Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ORG
International Journal
of
Learning, Teaching
And
Educational Research
p-ISSN: 1694-2493
e-ISSN: 1694-2116
Vol.16 No.9
PUBLISHER International Journal of Learning, Teaching and
London Consulting Ltd Educational Research
District of Flacq
Republic of Mauritius
www.ijlter.org The International Journal of Learning, Teaching
and Educational Research is an open-access
Chief Editor journal which has been established for the dis-
Dr. Antonio Silva Sprock, Universidad Central de semination of state-of-the-art knowledge in the
Venezuela, Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of field of education, learning and teaching. IJLTER
welcomes research articles from academics, ed-
Editorial Board
Prof. Cecilia Junio Sabio ucators, teachers, trainers and other practition-
Prof. Judith Serah K. Achoka ers on all aspects of education to publish high
Prof. Mojeed Kolawole Akinsola quality peer-reviewed papers. Papers for publi-
Dr Jonathan Glazzard cation in the International Journal of Learning,
Dr Marius Costel Esi Teaching and Educational Research are selected
Dr Katarzyna Peoples through precise peer-review to ensure quality,
Dr Christopher David Thompson
originality, appropriateness, significance and
Dr Arif Sikander
Dr Jelena Zascerinska readability. Authors are solicited to contribute
Dr Gabor Kiss to this journal by submitting articles that illus-
Dr Trish Julie Rooney trate research results, projects, original surveys
Dr Esteban Vzquez-Cano and case studies that describe significant ad-
Dr Barry Chametzky vances in the fields of education, training, e-
Dr Giorgio Poletti learning, etc. Authors are invited to submit pa-
Dr Chi Man Tsui
pers to this journal through the ONLINE submis-
Dr Alexander Franco
Dr Habil Beata Stachowiak sion system. Submissions must be original and
Dr Afsaneh Sharif should not have been published previously or
Dr Ronel Callaghan be under consideration for publication while
Dr Haim Shaked being evaluated by IJLTER.
Dr Edith Uzoma Umeh
Dr Amel Thafer Alshehry
Dr Gail Dianna Caruth
Dr Menelaos Emmanouel Sarris
Dr Anabelie Villa Valdez
Dr zcan zyurt
Assistant Professor Dr Selma Kara
Associate Professor Dr Habila Elisha Zuya
VOLUME 16 NUMBER 9 September 2017
Table of Contents
Technology to the Rescue: Appropriate Curriculum for Gifted Students ....................................................................... 1
Dr. Susan L. Zimlich
Perceptions of ESL Program Management in Canadian Higher Education: A Qualitative Case Study .................. 13
Sarah Elaine Eaton
Visualising the Doctoral Research Process: An Exploration into Empirical Research Processes of Emerging
Researchers ............................................................................................................................................................................ 42
Kwong Nui Sim and Russell Butson
We Need to Give the Profession Something that No One Else Can: Swedish Student Teachers Perceptions and
Experiences of their Preschool Teacher Training Programme ........................................................................................ 73
Birgitte Malm
Impact of Language Input on Comprehensiveness of Reading Material among Students in Saudi Arabia ............ 88
Mohammed Abdulmalik Ali
Teacher Conduct: A Survey on Professional Ethics among Chinese Kindergarten Teachers .................................... 98
Zhaolin Ji
Nursing Students Experiences of Using Adobe Connect in a First-year Professional Nursing Course ............... 114
Liz Ditzel (RN, PhD) and Anna Wheeler (RN)
1
Introduction
Technology has taken a firm hold in education. Technology can be taught as a
stand-alone topic or embedded within a lesson (Henriksen, Mishra, & Fisser, 2016;
International Society for Technology in Education, 2007). Schools have not only
labs, but also computers or tablets in classrooms, interactive white boards, digital
cameras, video cameras, computer projectors, and other digital equipment
(Lanahan & Boysen, 2005). Additionally, applications run the gambit from game-
style formats that use high- tech virtual interactions to teach children an
assortment of subjects and thinking skills (Siegle, 2015; Tnzn, 2007; Williams,
Ma, Feist, Richard, & Prejean, 2007) to traditional word processing and
presentation software. Teachers recognize that technology motivates many
students to produce high quality work (Clausen, 2007), and students themselves
report that it motivates them to engage with a variety of subject areas and topics
of interest (Clausen, 2007; Digital Imaging, 2001; Johnsen, Witte, & Robins, 2006;
Wighting, 2006). Teachers direct student use of technology in school and can use
their decision making power to purposefully plan to use technology in ways that
motivate students (Siegle, 2015).
