beginning of the
workshop for the first time and are expected to work together closely on track throughout the course of the
workshop can prove to be complicated and demanding for the workshop leaders. Additionally, different
amounts of prior knowledge and different skills sets might also complicate the collaborative work on the
project. Nonetheless, these problems and challenges will contribute significantly to the students individual
learning process as they truly reflect on an authentic work situation.
Week 2: Intensive Work in Studios, Final Presentation of Design Proposals in the Form of a Student
Competition, and Departure
The results of the workshop were further worked upon in the curricular modules at the partner universities.
In order to make that possible, it was necessary to include the workshop into the curriculum of the respective
participating university very early on to be able to formulate foci of interest and areas of specialisation, as well
as didactical intentions. At FH J OANNEUM UAS, the model IIA was used by the IP co-ordinator. This model
shares similarities with the concept of project-based learning.
Project-based learning exposes the students to the professional reality and demands to apply the acquired
knowledge to date. In smaller projects, there might be only one area of specialisation involved, whereas, in larger
projects, such as the Erasmus IP described here, architects from different areas of specialisation and even
professionals from other disciplines are involved. Project-based learning is usually accompanied by lectures that
give students some theoretical input to this topic. Apart from this, the organisation, the time management, and the
use of adequate resources are handed over to the students and forms part of their overall task. This clearly leads to
the aspect that self-direction of the students is rather strong in project-based work. Heitmann (1996)
differentiated between project-oriented studies and project-organised curricula. According to him,
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project-organised curricula use projects as the structuring principle of the entire curriculum, with subject-oriented
courses eliminated or reduced to a minimum and related to a certain project. Students work together in small
groups supported by a team of lecturers who mainly act as advisers and consultants. Projects are carried out
during the length of the course and vary in their duration. In this respect, the Erasmus IP workshop and the work
that followed it could be seen as step towards project-organised curricula in the field of architecture.
In the Erasmus IP workshop, the didactical model behind the concept of IIA was the attempt to simulate
a real planning situation, which interactively guides the results of the design process and finally leads to a
retrospective of the various stages. The students then experience the interaction of the individual parameters on
the results of the workshop, and as in professional life in free enterprise, the creation of an entire project. This
procedure enables the students to work autonomously with little or even no teacher guidance on a large-scale
project within a given timeframe. What is, nonetheless, provided by the workshop leader is a certain frame that
splits the project into interrelated phases which are the kick-off, the outline of the project, knowledge inventory
and tools, research on project, resources, and the round-up of the project. The international student groups pass
through these phases in accord with their individual work pace. This means that they either remain longer or
shorter in a phase or decide, if necessary, to go back to a previous step to revise their findings or to discuss
problematic areas in more details. Professional problem-solving skills in architecture rely very much on the
discussion of data that hopefully are sufficient while trying to satisfy the demands that come either from the
client, authorities, the public, or from all of them together.
Pedagogical Implications
The design task was connected to the basic requirement that any form of communication (either oral or
written) has to be carried out in English. This prerequisite involved many skills, such as the ability to use
English for social purposes, as well as discipline-relevant and technical terminology in the intensive discussion,
and in the wording of the slideware for the final presentations of the design proposals. In particular, it was
evident that the individual student had to work thoroughly on their current mental lexicons to meet the
linguistics demands of the Erasmus IP.
Additionally, the focus was placed on student-focused learning and self-management. In order to distance
the students from frontal teaching and to familiarize them with learning methods which put the concrete
experience and the freedom to experiment with different approaches into the foreground. Kolbs (1984)
experiential learning cycle seemed to be a good starting point for an IP in a technical discipline.
Experiential learning (Kolb, 1984) emphasizes the central role that experience plays in the learning
process. The ELT (experiential learning theory) clearly differentiates itself from cognitive and behavioural
learning theories. Cognitive theories rate cognition over effect while behavioural theories deny the role of
subjective experience in the learning process. According to Kolb (1984) and Sternberg and Zhang (2000), the
ELT defines learning as the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.
Knowledge results from the combination of grasping and transforming experience. According to the four-stage
learning cycle depicted in Figure 1, immediate or concrete experiences are the basis for observations and
reflections. These reflections are assimilated and distilled into abstract concepts from which new implications
for action can be drawn. These implications can be actively tested and serve as guides in creating new
experiences. Following this theory, the Erasmus IP was structured and organized according to Kolbs
experiential learning cycle as is described in the following paragraph.
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Firstly, the students examine the current state of the object and define their drafts (concrete experience);
Secondly, in critique sessions with the lecturers and the fellow students (peer feedback), they reflect on the
creative process and as a follow-up attempt to incorporate the improvements into the next stage of drafts
(observation & reflection); Thirdly, in a brief description that accompanies the design proposals, they formulate
the notional concept of their proposals (abstract conceptualization); and Lastly, the students continue with the
implementation of the proposals in the form of detailed plans, sections, visualisations, and three-dimensional
models (active experimentation) (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Kolbs model of experiential learning.

Traditional teaching methods at tertiary level in a second language environment often primarily comprise
frontal teaching, lectures, direct instructors input-related activities and the tried and tested exercises to check
vocabulary, and text comprehension. These teaching methods clearly do not reflect the needs of experiental
learning as explained before.
In a group of 55 students, you will of course find different types of learners. Going back to Flemings
typology of learner types (Fleming, n.d.), three different types are differentiated. The visual learners who think
in pictures and need visual aids for support, the auditory learners who learn best through listening, and the
kinesthetic or tactile learners who learn best through experiencing and doing. All learners, regardless of their
preferred learner style, need an appropriate learning environment that addresses their skills and involves them
actively. Based on many years of teaching experience in ESP in tertiary education on a technical discipline, it is
evident that students with a technical background primarily rely on visual input, which means that they learn by
seeing, visualizing, and analyzing the information. Nonetheless, they also enjoy learning by doing and active
exploitation of their knowledge. In order to respond to the individual needs of a wider audience, the aim is to
distance yourself from the typical lecturer-student role to a more open learning environment that depends on
beneficial mutual support.
The amount of direct instructors input and input-related activities in the Erasmus IP workshop is
restricted to one day, called experts day in the first week. On this day, the students are exposed to a series of
lectures that form the backbone of the topic under discussion. Reference projects and best practice examples
should help them build on a theoretical frame. To work on this specific project, the students are guided towards
the idea of project-based learning as explained earlier. This means that the lecturers take a facilitative role that
comprises them answering questions, monitoring the group behavior, and supporting students in so far that they
offer advice, explanations, and resources. This means that the lecturers teach if necessary, but the extent and the
timing of their instructional intervention differs from those in traditional teaching approaches.
The project-based learning approach aims at training students to become more confident in solving
problems while concurrently improving their organizational capability and time management, communication
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and presentation, research, self-assessment and self-reflection, group participation, and leadership skills. The
approach definitely encourages them to find information on their own, to increase their ability to learn not only
the content but also the skills of using their knowledge and integrate them successfully. This article does not
give an insight into project-based learning, but relates this to the fundamental idea of the Erasmus IP.
Project-based learning is also adaptive and integrative of various learner backgrounds in a discipline. Hence,
such projects may activate prior knowledge of individual learners and may result in a manifold outcome.
This heterogeneous group of 55 European students who come from five different institutions with different
foci of specialization definitely seemed to be a good starting point to build on this concept. The idea was that
they had to negotiate the design, find solutions to the given problem, manage the tight schedule, and learn to
work in a multinational team. Their different areas of specialization should contribute to a holistic picture that
comprises the many facets of architecture.
Project Assessment and Evaluation
The Erasmus IP workshop was carried out in the form of student competition as competitions are a typical
procedure in the project acquisition phase in the field of architecture. Even smaller architectural projects are
accomplished as a design competition, whereby many architects, often from all over the world, are invited to
submit their design proposals. Therefore, special emphasis needs to be placed in general and in this specific
example on the project assessment and evaluation. The collaboration of students in a project comprises many
aspects, such as their technical competence, design competence, ability to do research, as well as oral and
written communication skills. To give effective feedback to the involved students, systematic assessment
throughout the project is highly recommended, and should also reflect the current industry standards of the
specific discipline.
In the IP workshop, students worked in small groups, hence, the assessment of the design proposals turned
out to be a difficult undertaking. The students did not receive individual project grades for their proposals
during the IP, but, they were then graded at the end of the semester as their design proposals formed the basis
of the projects which they continued in their curricular. That means that the need for a pre-defined set of criteria
and the need to inform the students prior to their start on the proposals was of utmost importance. The set of
criteria includes aspects, such as task fulfillment according to the task description and parameters handed out in
the tender proposal to the students, the assessment of the creative solutions (novel concepts, unconventional
ideas, use of materials, sustainability, etc.), the presentation format (visualization and design of slideware), and
the oral presentation skills. The group presentations were evaluated on a defined date towards the end of the
second week. On that day, all student groups presented their design proposals in a presentation lasts 15-20
minutes, including a Question and Answer Session. The instructors and the external jury evaluated the
presentations according to this set of pre-defined criteria and selected students from the audience to assess their
colleagues proposals based on the same set of criteria.
In general, peer evaluation can take many different forms. However, it should aim at constructively
critiquing others works and set the scene for effective feedback that enhances the project outcome. It can be
carried out as a short follow-up to the assessment through the instructors and experts jury in the form of oral
feedback. The idea that everyone in the audience is invited to contribute their feedback seems interesting,
though, it might bring up too many aspects, so the decision was taken to restrict it to a group of peer evaluators
who focused on the same set of criteria as the instructors and the experts did. The individual student groups
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were of course requested to comment on the feedback from the instructors, the experts jury and from their
fellow students and to finish the assessment and evaluation of phase one of the design process.
The suggestions that came from the instructors, the experts jury and the peers were then added up to form
an overall score, and thus, give a clear ranking of the student projects. Oral feedback in terms of content and
presentations skills, including paraverbal and nonverbal communication, was given to the student groups
immediately after their presentations. All presentations were videotaped and made available to the students and
lecturers for further use.
This careful assessment process was necessary as the students continued their work on the design proposal
in their curricular courses. At the end of the workshop, the students should have received clearly defined steps
about improvements. Additionally, this feedback was to help them develop a personal understanding of the
expectations in their career field.
The assessment of the student projects is followed by an evaluation of the Erasmus IP through the
participating students. Apart from organizational aspects, the main interest is put on criteria, such as the
individual judgment of the academic outcome or learning outcome of the personal outcome and on the
academic activities and pedagogical aspects of the workshop. The final question aims at the topic of
employability of the project in future studies or in their professional life.
The last step in the overall project evaluation was student reflection of the work process and the outcome. It
is essential that architecture students are aware of the importance of the reflection process as it forms a
significant part of this specific design process and of design processes in general. Another important aspect of
this reflective process is that it also includes the reflection on their learning experience that has taken place while
participating in the project. According to Feletti (1993), this reflective process is a professional skill which should
motivate each student to think about their learning experience as a whole. He continued that at a metacognitive
level, the students can review what path their learning process took, and reflect whether this was according to plan,
to resources or time, and what needed to be identified and overcome. In short, students and teacher reflect on what
has changed their learning process and which changes might be implemented in future projects.
Conclusions
The Erasmus IP workshop presented here is suitable for tertiary learners with a profound knowledge in
their discipline and in a second language. The experiential approach gives architecture students many
possibilities to express their creativity in a realistic setting.
The authentic learning scenario in the form of a real project enabled the students to apply and improve
their problem-solving skills, their communication skills in a second language, and to leave their individual
footprint on the design proposals. Furthermore, the IP workshop also enabled the students to immerse in a
community of practice, in which instructors, experts, and students interacted with the overall and mutual goal in
mind to achieve maximum benefit during the project.
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Feletti, G. (1993). Inquiry based and problem based learning: How similar are these approaches to nursing and medical education.
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TeachEffectively_TypesofLearners.pdf
Heitmann, G. (1996). Project-oriented study and project-organized curricula: A brief review of intentions and solutions. European
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professional_development/conferences/tlf/tlf1996/williamspj.html

October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 777-783

Learning About Herbs and Spices in the Preschool Period
Marjanca Kos, J anez J erman
University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

This study examined how much 4-year-old children know about herbs and spices. We researched how much
knowledge children could obtain through experiential learning by growing plants in an herb garden and by using
herbs and spices in their food. An experiment with one control and one experimental group was carried out, each
comprising 18 children. With semi-structured interviews, the authors established the state of the childrens previous
knowledge on herbs and spices and recognition of plants, exemplified by growing plants and plants used in food
dishes. Children from the experimental group then continued to grow herbs and spices and use them in food dishes.
Following these activities, the acquired knowledge was established with repeated semi-structured interviews in both
groups. At the beginning of the experiment, the childrens prior knowledge and recognition of plants were very
rudimentary. Only 33% of the children in the experimental group recognized parsley, 22% of them knew
chamomile, and 17% of them knew sage and chamomile in tea. Following the activities, children of the
experimental group showed statistically significant improvement in plant recognition (mint 100%, oregano on pizza
100%, chamomile 94%, parsley 94%, and oregano 94%). We conclude that through activities of growing plants in
herb gardens and their use as food ingredients already in early childhood when eating patterns develop, children
obtain much knowledge of herbs and spices.
Keywords: preschool children, experiential learning, outdoor learning, science education, gardening, herbs, spices
Introduction
Plants have been used for medicinal purposes in all periods of human history including modern times.
Rich knowledge of herbs used to be transferred from one generation to another in the domestic environment.
However, such transfer of knowledge is increasingly disappearing today and younger generations often lack
opportunities to acquire this type of knowledge. Knowledge of medicinal plants is directly applicable in life as
medicinal herbs can be effective alternatives to synthetic medicines. Over the past decade, there has been a
widespread use of natural herbal remedies instead of synthetic prescription drugs due to growing concerns
relating to the side effects of such pharmaceuticals (Goldberg, 1999).
Nowadays, when many families do not prepare their meals at home and increasingly use precooked
processed food, familiarity with spices is also being lost, despite the fact that spices are an important part of
healthy nourishment as they not only provide a greater variety of tastes, but also benefit the functioning of the
body as a whole. In recent studies, many health benefit attributes of these common food adjuncts have been
recognized, which include digestive stimulant action, hypolipidemic effect, antidiabetic influence,
antilithogenic property, antioxidant potential, anti-inflammatory property, antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic

Marjanca Kos, Ph.D., senior lecturer, Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana.
J anez J erman, Ph.D., assistant professor, Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana.
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LEARNING ABOUT HERBS AND SPICES IN THE PRESCHOOL PERIOD

778
potential, as well as antibacterial and antiviral activities. These physiological effects may also have preventative
applications in a variety of pathologies (Srinivansan, 2005; Viuda-Martos, Ruiz-Navajas, Fernndez-Lpez, &
Prez-lvarez, 2010).
Familiarity with herbs and spices could influence the subsequent nutrition habits of children. It is
important for children to acquire positive experiences with varied food already in their childhood, since the
eating patterns are developed at the early age and can be traced into and through adulthood (Sandeno, Wolf,
Drake, & Reicks, 2000).
In the preschool period, children primarily acquire knowledge through direct experience (Bredekamp &
Copple, 1997). Gardening brings many incentives to preschool children, originating in the joy they experience
in doing something meaningful there (Rivkin, 1995). It integrates motivational and meaningful activities with
the three elements of science education: attitude, process skills, and content (Hachey & Butler, 2009). Through
gardening, children improve their knowledge about the environment (Kirby, 2008; Miller, 2007; Wake, 2007;
Witt & Kimple, 2008). Efficient learning involves as many senses as possible (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997),
therefore, herb gardens in kindergarten, which are a rich source of forms, colours, smells, tastes, and textures,
provide excellent sensory stimulation for learning and progress of the youngest in all aspects of their
development. They do not require a lot of space, material input, and intensive care, yet, they provide many
opportunities for learning, not only about herbs and spices, but also about the life needs and development cycle
of plants, about the natural variety and the changing of nature over the seasons. Growing plants are not
demanding and their use is generally not restricted to one season, on the contrary, they can be used all year
around.
The aim of our research was to establish how much 4-year-old children know about herbs and spices. We
established an herb garden in a kindergarten, allowing children to become familiar with herbs and spices
through experiential learning. At the end of the project, we studied the scope of knowledge that the children had
acquired.
Methods
Sample
The study included 36 children from Zalog kindergarten in Slovenia. They were divided into two groups
of uniform age and gender. On average, the children were four years old.
Conducting the Experiment
Our experiment was carried out with one control and one experimental group of children.
Prior to the experiment, parents and the kindergarten staff were informed of the research and their consent
to participation was obtained. The prior knowledge of both groups of children of medicinal herbs and spices
was first researched by means of semi-structured interviews. The study aimed at establishing whether they
knew the meaning of the words medicinal herb and spice and which medicinal herbs and spices they knew.
Our further aim was to establish, with the help of specific specimens of growing medicinal herbs and spices,
together with products containing them (such as chamomile tea, a spread with chives, and a piece of pizza with
oregano), how children recognise these plants.
Together with children of the experimental group, we carried out the Herb Garden in Kindergarten
project over a three-month period. Emphasis was given to the participation of children, sharing ideas, and

779
project documentation. We prepared soil, sowed seeds, and planted seedlings (we grew some seedlings
ourselves). Children took care of the herb garden, they watered the plants, removed weeds, and observed
changes in the development of plants. They learnt what colours and forms the plants had, and smelled and
tasted them. After the plants matured, they used them in teas, spreads, soups, and as additions to dishes.
They also learnt about their medicinal properties and expressed their experience with herbs and spices
through art activities. Children of the control group did not participate in the project of growing herbs and
spices, however, they participated in regular kindergarten activities without herbs and spices related
contents.
After completion of the experiment, we used semi-structured interviews in both groups to reassess the
childrens knowledge of medicinal herbs and spices. All interviews were recorded.
Data Analysis
After having analyzed the recorded interviews, we grouped the childrens answers into two categories: (1)
The child does not know herbs and spices; and (2) The child knows herbs and spices well.
Using the IBM SPSS (IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Statistics), a statistical analysis
software, we calculated the absolute frequency and percentage share for each answer category. Prior to
conducting the experiment, we examined the differences in answering category frequencies between the control
and experimental groups by applying Pearsons
2
test. After the conducted experiment, we examined the
differences in answer category frequencies for both groups of children by applying McNemars
2
test
(Coolican, 2009).
Results
Prior Knowledge of Medicinal Plants and Spices
At the beginning, children were pretty much unfamiliar with the subject of medicinal herbs and spices.
Only one child in the experimental group and two children in the control group knew the meaning of the
expression medicinal herb. After explanation of its meaning was given, only three children out of 18 in each
group were able to give examples of a medicinal herb (chamomile and mint were mentioned in the
experimental group, and additionally, lemon balm in the control group). None of the children was familiar with
the expression spice. When they were explained the meaning of the word spice, only two children of the
experimental group could give examples of a spice plant (they mentioned parsley).
Recognising Growing Medicinal Herbs and Spices and Plants That Are Used in Food Products
Pearsons
2
test showed no statistically significant differences between the control and experimental
groups before the experiment with respect to their familiarity with herbs and spices. Before the experiment, the
two groups were thus equal in their familiarity with herbs and spices (see Table 1).
In the experimental group, McNemars
2
test showed that all differences in recognising herbs and
spices were statistically significant before and after the experiment. The significance is rather high, which
means that activities related to the herb garden had a strong influence on their knowledge in this area (see
Table 2).
It is noteworthy that certain differences in recognising particular herbs and spices are statistically
significant also in the control group of children (see Table 2). It seems that in their everyday activities at home
and in kindergarten, children also encounter the above-mentioned subject and acquire knowledge in this area.