One possible way to increase students motivation is through the use of behavior
traps. In education, a behavior trap is a learning activity for students that a
teacher has created to entice students to be engaged in learning. The behavior
trap:
1. is irresistibly attractive to the students,
2. has an easy entry point that is already mastered,
3. reinforces and motivates the students, and
4. uses an activity that sustains the students interest over time (Albert &
Heward, 1996).
Technology can act as a behavior trap for students who are gifted. It could be that
the use of the technology is the behavior trap, or that the technology is a tool for
access to content or products that are behavior traps. Todays students have
grown up with technology. They experience it in all areas of their lives. The
students expect technology to be everywhere, including school. Technology fits
the requirements for creating a behavior trap because:
1. it provides access to any topic that might be of interest to students,
2. fluency and expertise with technology are either already mastered or easily
mastered by students,
3. access to quick feedback and audiences with similar interests reinforces and
motivates students, and
4. access to Web 2.0 capabilities and almost limitless materials about topics can
sustain students interest over time.
Appropriate Curriculum
Curriculum plays a large role in determining the context in which teaching and
learning occur. All teachers, whether in resource rooms or in general education
classrooms, need to provide an appropriate curriculum to meet individual
student needs (Kaplan, 2016; Sak, 2004; Smith & Wietz, 2003; Zentall, Moon, Hall
& Grskovich, 2001). Although in every class there exist differences in the ability,
interest, and motivation of students, the flexibility and motivating nature of
technology can help create life-giving learning environments (Baule, 2007) by
providing students with the opportunity for differentiated instruction or tasks.
Differentiation to meet academic needs may come readily to mind; however, it is
also important to provide differentiation in terms of creativity. There are many
definitions of creativity, but in general students who are creatively gifted are
characterized by original thinking that comes from examining a variety of
perspectives, using divergent thinking, and thinking in nonlinear ways
(Colangelo & Davis, 2003; Sak, 2004). Some of the most creative students struggle
to function within the framework of specialized classes for gifted students where
their needs inform instructional planning for the class. How much more do they
struggle in the setting of the general education classroom where their needs are
often ignored (Sak, 2004)? Teachers who differentiate instruction honor and
recognize student strengths, interests, and abilities by providing choices that offer
different levels of support for learning. Differentiation of instruction may provide
the only opportunities that some gifted students receive to meet their particular
learning needs (Bain, Bliss, Choate, & Brown, 2007; Kaplan, 2016).
The role of the teacher is to compact the required curriculum to provide time for a
curriculum that better matches students academic and creative abilities and
growth. Technology helps teachers to provide an appropriate curriculum in terms
of complexity, higher order thinking skills, and specialized resources, including
the use of special software and access to mentors.
Complexity
Differentiating the levels or types of complexity benefits gifted students, who are
more engaged in learning when they encounter tasks that emphasize challenge
(Betts, Tardrew, & Ysseldyke, 2004; Harrison, 2004; Kimball, 2001), complexity
(Digital Imaging, 2001; Harrison, 2004), and high levels of learning (Kimball,
2001; Wighting, 2006). Technology can offer access to materials at all levels of
complexity, so students can find information at the level they prefer. Gifted
students move relatively quickly from concrete ideas to more abstract ideas
compared to other students (Harrison, 2004; Smith & Wietz, 2003). Advanced
software can allow students to process all kinds of information and transform it to
suit their purposes. Gifted students not only seek out complex ideas, but also
want to express their own complex ideas in unique and elaborate ways.
Gifted students rapidly master basic information in a discipline and quickly move
to abstract thinking across levels. Technology facilitates making connections
among ideas that originate in a variety of materials (Sak, 2004). These new
connections give students who are gifted ideas about what to research or how to
treat theories (Harrison, 2004).