780
Anyhow, the differences in the experimental group of children are significantly bigger than the differences in
the control group.

Table 1
Pearsons
2
Test Between the Control and Experimental Groups Before the Experiment
Herb or spice
2
p
Chamomile in chamomile tea 0.000 1.000
Chamomile 1.125 0.289
Parsley 0.000 1.000
Chives in cheese spread 2.890 0.089
Chives 2.890 0.089
Mint -
*
-
*

Oregano on pizza 1.415 0.234
Oregano -
*
-
*

Sage 0.000 1.000
Note.
*
No statistics were calculated since the variable is a constant. All answers were incorrect in both groups of children.

Table 2
McNemars
2
Test Within the Control and the Experimental Groups After the Experiment
Herb or spice
Control group Experimental group
2
p
2
p
Chamomile in chamomile tea 8.100 0.004 10.083 0.002
Chamomile 3.125 0.077 11.077 0.001
Parsley 0.500 0.480 9.091 0.003
Chives in cheese spread 1.333 0.248 11.077 0.001
Chives 1.333 0.248 11.077 0.001
Mint 6.125 0.013 16.056 0.000
Oregano on pizza 2.250 0.134 15.059 0.000
Oregano 6.125 0.013 15.059 0.000
Sage 2.250 0.134 7.692 0.006

Table 3
The Percentage of Correctly Recognised Herbs and Spices Before the Practical Activities for the Experimental
Group, as Well as for the Control Group
Herb or spice Experimental group (%) Control group (%)
Chamomile 22.2 44.4
Parsley 33.3 38.9
Chives 11.1 0.0
Mint 0.0 0.0
Oregano 0.0 0.0
Sage 16.7 16.7


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Table 4
The Percentage of Correctly Recognised Herbs and Spices After the Practical Activities for the Experimental
Group, as Well as for the Control Group
Herb or spice Experimental group (%) Control group (%)
Chamomile 94.4 77.8
Parsley 94.4 50.0
Chives 83.3 16.7
Mint 100.0 44.4
Oregano 94.4 44.4
Sage 77.8 38.9
Discussion
The results of our experiment indicate that 4-year-old children are able to learn a great deal about herbs
and spices through direct experience. Before the project, their recognition of medicinal herbs and spices was
rudimentary (see Table 3). After the three-month project, most of the children in the experimental group were
familiar with a wide range of herbs and spices; they were even good at recognising them in dishes that
contained them (see Tables 2 & 4). Their experience with plant growing as well as participation in preparation
of dishes in which these plants were used caused a change in their knowledge in this area.
In accordance with Piagets theory of cognitive development, kindergarten staff should provide adequate
opportunities for childrens participation in physical experiences and social interactions in equilibration in each
group of children, and allow them enough time to be able to consider and reconsider their ideas (Labinowicz,
2010). In our project, children developed new knowledge on herbs and spices through the physical experiences
they obtained in the herb garden and in social interactions with preschool teachers and other children. In
cooperation with preschool teachers, children achieved common building of knowledge in reference to herbs
and spices, something that Vygotsky identified as the zone of proximal development (Hill, 2009).
Their own experience with growing herbs and spices influenced the childrens attitude to their
consumption. After the project, children were much more willing to eat and add parsley, chives, and oregano in
their food, as they had these herbs freshly cut and available at their meals. Many of them lost their prejudices
and were no longer disturbed by that green stuff floating on the soup or in the sauce. Similar findings were
shown by numerous studies on childrens attitudes towards consuming vegetables and fruit. Parmer,
Salisbury-Glennon, Shannon, and Struempler (2009) found that school gardens can increase fruit and vegetable
knowledge and positively influence dietary habits at the early age. After gardening, students attitudes towards
vegetables became more positive significantly (Lineberger & Zajicek, 2000) and garden-based nutrition
education increased childrens consumption of fruits and vegetables (McAleese & Rankin, 2007).
Working in the herb garden strongly motivated children to acquire knowledge. Millers (2007) findings
suggest that significant personal growth, skill development, academic learning, and environmental awareness
occur at the preschool and kindergarten level through childrens activities in the garden. Children need
stimulating, hands-on activities to keep them active in the learning process. These activities and materials are

782
specific, real, and relevant to their lives, and they incorporate all aspects of development: physical, cognitive,
social, and emotional (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997). Herbs and spices also motivate on the account that they
can be consumed immediately; they are sufficiently unknown to encourage a childs interest (Latimer, 1995;
Fleagle, 1994). Herb gardens can also provide incentive for art activities (Lovejoy, 1998). In our project,
children had the opportunity to explore through senses and immediately re-enact their sensory experiences
through creative movement and drawing. Expression through creative movement can reinforce memories of an
experience and contribute to longer-lasting natural science knowledge (Kos, Schmidt, & J erman, 2012).
The herbs and spices encouraged children to ask questions about them at home and to obtain information
about them from their parents, grandparents, and relatives. With this subject, preschool children can recognise
older people as an invaluable source of experience and traditional knowledge that is transferred from one
generation to another, which encourages intergenerational connections (Latimer, 1995). Acquiring local
knowledge on herbs can serve as a basis to appreciate the rich heritage of their own and other environments
(Carter, Kusimo, & Lunsford, 2000).
Conclusions
The results of our research lead us to the conclusion that through activities of growing plants in herb
gardens and their use as food ingredients, preschool children obtain much knowledge of herbs and spices. It is
appropriate to start with this type of activities already in early childhood when eating patterns develop. Herb
garden is not only the place where plants grow, but also it fosters growth of preschool children in many of the
developmental domains; consequently, we recommend growing herbs and spices as a regular kindergarten
activity.
References
Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C. (1997). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from
birth to age 8 (Revised ed.). Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Carter, C., Keyes, M., Kusimo, P. S., & Lunsford, C. (2000). Uncommon knowledge: Projects that help middle-school-age youth
discover the science and mathematics in everyday life. In Hands-on science projects (Vol. 1). Charleston: AEL.
Coolican, H. (2009). Research methods and statistics in psychology (5th ed.). London: Hodder Education, Hachette UK company.
Fleagle, G. (1994). Herbs will grow on you. Science and Children, 31(4), 12-15.
Goldberg, B. (1999). Alternative medicine: The definitive guide. Tiburon: Future Medicine Publishing.
Hachey, A. C., & Butler, D. L. (2009). Seeds in the window, soil in the sensory table: Science education through gardening and
nature-based play. Young Children, 64(6), 42-48.
Hill, G. (2009). AS and A level psychology through diagrams. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kirby, T. (2008). A garden of learning. Science and Children, 45(9), 28-31.
Kos, M., Schmidt, G., & J erman, J . (2012). When we go out, we get inOutdoor learning about nature through creative
movement in early childhood. In V. Gerak, H. Koroec, E. Majaron, & N. Turnek (Eds.), Promoting the social emotional
aspects of education: A multi-faceted priority (pp. 94-102). Ljubljana: Faculty of Education.
Labinowicz, E. (2010). Izvirni Piaget: Miljenjeuenjepouevanje (The Piaget primer: Thinking, learning, teaching).
Ljubljana: DZS.
Latimer, D. J . (1995). Herbs: Bridging the generations. Texas Child Care, 19(2), 30-34.
Lineberger, S. E., & Zajicek, J . M. (2000). School gardens: Can a hands-on teaching tool affect students attitudes and behaviors
regarding fruit and vegetables? HortTechnology, 10(3), 593-597.
Lovejoy, S. (1998). Educational gardening. Taproot, 11(2), 11-18.
McAleese, J . D., & Rankin, L. L. (2007). Garden-based nutrition education affects fruit and vegetable consumption in sixth-grade
adolescents. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 107(4), 662-665.
Miller, D. L. (2007). The seeds of learning: Young children develop important skills through their gardening activities at a

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mid-western early education program. Applied Environmental Education and Communication, 6, 49-66.
Parmer, S. M., Salisbury-Glennon, J ., Shannon, D., & Struempler, B. (2009). School gardens: An experiential learning approach
for a nutrition education program to increase fruit and vegetable knowledge, preference, and consumption among
second-grade students. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 41(3), 212-217.
Rivkin, M. S. (1995). The great outdoors: Restoring childrens right to play outside. Washington, D.C.: National Association for
the Education of Young Children.
Sandeno, C., Wolf, G., Drake, T., & Reicks, M. (2000). Behavioral strategies to increase fruit and vegetable intake by fourth-
through sixth-grade students. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 100, 828-830.
Srinivansan, K. (2005). Role of spices beyond food flavoring: Nutraceuticals with multiple health effects. Food Reviews
International, 21(2), 167-188.
Viuda-Martos, M., Ruiz-Navajas, Y., Fernndez-Lpez, J., & Prez-lvarez, J . A. (2010). Spices as functional foods. Critical
Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 51(1), 13-28.
Wake, S. J . (2007). Designed for learning: Applying learning-informed design for childrens gardens. Applied Environmental
Education and Communication, 6(1), 31-38.
Witt, S. D., & Kimple, K. P. (2008). How does your garden grow? Teaching preschool children about the environment. Early
Child Development and Care, 178(1), 41-48.

October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 784-790
The Phonemic Principle Revisited

Iftikhar Haider
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, USA

This paper discusses and highlights the contribution of Morris Swadesh in the field of Linguistics in general and to
the study of phoneme in particular. Swadeshs phonemic principles played an important role in the development of
Linguistics as an independent field of study. Phonemic analysis is one of those questions in the field of Linguistics
that will be studied repeatedly, and Swadeshs observations and analyses in the context of current phonological
theory remain relevant to this day. Most of his ideas are still used with different terminology, e.g., minimal pairs,
allophones, broad transcription, narrow transcription, etc.. His methods remained under discussion for many years
after his seminal paper on phonemic analysis titled The Phonemic Principle was published. Despite of its many
strengths, there are number of small weaknesses which are also discussed in this paper.
Keywords: phoneme, phonemic analysis, allophones, defective phoneme, phonetic writing
Introduction
Swadesh was a leader in the first generation to develop modern linguistic analysis in the United Statesthe
generation that came to the analysis of linguistic structure as something with a distinct methodology to be developed and
learned. (Hymes, 1971, p. 276)
Linguists have long been interested in analyzing the sound structure of languages. Numerous linguists have
tried to study sound structure by studying how the segmental phonemes of a language should be analyzed. Morris
Swadesh (1909-1967), one of the linguists interested in sound structure, laid the foundations for further work on
phonemic analysis by completing his first theoretical work on inductive procedures for dividing sounds into
meaningful sub-stretches. He presented a set of principles in his paper The Phonemic Principle. These principles
assist the phonological analysis of phonemes on the basis of the positional variation of sounds in a given language.
Swadeshs principles (Swadesh, 1934) played an important role in the development of Linguistics as an
independent field of study. Some linguists, including Harris (1960), used Swadeshs principles for word and
sound elements, and laid the foundations of discovery procedure based on distributional analysis, a procedure
that is an important part of modern linguistic methodology (Strazny, 2012). Haugen (1958) stated Swadesh
published The Phonemic Principle, which became fundamental to American work in this field (p. 498). In his
paper, the author argued that phonologists can use a set of principles to discover phonemes on the basis of the
distribution of sounds in a given language. He further asserted that different positional sound variants exist in
complementary distribution in different languages, and these variants should be considered as instances of the
same sound type or phoneme. In this paper, the author will highlight the basic ideas and the evidence he uses to
strengthen his claims. In the last part, the author will present his views about this paper and reflect on the
relevance of Swadeshs observations and analyses in the context of modern phonological theory.

Iftikhar Haider, Ph.D. candidate, Applied Linguistics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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THE PHONEMIC PRINCIPLE REVISITED
785
Characteristics of Phonemes and Phonemic Categorization
The first part of the paper gives a brief introduction of the phoneme and the phonemic principle. Swadesh
(1934) contended that all languages have a limited number of speech sounds (phonemes), and all sounds are
produced by using phonemes, which may be significant in a given language. Phonemes are significant as they
can be used to differentiate words from each other. He further asserted that phonemes are precepts for native
speakers of a language, who hear language via phonetic substance of phonemes. This shows that Swadesh
believes in the psychological reality of phonemes. However, knowing the phonemes of one language does not
help people learn another language. Even linguists have a difficult time discovering phonemes of languages
other than those of their native language. Swadesh asserted that it is difficult to learn phonemes in other
languages on the basis of ones native language knowledge. Replacing the phonemes of any language with the
phonemes of even same language, results in words that are unintelligible to native speakers of that language.
For example, hid, bed, or bit. Phonemes are also limited to the position in which they can occur; this
positional limitation is found in many languages, including English. Such situations can give rise to word
variants in different languages. Swadesh (1934) discussed these word variants in the next part of his paper.
Swadesh (1934) categorized these variants within a single phoneme (allophones) into two sub-types, free
and conditional variants. He stated that free variants are determined regardless of their position in sentences;
however, conditional variants are determined by their position in a sentence. Free variants can be further
categorized into particular free variants (applicable only to a single word or a restricted number of isolated
words) and general free variants (applicable to all words in a given class). Similarly, conditional variants can
also be divided into two sub-branches, particular and general conditional variants. Conditional variants can be
further divided into phonetically- and structurally- conditioned cases. Swadesh discussed all these phoneme
variants in 1934; today, these concepts are considered as the basic principles of phonemic analysis.
One of his ground-breaking contributions was to help linguists identify phonemes on the basis of the
distribution of sounds in a given language. He gave an example from English language by using /p/ sounds in
words, such as Peter, piper, dip, sip, pit, and so on. Swadesh (1934) considered phoneme to be
identifiable by phonetic type (later in his paper, he related it with phonetic norm) as given in some examples
below. This shows that every time language users utter a phoneme, they follow a certain norm based on the
occurrence of phonemes in different positions in a word. All these norms depend upon the phonetic
environment in which phonemes occur. There can be multiple norms for one phoneme; in the case of the
English letter p, there can be at least three norms:
(1) Relatively fortis, aspirated, e.g., in the initial position, as in pit;
(2) Fortis unaspirated, e.g., between two vowels, as in upper;
(3) Lenis unaspirated, e.g., after s, as in spill.
Swadesh noted that these linguistic norms and their range of deviations are often witnessed in individual
language users.
These different norms give rise to different surface forms of the same phoneme, commonly known as
allophones. For example, in English, the phoneme /t/ has different allophones, i.e., the voiceless unaspirated
/t/ in mistake, stop, etc., the aspirated /t/ in top, pretend, etc.; flapped [] in later, party, etc.,
glottalized and unreleased [] in the American pronunciation of hat, Atlantic, etc., the palatal affricate //
(it is not fully an affricate but usually there is an palatal, fricated release to the /t/) in tree, betray, etc..
786
Current phonological analysis also places much emphasis on rules and representations of different phonemic
features in a language.
Phonemic Frequency and Defective Phoneme
According to Swadesh (1934), phonemes often vary in their frequency in different languages. Some
phonemes are frequent, e.g., the /s/ in English, and some are infrequent, e.g., the /g/ in Tunica only occurs in
the stemgatci (mother). There can be certain other positional restrictions on phonemes in different
languages, e.g., English words do not begin with two stops, whereas, this is possible in Sahaptin, e.g.,
tkwalwipt (evening meal). This demonstrates that each phoneme has a range of distributions; some phonemes
are much more limited in certain positions as compared to some other phonemes in the same language, e.g., in
English, // never occurs at the beginning of words. Phonemes with restricted positional distribution are called
defective phonemes, which can be useful to finding out certain constraints in a given language. This concept
is extremely helpful while collecting phonological data from informants. Linguists often use this technique in
field methods by introducing certain constraints to informants. On the basis of these generalizations, e.g., //
restriction at the beginning of the English words, informants can easily discern whether this defective
phoneme is possible in their language.
The above-mentioned Swadeshs concept of defective phoneme helps save a lot of time for language
researchers, as it helps them predict if a form is possible in their target language or not. Sometimes, informants
can present counterexamples of certain restrictions, which may decrease time spent searching for
counterexamples from other sources, such as dictionaries. This approach is still followed by some language
researchers working on identification of phonological sound patterns.
On the basis of common phonetic, variational, and distributional features, all sounds of a language can be
divided into different classes. These classes can be further sub- and cross- classified if they share many
similarities of these three features. For example, /p/, /t/, and /k/ are different from all other English phonemes
on the basis of their common phonetic, variational, and distributional features. Swadesh (1934) asserted that
due to the correlation of their significant features, phonemes are likely to occur in a consistent pattern. He
added that in addition to these features, phonemes are classified with regards to their psychologically
separable synchronous features (p. 121), which include tone, prosody, and stress. These features can give rise
to three basic kinds of phonemes:
(1) Sentence phonemes based on patterns of sentence prosody;
(2) Syllable phonemes based on tonemes (phonemes of tone in tone languages) and tasemes (phonemes of
stress in stress languages);
(3) Self-contained phonemes that are proper phonemes. (p. 122)
The occurrence of these three types of phonemes varies from language to language. Swadesh (1934) stated
that all languages have self-contained phonemes, but they appear to vary for sentence and syllable phonemes.
For example, English contains all these three types; French has sentence and self-contained; Navaho has
syllable and self-contained; and Nitinat has only self-contained phonemes. Later research on phoneme has
proved that most languages have sentence prosody, but the description and analysis of sentence prosody were
not developed when swadesh wrote on phoneme. Swadeshs categorization of phonemes on the basis of
different features is still useful for todays linguistic research. At initial stages of investigations, or in certain
situations if complete access to data of a language is not possible, these categorizations can be a useful tool for
787
comparing different languages. Similarly, Swadesh claimed that each language has a specific word and
syllabic structure (Swadesh, 1934, p. 122). The occurrence of phonemes in certain phonetic environments
directly relates to word structure. For example, in Chitimacha all words begin with a single consonant followed
by a vowel. In Nootka, a monosyllabic word never ends in a short vowel. All languages have such rules based
on word structure. Here, he did not give examples of sentence phonemes to prove his claim; this article would
have been more persuasive if the author had given examples of all new categories of phonemes he introduced.
Swadeshs Inductive Method
In the method part of his article, Swadesh put forward the idea of the phonemic principle and asserted
that the inductive procedure is the only way through which the phonemes of a language can be discovered
(Swadesh, 1934, p. 123). He also discussed some important details of the inductive process and cautions that
these details only apply to a particular language. This process of discovering the phonemes of a language
should start with phonetic facts and should follow certain criteria. Here, he discussed his five criteria:
consistency of words, partial identities, constant association, complementary distribution, pattern congruity, and
his test of substitution.
Swadesh (1934) stated that one must discover a consistent pattern of each word because same words have
similar phonemic structure. This approach can help with finding a consistent representation of each word, as
well as depict a range of deviation according to differences in the pronunciation of the same word. Once, a
consistent pattern is identified, linguists can look for the significant elemental sound types by thoroughly
comparing all sets of words with similar phonetic segmentation. This process can help formulate partial
identities among these sets. This criterion of partial identities can only be applied if phonemes involved in a
given phonetic element constitute a phonemic class based on the significant elemental sound types (Swadesh,
1934, p. 123). Swadesh (1934) argued that if sets of phonetic properties occur together they may then be treated
as units in constant association.
These ideas are closely related to Gleasons (1961) definition of phoneme, namely, a class of sound
which is phonetically similar and shows certain characteristic patterns of distribution in the language or dialect
under consideration (p. 261). For example, in English, when native speakers produce words containing the
phoneme /p/, they have slightly different variations in different phonetic environments, e.g., wept, spill,
and pan. Swadesh (1934) called this variation the range of deviation of the component phonemes (p. 123).
He also stated, on grounds of phonetic similarity, that two or more phonetic segments can be subtypes of the
same phoneme, provided that they are also in complementary distribution.
For the next criterion of pattern congruity, Swadesh (1934) asserted that in order to enhance pattern
congruity, phonemes can be organized into a system that can be frequently used throughout the phonemic
study of a language. Finally, in his test of substitution, he argued that one phoneme can be substituted by
another if it results in an extreme distortion from the norm, i.e., it produces a new unintelligible word for native
speakers of a given language. Swadesh (1934) concluded this section of method by declaring discovering
phonemes is the first step in the phonemic study of a language (p. 124).
Even though Swadesh stated his principles 80 years ago, he was correct in his conclusions. Even today,
identification of phonemes of a given language is a major task for linguists studying or comparing different
languages. In graduate-level phonology courses, graduate students do different exercises to identify phonemes
of a given language. First of all, they look for minimal pairs, which are closely related to Swadeshs test of
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substitution. This test helps us confirm whether substituting one sound for another results in a different word. If
this holds for this condition then we confirm that two sounds represent different phonemes. Minimal pairs are
also used as a pedagogical tool for ESL/EFL (English as a second language/English as a foreign language)
pronunciation classes. The author believes that it would have been better if Swadesh had used some specific
term for minimal pairs while explaining his test of substitution, but this term was not introduced at that point of
time. However, the author highlighted how important it is to study the total phonemic system of a language in
order to find out its significant classes, sub-classes, and cross-classes. This was a great contribution, as
phonologists are often confronted with the challenge of determining whether certain sounds fall into classes,
sub-classes, or cross-classes.
Phonemic Orthography
Swadesh (1934) considered phonemic orthography as an adequate, economical, and effective tool for
writing a language. Phonemes of a language can be perceived of as having some relationship to orthography,
and the author of this article considers orthography as an important tool for representing sounds of a language.
For example, English orthography is often considered arbitrary, yet, its regularity outweighs it arbitrariness.
Many teachers of pronunciation seek help from English orthography to formulate and explain prediction rules
related to English stress patterns. Swadesh (1934) stated that economical phonemic writing uses a few simple
signs so that even a language user who does not know the meaning of the words still can pronounce them easily.
This can be done if phonemic symbols depict the signs for different classes of phonemes. However, he also
mentioned that such orthography can be impractical for some reasons, which are not mentioned in this paper. It
would have been better if the author had discussed some of those reasons briefly in his paper. Concluding this
section, Swadesh favored using the same phonemic symbols for all languages. Without this, the use of different
phonemic symbols for each language would make phonological analysis complicated.
Swadesh was a great supporter of phonemic orthography, as he discussed merits and demerits of phonetic
orthography. He highlighted the role of phonetics in the discovery and description of phonemes. However, once
this discovery and description takes place, linguists should replace phonetic alphabets with a consistent,
thorough, and simplified phonemic orthography. Swadesh shared his views with Bloomfields (1933) critiques
of phonetic methods. Swadesh quoted Bloomfields paper to support his claims. In this paper, Bloomfield
criticized the phonetic method by doubting the validity of personal equipment used by phoneticians and
suggested that it did not accurately capture all acoustic features. This quotation gives the impression that
Bloomfield rejected the theoretical contribution of phonetics in the field of Linguistics at that time. However,
today, acoustic phonetics has become the cutting edge research field in Linguistics in addition to some other
scientific disciplines. There have been amazing accomplishments in digital signal processing since the
Bloomfields time. All these advances enable more reliable and informative acoustic analysis to nullify
Bloomfields criticism of phonetics. Swadesh (1934) also criticized phonetic writing by enumerating some of
its drawbacks. Here, he claimed that phonemic orthography can record all the pertinent phonetic facts and
gave four major drawbacks of phonetic writing:
(1) Phonetic writing does not indicate significant phonetic units of a given language;
(2) Phonetic writing is overly microscopic, complex, and hard to handle;
(3) Phonetic writing does not distinguish errors and distortions from normal forms;
(4) Phonetic writing is likely to be phonetically inaccurate. (p. 127)
789
The point that Swadesh wanted to make by introducing these drawbacks of phonetic writing is that
phoneticians need to improve their methods of discrimination of acoustic features; otherwise, they may easily
overlook some of the important sound features in a given language. Because of the above-mentioned drawbacks
of phonetic writing, Swadesh (1934) thought that phonemic orthography is a better option to use working on
the sound features of a language. It seems that he overlooked the importance of phonetic orthography as it also
has its own importance if we consider the role of phonetics in showing allophones and some other aspects of
sounds in a language. However, he acknowledged that normative phonetic orthography offers the same
advantages found in phonemic writing if such interpretations are made carefully. IPA (International Phonetic
Association) transcription is an excellent example of normative phonetic orthography in modern
phonological analyses. Swadesh concluded his paper with a brief discussion on historical phonology and
morpho-phonology. He argued that in phonemic analysis, only phonetic data are important, and that historical
phonology is not relevant. Swadesh (1934) defined morpho-phonology as the study of interchange between
phonemes as a morphologic process (p. 128). He further claimed that there can be morphologically distinct
phonemes in a given language. Such phonemes can be labeled as morpho-phonemes, a distinct class, as in some
other classes of phonemes (Swadesh, 1934).
This section of Swadeshs paper is somewhat detached from the rest of the paper. For the most part of the
last sections of his paper does not make a strong connection with the remainder of the paper. It would have
been better if Swadesh integrated this part coherently in the main arguments of his paper. This detachment is
quite obvious for readers, as it is difficult to connect this part with previous sections of his paper. Keeping in
mind that this paper was written eighty years ago, this detachment may not be valid critique at that time.
However, Swadesh tried to create a connection between historical phonology and morpho-phonology in the
concluding paragraph of his paper by stating Phonemics interrelates with other phases of linguistics science,
but does not compete with other phases (Swadesh, 1934, p. 129). Swadeshs main argument here is that we
can also study phonemes by viewing the phonemic structure of morphemes and observing how these
morphological processes contribute to the phonemic interchange in a given language.
Major Contribution of Swadeshs Phonemic Principle
One of the major contributions of Swadeshs paper is the inductive method that it introduced for phonemic
discovery and for their interpretation in a consistent way. His main argument is to follow a set of principles to
discover phonemes on the basis of positional variation of sounds in a given language. His methodological
explorations are criticized by few contemporary linguists; however, his contributions are still honored. Though,
his discovery of inductive method is important, but on a second thought, it appears redundant as this method is
the only possible way to discover phonemes. Another option is deductive method which is not applicable as in
phonological analysis we usually move from language data to our conclusions about sound patterns and
identification of phonemes. If the author do similar analysis today, even if he does not know anything about
inductive method still first thing in phonemic analysis is to follow inductive procedures; in Descriptive
Linguistics, we often follow inductive procedures even in Sociolinguistics. Linguists go to certain speech
community, collect linguistic data from respondents, and then inductively draw their conclusions about their
sociolinguistic behavior. However, Swadeshs contribution is praiseworthy if we remember that he had limited
resources at the time of his research. Throughout the paper he cited data from different languages, e.g., Nootka,
Chitimacha, Nitinat, Eskimo, etc., which shows he was adept at data collection. Swadesh believed in detailed
790
knowledge of language in order to make solid claims about its sound features. His methods remained under
discussion for many years after his paper was published in 1934. Some of his principles were used by other
phonologists, including Harris.
Conclusions
Swadeshs paper provides elegant and convincing principles for addressing one of the major concerns
about establishing a consistent and concise inventory of phonemes for a given language. Even today, phonemes
are one of the central concepts that are analyzed for different set of features and are studied by inductive
method. According to Dresher (2011), many popular topics in present day phonological theory are related to
some aspect of phoneme. He mentioned the following four topics to support his claim: distinctive features
theory, feature organization, underspecification, markedness theory, and notion of contrast.
There are still many useful claims in Swadeshs work, and linguists can return to The Phonemic Principle
to re-evaluate his claims in light of modern phonemic analysis. Phonemic analysis is one of those questions in
the field of Linguistics that will be studied repeatedly, and Swadeshs observations and analyses in the context
of current phonological theory remain relevant to this day. Most of his ideas are still used in different
terminology, e.g., minimal pairs, allophones, broad transcription, narrow transcription, etc.. Most of the things
in this paper are true, and they are very basic if we compare it with advancements made in the field of
phonology until today. Some of the notions are not clear to reader, e.g., sentence phoneme, since Swadesh did
not give any examples of this concept. Classic phonemic analysis, as Swadesh proposed, is not compatible with
contemporary phonological theory, since it disregards the challenge of determining contrastive relationships,
and presupposes a strictly abstract lexicon. Current work calls attention to phenomena of quasi-contrast (Cole,
2012, personal communication), and exemplar models of the lexicon where phonetic detail and usage frequency
can enter into the calculation of lexical contrast. In a nutshell, Swadesh has published an important published
paper on the phonemic analysis. Despite of its many strengths, there are number of small weaknesses which can
be ignored if we consider Swadeshs contribution in the modern phonology. Hymes (1971) appreciated
Swadeshs contribution in these words: We shall not see another scholar like him, but we can hope and believe
that the challenge and opportunity expressed in his life work will be fulfilled (p. 225).
References
Bloomfield, L. (1933). Language (Chaps. 5-8). New York: Henry Holt Press.
Dresher, B. (2011). The phoneme. In M. V. Oostendorp, J . E. Colin, E. Hume, & K. Rice (Eds.), The Blackwell companion to
phonology (Vol. 1, pp. 241-266). Malden, M.A. & Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Gleason, A. (1961). An introduction to descriptive linguistics. New York: Rinehart and Winston.
Hymes, D. (1971). Morris Swadesh: From the first Yale school to world prehistory. In M. Swadesh (Ed.), The origin and
diversification of language. Chicago: Aldine Atherton.
Harris, Z. (1960). Methods in structural linguistics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Haugen, E. (1958). Review of J. R. Firth, papers in linguistics, 1934-1951. London: Oxford University Press.
Swadesh, M. (1934). The phonemic principle. Language, 10(2), 117-129.
Strazny, W. (2012). Morris Swadesh: Critical essay. Retrieved J uly 29, 2012, from http://strazny.com/writing/swadesh/
October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 791-796

Platform Construction for Extra-curricular Learning and
Personal Academic Development of Physics
Students at University

Yang Dong-hua, Chen Min, Zhao Fu-li
Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

With the progressing development of economic globalization and increasingly fierce international competition, we
need groups of high-quality innovative talents to enhance the overall scientific and technological innovation
capacity and competitiveness while also improving the visibility of students on the international stage. Accordingly,
the cultivated talents should develop a more open vision, more novel awareness, and a more proactive learning
attitude. They will be more sensitive to new things, have stronger practical capacities, and have the courage to
break through routines to conduct their work more innovatively. Therefore, we have established a talent cultivation
philosophy of profound foundation, wide range, internationalization, and value innovation in the physics
education and have explored the extra-curricular learning and development pattern of physics students in order to
promote a well-rounded development.
Keywords: learning pattern, physics education, student affairs administration, teaching practice
Introduction
With the progressing development of economic globalization and increasingly fierce international
competition, we need groups of high-quality innovative talents to enhance the overall scientific and
technological innovation capacity and competitiveness while also improving the visibility of students on the
international stage. Traditional Chinese higher education attaches more importance to the adaptation of talents
to the posts required by the society, but it is relatively weak in student training in respect of creative ability.
Currently, Chinese higher education is gradually developing a core of innovative education by setting up
innovative personnel training objectives to provide students with an education that puts innovative capacity and
spirit at its core (Zhang, 2011). In this way, the cultivated talents will develop a more open vision, more novel
awareness, and more proactive learning attitude. They will be more sensitive to new things, have stronger
practical capacities, and have the courage to break through routines to conduct their work more innovatively.
The School of Physics and Engineering of Sun Yat-sen University has always adhered to the talent cultivation
philosophy of profound foundation, wide range, internationalization, and value innovation. Up to now, it has
continued to explore the extra-curricular learning and development pattern of physics students in order to

Acknowledgement: The work was supported by Talented National Science Fund for Talent Training in Basic Science of China.
Yang Dong-hua, Master of Management, School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University.
Chen Min, Ph.D., School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University.
Zhao Fu-li, Ph.D., School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University.
DAVID PUBLISHING
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PLATFORM CONSTRUCTION FOR EXTRA-CURRICULAR LEARNING

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promote a well-rounded development.
Establishment and Renewal of Talent Cultivation of Physics Students
On its current stage, the objective of Chinese higher education is to improve the quality of our
countrymen with a focus on the cultivation of innovative and practical capacity. The issue of Scientific
Thought of Development has even wider positive connotations in the cultivation of students receiving higher
education. Scientific literacy in physics and a sound scientific heritage are indispensable to contemporary
Chinese college students (Philip, Adam, & Edward, 2012). Physics is the basis of all science and technical
disciplines, and it is the force lighting the way in the development of world science (Zhao, 2006). The
cultivation of physics talents has an indisputable role and position of importance in scientific and
technological education, and in its further progress, and the possession of a solid theoretical foundation is an
essential quality for physics talents. So, profound foundation is the preliminary factor. Meanwhile, as
physics is the basis of science and technology, physics talents are gaining wider employment and staff range,
so wide range is an effective strategy to guide talent cultivation and to satisfy the need of society. In the
face of increasingly fierce international cooperation and competition, talents need to have international
characteristics, therefore, internationalization is a very important aspect with a need for rapid development
in order to tap the middle- and long- term potentials in the world today. Beyond this, the important qualities
of talents lie in their capacity to solve problems, to engage in scientific and technological innovation and to
improve social values. In such a period of knowledge explosion and rapidly changing in science and
technology, the innovative capacity of talents has gradually become a more important indicator of quality in
Chinese higher institutes and this is reflected in the growing strengths of national talents. It is for these
reasons that we built on the base of previous talent cultivation philosophies to establish the new talent
cultivation philosophy of profound foundation, wide range, internationalization, and value innovation
(Chen & Li, 2006).
Thinking in the Cultivation Process of Physics Talents
During the learning process, physics students must employ unique thinking, different methods, techniques,
and measures to tackle various complicated problems, which is a systematic training in essence that cultivates
interests, improves qualities, and develops willpower. It is clear that if we remain focused on a teaching style of
simply conveying knowledge, it will be difficult to inspire a strong curiosity among students and further
cultivate their study interests. It will also be difficult for students to master scientific ways of thinking unless
we cultivate an acute observation capacity, along with independent thinking capacity, during the exploration
learning processes in acquiring a deep perception of scientific issues. Therefore, it is of great importance to
combine the practice of scientific research, production practice, and social practice to cultivate an interest in
students to explore the unknown, develop a habit of independent thinking, and acquire problem-solving
capacity (Retrieved from http://www.physics2005.org/).
According to the new requirements of talent cultivation proposed through social development, the
characteristics of a physics discipline and the quality of students, in combination with their educational
experience of famous domestic and foreign universities, we are required to develop some new thinking
and practices in respect of the cultivation process of our physics students (Zhao, Chen, Li, & Yang,
2011).

793
Develop the Cultivation Process With a Combination of Student Affairs and Academic Affairs in Order
to Promote the Well-Rounded Development of Students
The Students Affairs Department is directly responsible for the management and guidance of students, and
the services provided for students in order to guarantee and support the growth of Chinese students and to serve
as an important channel to the talent training objectives. Those teachers engaged in the management of students
with professional teachers who are all educators in higher institutes, and they jointly bear the responsibilities of
promoting learning and development in our students. In the past, as far as talent cultivation was concerned,
Chinese higher institutes mainly demonstrated for the implementation of teaching plans, attached great
importance to the cognitive development of students, and considered that the student work should mainly be
about ideological education and the construction of good study practices, but this neglected its role in talent
cultivation. As a matter of fact, the work of the Students Affairs Department plays a critical role in helping
students develop strong social responsibilities, good psychological qualities, and some transferrable skills
during the process of talent cultivation. In this respect, higher education institutes should take full advantage of
the various resources both inside and outside the campus, shape a close relationship in the cooperative talent
cultivation process between student affairs and academic affairs, and finally, create a suitable environment for
cultivating talents in a well-rounded way, all toward creating good conditions for the comprehensive
development of students.
Establish and Highlight the Dominance of Research and Exploration in Learning Patterns as the Core of
Student Learning
Currently, a teaching philosophy that attaches importance to exploration and research is gradually
becoming the mainstream in the development of college teaching philosophies. Learning is an exploratory
activity, and students independently acquire knowledge through this exploration of the natural process, while
also advocating further cultivation of the exploration capacities required by students to be able to engage in
research in an organized and orderly manner. In college, the learning and training in and out of the classroom
play almost the same important role in talent cultivation. In recent years, the question-based learning style
advocated by constructivists has also received considerable attention. This style of teaching stresses learning
through the application of complicated and meaningful question situations in order to encourage the solution of
real questions through cooperation among students, to learn the scientific knowledge that underlies the
questions in order for the students to be able to develop their problem solving skills with a capacity for
independent learning. To be frank, all these learning methods require the establishment of learning styles that
take research and exploration as the core and highlight the dominant position of students in the learning process
with a unification of knowledge, capacity, and quality to change students from the traditional receivers of
knowledge into knowledge explorers. This is far more beneficial to the cultivation of thinking capacity,
encourages innovative awareness and enhances the cooperative spirit of students.
Make full use of the advantages of higher institutes in scientific research, create opportunities for
undergraduates to engage in scientific research, and help students develop learning patterns that focus on
research and exploration to cultivate students interest in scientific research and their own scientific qualities.
Promote Student Activities that Focus on Experiential Education, and Highlight the Dominant Position
of the Student in Their Own Development
Active participation of the student is the most effective channel for student learning and development, this

794
includes various learning experiences, both in and out of class, and also experience on and off campus.
Experiential learning refers to the learning that students acquire in both the social and living contexts, these
experiences bring the learning experience into the field of real life. Through the application of experience, the
study of knowledge no longer exclusively belongs to the cognitive and rational range, but expands into the
fields of emotion, physical application, and personality, and this alters the learning process by engaging the
health and development process of the physical body, psychology, and personality, rather than being limited
through the process of only being knowledge acquisition. Colleges should take full advantage of the various
resources on campus to promote student learning and development, strive to provide adequate time and space
for self-development, and establish a mode of education that cherishes the experience of the students.
Experiential education concerns the independence of student learning. The development of the student is
an all-round, integral, and dynamic process, student work should actively promote participation in learning and
exploration, and this should be based on a conscious design of student activities that create the best
environment for experiential education in communication and presentation skills, organizational capacity, team
awareness, social responsibilities, etc..
Practice Channels for Extra-curricular Learning and
Development Mode of College Students
Establish Exploration-Oriented Learning in the First Year, and Enhance the Autonomous Learning
Awareness of Students
Freshman education is an important link for college students entering higher education after senior middle
school. The influence of the college freshman year is of great importance throughout the students college time.
The objective of implementing freshman education is based on various instructive educational activities that
enhance the recognition, development of social skills, and personal values of the students, in order to lead
students into the development of habits of active learning, assist students in adapting to their new environment
in the transitional period, help with career planning, solve academic problems, and generally work toward the
development of an independent and mature college student. Therefore, through the establishment of the
exploration-oriented freshman year, we can provide students with the motivation to continue their studies, and
enhance their autonomous learning awareness (Yang & Qu, 2011).
The exploration-oriented freshman year includes:
First, in the education of freshmen, we should fully demonstrate the richness and diversity of the student
individuals and make clear the various learning opportunities that motivate the student to learn;
Second, by offering seminars, we should provide students with opportunities of cooperative learning
through exploration in order that they may conduct seminars under the instruction of experienced teachers to
find an interest in learning through new learning methods;
Third, by establishing an academic counseling system and through a series of academic counseling works
and processes, we can help students adapt to a supportive environment of college life, promote the development
of good learning habits in the student, master good learning methods, instruct them on how to use a wide
variety of learning resources, and improve their learning capacity, research capacity, and innovative capacity;
Fourth, establish a workshop to help students adapt to college life. With team guidance, we can help them
establish good interpersonal relationships in class to enhance the self-confidence of freshmen and help smooth
the adaptation stage to their college life.

795
Promote Research-Style Extra-curricular Learning Patterns, Integrate Undergraduates Into the
Research Process, and Develop Their Research and Innovative Capacities
Undergraduate education stresses the equal importance of knowledge acquisition and research experience.
In addition to the knowledge acquired in class, we should fully value the active learning that focuses on
exploration and research in extra-curricular scientific and technological activities, we should take full
advantage of the high-level teachers, advanced teaching and research facilities, a good academic atmosphere,
extensive international communications, and other resources while actively publicizing the research-style
extra-curricular learning activities, integrate undergraduates into the research process and develop their
research and innovative capacities (Shi, 2000).
With a combination of involvement in both the scientific and research projects of supervisors and the
various extra-curricular scientific and technological contests, we can achieve a multi-level scientific and
technological training system. Each year, supervisors would set up regular scientific research projects for
undergraduates, lead undergraduates to enter the research field as early as possible, and cultivate their spirit of
scientific exploration and their innovative capacities. According to the research projects offered by supervisors,
students can prepare their own research plans and complete their research under the guidance of supervisors.
With preliminary scientific research training, most students can improve their research capacities, and some of
them can even publish their papers in domestic and foreign core journals, these activities display the
rudimentary abilities of high-level researchers. Ever since the establishment of this project, the good academic
learning environment and active learning atmosphere have been prepared for excellent students, and this has
played an important role in the cultivation of the research and innovative capacities of those students. The
number of research papers published by undergraduates keeps rising and some of these papers are published in
high-level academic journals. The further implementation of the project will integrate more and more
undergraduates into these research-style learning mode, to lay a solid foundation for the cultivation of their
interest in researching and the improvement of their research qualities.
In addition, we should encourage students to actively participate in the contests of the various disciplines
and in research training plans, also cultivate the students general research capacities of analysis and problem
solving in practice.
Demonstrate the Experience-Based Learning Activities, Set up a Training Platform to Transfer Skills
and Promote Development
Undergraduate education is concerned with the whole development of the college students, while stressing
the cultivation of the students communication and other transferrable skills. While enhancing the research
training of college students, we apply some student participation seminars to cultivate the students capacity of
thought, analysis capacity, and language ability. Such participatory discussions can inspire students thinking
processes and encourage them to defend their own opinions.
Firstly, set up a platform for students to gain experience in their language ability, hold academic report
contests, improve students learning and research interests, and expand students research and communication
abilities generally. For first- and second- year students, we highlight the training of their research capacities, we
also organize students to conduct seminars and public lectures in order to exchange their ideas about academic
information and their research experiences. For this purpose, in the contests, we stress the preparation and
communication advantages of academic related presentation. For third- and fourth- year students, we stress the

796
training in innovative research alongside training toward an international academic communication capacity. In
contest, we stress the research, innovation, and English communication ability, and we require contestants to
prepare PowerPoint and make academic reports according to the requirements of international academic
meetings. To cultivate the students language abilities, we conduct the dialogue activity of Physics Dating,
cultural salon, academic exchange activity, and other activities; Secondly, we establish a platform for students
to gain experience in organizational abilities and planning abilities, we also try to operate student activities in a
manner similar to those of project development in order that more ordinary students can participate in activity
planning, organization, and management in order to help link and develop their comprehensive abilities and
experience; Thirdly, we establish a platform for students to experience social responsibilities, conduct
obligatory maintenance public activities, summer social practice, and other activities to develop a sense of
social responsibility during the process of the students course; and Fourthly, we establish an international
exchange experience platform and invite domestic and foreign scholars who are actively participating in
international research frontiers to give a series of lectures or undertake short-term teaching in Sun Yat-sen
University, we cooperate with foreign universities to help in the running of Sun Yat-sen University and
participate in student exchanges, we provide students with opportunities to experience diverse cultures, develop
international vision, and enhance their cross-cultural communication and cooperation abilities.
References
Chen, M., & Li, Z. B.(2006). Implementation of the curriculum reform the mode of cultivating creative talents in Physics.
Proceedings of The 2005 the University Physics Forum (pp. 78-81). Beijing: Higher Education Press.
http://www.physics2005.org/
Philip, B., Adam, B., & Edward, S. (2012). The good life in a technological age. New York: Routledge.
Shi, C. (2000). Re-establish undergraduate education: The experience and inspiration of American undergraduate education in
1980-1990s. Studies in Foreign Education, 2, 59-64.
Yang, D. H., & Qu, X. (2011). Practical study of extra-curricular learning and development patterns of undergraduate. Work &
Study Abroad, 4, 122-124.
Zhang, H. (2011). Appreciating the beauty of Physics: My experience in teaching non-physics majors at Peking University.
Physics, 9, 610-613.
Zhao, F. L., Chen, M., Li, Z. B., Yang, D. H. (2011). Combinations of Chinese and Western culture, practical research of
establishing international physics teaching pattern with Chinese characteristics. Proceedings of The 2010 Foreign College
Physics Teaching and Teaching Materials Seminar (pp. 111-112). Beijing: Mechanical Industry Press.
Zhao, K. H. (2006). Physics enlightens the world (pp. 19-20). Beijing: Peking University Press.

October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 797-801

A Primary Study on Netspeak

Ma Yan-hong
Qufu Normal University, Qufu, China

Language has changed greatly in the information age. Linguistic changes markedly reflect on the lexical aspects,
for words are the most active factors in language. Netspeak is a kind of special language which is between spoken
language and written language. Essentially, as a social variance of the modern language, it changes with the type or
style of the language depending on the differences of the language carriers. It is an identity denotation for surfers on
the Internet and a medium or tool for them to challenge traditions. This paper analyses the features and
word-formation of netspeak. We can have a better understanding of netspeak in the new era with an understanding
of the knowledge of lexical changes and word-formation.
Keywords: netspeak, internet, features, word-formation
Introduction
It is my turn to download now (i.e., I have heard all your gossip, now here mine);
Let us go offline for a few minutes (i.e., let us talk in private);
E you later (said as a farewell).
If you have never surfed the Internet or you are just a newbie (new user) to the Internet, the above
sentences may look strange to you, because it is totally different from what we have learned about English in
classroom. Approximately, 30 million people world-wide use the Internet and online services daily. The net is
growing exponentially in all areas, and a rapid increasing number of people are finding themselves working and
playing on the Internet.
Netspeak is evolving on a national and international level. The technological vocabulary, once used only
by computer programmers and elite computer manipulators called hackers, now, it has spread to all users of
computer networks. Therefore, an emphasis, which formerly was on technology, has shifted to people and
purpose. And as the Internet comes increasingly to be viewed from a social perspective, the language used on
the Internet (referred to netspeak) becomes central.
Many linguists abroad have showed great interests in this new and challenging field. One of them is David
Crystal. While, in China, most people still regard netspeak as a collection of Internet jargon, because this
important linguistic phenomenon begins to stir interest only in a small number of people who limit their
research merely to the introduction of these linguistic jargons. Not so many linguistic analyses have been made
in this field. It seems that, until now, most people are still unfamiliar with netspeak.
What Is Netspeak?
As Internet is still very young, netspeak itself is an even younger subject. In fact, netspeak is not yet

Ma Yan-hong, M.A., lecturer, Department of Foreign Language Teaching, Qufu Normal University
DAVID PUBLISHING
D
A PRIMARY STUDY ON NETSPEAK

798
widely accepted in the circle of linguists. When using a keyboard, messages are typed in, and it seems obvious
that it should be a form of written communication. In Herrings words, the first issue concerns the language of
CMC (computer-mediated communication): It is typed, hence, it is similar to writing, but exchanges are often
rapid and informal, and hence, it is more like spoken conversation (Herring, 1998). Crystal (2001) took this
notion up and coined the term netspeak.
Netspeak: Not a Form of Written Communication
Netspeak is not like writing, because it lacks one of the most basic features of traditional writingthe fact
that a piece of text is static and permanent on the page. A page on the Web often varies from encounter to
encounter for several possible reasons: its factual content might have been updated; its advertising sponsor
might have changed; or its graphic designer might have added new features. From a users point of view, there
are opportunities to interfere with the text in all kinds of ways that are impossible in traditional writing. A
page, once, downloaded to the users screen, may have its text cut, added to, revised, annotated, and even
totally restructured.
Netspeak: Not a Form of Speech
Netspeak is not like speech either, because it lacks the kind of simultaneous feedback which you get in
face-to-face conversations, or the immediate reaction signals which people make to each other (the mhms and
nods). When you are sending someone a message, he/she cannot react to it while you are writing it, because
until it arrives on his/her screen, he/she has no idea that it exists. And when it arrive, there is a delay before
he/she can give you a response, which makes the rhythm of the exchange totally unlike that of conversation.
Nor is netspeak like speech, in that there is no way of expressing like full range of vocal variations in pitch
(intonation), loudness (stress), speed, rhythm, pause, and tone of voice.
Netspeak: Not a Collection of Idioms, Slangs, Abbreviations, and Acronyms
Netspeak is not a mere collection of idioms, slangs, abbreviations, and acronyms. Indeed, a large number
of various idioms, slangs, abbreviations, and acronyms that found in netspeak have been one of its most
remarkable features, but, it is not the only feature of netspeak. The language is emerging based loosely upon
telecommunications vocabulary and computer jargons, with new derivations and compounds of the existing
words and shifts creating different usages; all of which depending quite heavily upon clippings. Because of
these reasons, the majority of net-using linguists classify netspeak as a dynamic jargon in and of itself, rather
than as a collection of slangs.
The Features of Netspeak
Language is the product of the times. English words are changing with the development of the society.
New words and new meanings are emerging. In addition to the common features shared by common words,
netspeak has its own distinctive features.
Creative and Free Language
The Internet is open, and everyone has the right to express his or her feelings on the Internet. Netspeak
reduces the outside fetters and develops the users freedom which makes the user conceive more craftily. So,
everyones creativity in language can be fully reflected. Netspeak always uses some methods, such as metaphor
and personification to form new netspeak.

799
Simple and Convenient Language
People are willing to use netspeak for the sake of convenience. The virtual Web provides a platform to
create letters and languages for self-expressing. However, it is necessary to pay for surfing on the Internet, as
time is limited as well, people need to express their ideas in a short time with few words. Therefore, the words
typed through the keyboard are not as fluent and skillful as the words spoken through humans mouth. As a
consequence, netizens are keen on abbreviating and blending words, such as English abbreviation btw (by the
way), gf (girl friend), and fm (follow me). Pronunciation is taken into account during the process of
netspeak word-formation. Due to lack of ability to transfer voice on the Internet, people tend to choose some
words, letters, and numbers to substitute the pronunciation of some other words. The words become vivid, such
as b4 (before), F2F (face to face), and G2G (got to go).
Unique Non-verbal Communication
Non-verbal communication refers to the communication without the use of words. Netspeak lacks the
facial expressions, gestures, and conventions of body posture and distance which are so critical in expressing
personal opinions and attitudes in moderating social relationships. The limitation was noted early in the
development of netspeak, and led to the introduction of smileys or emoticons. These are combinations of
keyboard characters designed to show an emotional facial expression. Emoticons first appeared in 1982, created
by Fahlman (Stefano, Eduardo, & Jovan, 2003). Fahlman wrote at the time:
I propose the following character sequence for joke matters: :-) (read it sideways). Actually, it is probably more
economical to mark things that are not jokes, given current trends. For this use, :-( emoticons are constructed by combining
punctuation marks (sometimes along with characters or numerals) on the computer keyboard to represent emotions or
semantic nuances, such as happiness, sadness, or qualification. (Stefano et al., 2003)
Some of the commonly used emoticons are as follows:
(1) :-) happiness/humor;
(2) :-( sadness/displeasure;
(3) ;-) winking/joking;
(4) :) embarrassed;
(5) :-@ screaming;
(6) :#) drunk.
In addition, onomatopoeias are also widely found in netspeak, as it is often necessary to get across an
action, such as a sigh or moan, without having sound capabilities to send the sound itself. Very frequently, net
users will use asterisks to denote such sounds as *sigh* or *moan*.
Generally, such non-verbal expressions are more intentional than the words used for communicating on
the Internet. Many signals share the same meaning in different languages. Anyone from different speech
communities could understand it.
The Word-Formation of Netspeak
Some of the word-formation methods, such as derivation, compound, and conversion are very important in
English; netspeak has more features of word-formation. In the following section, detailed analysis will be made
to find the features of netspeak word-formation.

800
The Word-Formation of English Internet Language
Abbreviation. For the sake of convenience, netizens are keen on abbreviating and blending words. These
abbreviations are pronounced as single words and are often used without our knowledge what the letters stand
for.
(1) The initial letters of the words, phrases, and letters
E.g., BBS (Bulletin Board System), CPU (Central Processing Unit), etc..
(2) Some similar words and pronunciations replace one word or the whole sentence
E.g., Bcz (because), pls (please), cu (see you), oic (oh, I see), where r u? (where are you?), etc..
Derivation. New words are created by adding affixes to the root. The word Internet itself is the word
net with the prefix inter- added to it. Another example is hypertext derived by adding the prefix hyper-
to the word text, produces the definition a method of storing data through a computer program that allows a
user to create and link fields of information at will and to retrieve the data nonsequentially, according to
Websters College Dictionary (Wendalyn, 1999).
(1) Prefixation
E.g., e-mail =prefix: e-+mail, hyperlink =prefix: hyper-+link, etc..
(2) Suffixation
E.g., freeware =free+suffix:-ware, browser =browse+suffix:-er, etc..
Compounding. Compounding or composition is a word-formation method which refers to the process by
which two separate words are put together to make a new one. A large number of new words on the Internet are
created through this way. The followings are some frequently used compounds in netspeak:
(1) Noun compounds
E.g., netspeak =net +speak, homepage =home +page, chatroom =chat +room, etc..
(2) Verb compounds
E.g., netcommunicate =net +communicate, download =down +load, etc..
(3) Adjective compounds
E.g., broadband =broad +band, hotwired =hot +wired, etc..
Blending. Another method is blending, which creates a word by combining parts of the words. The result
of such word-formation is called a blend that combines the sounds and the meaning of two others.
(1) The first part of the first word +the last part of the second one
E.g., neb =net +web, grrl =great +girl, etc..
(2) Whole form of the first word +last part of the second one
E.g., netiquette=net +etiquette, netizen=net +citizen, datagram=data +program, etc..
Functional and meaning shift. Functional shifts are frequently seen among vocabulary on the net. There
are a lot of words taken from regular English and applied with new meaning. It is the same in netspeak as in
English that the number of meanings is larger than the number of words. By a variety of shift in meaning and
due to the use of words in different situations, a single word has been made to express not one meaning alone,
but a variety of meanings.
For example, the word flame, the original meaning of flame is fire. This is also the primary meaning or
the central meaning of this word. In netspeak, flame refers to posting an insulting, emotional, and caustic
message to others.

801
Conclusions
As the Internet and computer online services further invade life world-wide, more and more people will
contribute to change and further develop net jargons as we know it today. As linguists, tracking this language
development is an interesting way of documenting the progression of the information age.
Nothing in our world today is changing more quickly than computer networks and technology, and
therefore, no jargon is changing more quickly than netspeak. Netspeak will continue to grow, change, and
become more a part of everyday communication. This dynamic language reflects the very rapid development of
new concepts and the need to communicate about these concepts.
References
Baron, N. S. (2000). Language and the Internet. Stanford: CSLI Publications.
Crystal. D. (2001). Language and the Internet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Coulmas, F. (2005). Sociolinguistics: The study of speakers choices (p. 65). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1978). Language as social semotic (pp. 32-33). London: Ed-ward Arnold.
Herring, S. C. (Ed.). (1996). Computer-mediated communication: Linguistic, social, and cross-cultural perspectives. Amsterdam:
J ohn Benjamins.
Stefano, B., Eduardo, G., & J ovan, K. (2003). Information security and organisations: A non-technical guide to players, offences
and effective defences. Diplo Foundation.
Wardhaugh, R.(2000). An introduction to sociolinguistics (p. 86). Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd..
Wendalyn, R. N. (1999). Websters college dictionary. Random House Reference.

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