Students build greater complexity in their products as they gain skill in using
technology. The more they appear competent and the more sophisticated the
technology they use it, the more exposure to technology they have (Dove &
Zitkovich, 2003). Teachers can model the use of advanced software in lessons that
introduce it at basic skill levels. As students acquire skills with the software,
teachers can assign projects that require greater complexity (Digital Imaging,
2001). Teachers can scaffold students skills in gathering data, editing written
work, and publishing products. Because gifted students seek out complexity not
just in the way their ideas are expressed, but also in the process of developing the
products that demonstrate what they have learned, teachers can encourage
student collaboration in initial stages of projects and then gradually let students
work on their own.
they are interacting (Abelman, 2007; Siegle, 2004), determining the most suitable
piece of equipment, program, or tool (Digital Imaging, 2001), and learning how
to balance schoolwork and recreation time on the computer all call for higher
order thinking (Ba et al., 2002; Tnzn, 2007).
Technology can change the ways students think about and organize information
(Zentall et al., 2001). The development of concepts and connections within and
between diverse subject areas, to which Internet access greatly contributes,
depends on higher order thinking (Boon, Fore, & Rasheed, 2007). In the course of
working on almost any complex project, students will organize computer files
into folders, which helps them understand both how concepts are connected
within subject areas and the structure of particular branches of knowledge (Ba et
al., 2002; Boon et al., 2007). Technologys ability to have multiple program
windows open at the same time eases side-by-side comparisons, facilitating
analysis and synthesis of ideas (Sak, 2004). Some problem-based virtual learning
environments develop analogical thinking using side-by-side analogies (Tnzn,
2007; Williams et al., 2007).
Technology can also create a context for problem solving particularly suited to
creatively gifted students. These students typically examine concepts from a
variety of perspectives (Sak, 2004) and often think about them in unusual ways
(Fleith, 2000; Russo, 2004). Computer simulations designed to help students
practice perspective-taking often present problems from a variety of viewpoints
(Tnzn, 2007). Hyperlinks or multi-nodal simulations stimulate nonlinear
thinking, which in turn fosters sensitivity toward and appreciation of unusual,
creative, and divergent approaches to problem solving by academically and
creatively gifted students, who use more cognitive strategies while problem
solving than average students (Hong & Aqui, 2004).
Gifted students are not necessarily highly able in all subject areas (Colangelo, &
Davis, 2003; Swiatek & Lupkowski-Shoplik, 2000). Although, many of them read
above grade level, not all do (Smith & Weitz, 2003). Most report that they are
bored by standard classroom reading activities, regardless of their actual reading
ability (Hettinger & Knapp, 2001), since the vast majority of such tasks focus on
lower-order thinking skills (Moon, Callahan, & Tomlinson, 2003). Many find it
more motivating to access material that would otherwise be unavailable
(Olszewski-Kubilius & Lee, 2004), or to collaborate on a common project with
students geographically distant from their school (Wong et al., 2006, Yang et al.,
2016) on topics that interest them (Zentall et al., 2001). Reading advanced, highly
interesting material online may benefit gifted students, even those who have
learning disabilities in reading, more than reading yet another story from a basal
reader (Zentall et al., 2001). Collaborating with an online group gives students
access to others far distant from their localities who share their interests. Some
may have greater ability or more expertise and thus able to scaffold learning of
knowledge or skills (Yang et al., 2016). Furthermore, the possibility of
collaboration online gives students a choice about working independently or in a
group (Wong et al., 2006).
Mentors
Mentoring is an aspect of gifted education (Colangelo & Davis, 2003) that is
greatly enhanced through technology. Gifted students seek out mentors
(Colangelo & Davis, 2003). Technology allows a student access to a mentor no
matter what the subject area, level of expertise, or geographical constraint. Expert
mentors are available from all over the world via the Internet (Housand &
Housand, 2012; Mammadov & Topcu, 2014; Olthouse & Miller, 2012). Email,
webcams, blogs, wikis, and instant messaging make communication fast and easy.
Through such technologies, students can function as research aides alongside
scientists, historical writers, or mathematicians. Such opportunities help them
develop an understanding of what experts do in the field.
Creatively gifted students ratings of creativity have high correlation with those of
experts, but as novices, they need mentoring to learn how to provide and receive
feedback about how to improve their products. Mentors teach them ways to
express why one product is more creative than another (Dove & Zitkovich, 2003;
Mammadov & Topcu, 2014). Communication with mentors can help students
develop understandings of their own creativity by modeling and providing
meaningful creative feedback (Kaufman, Gentile, & Baer, 2005).
Mentors are a good resource for acceleration, guiding work when students zones
of proximal development are beyond the classroom teachers competence.
Mentors can help academically able learners advance to higher levels of skill
through discussions of hands-on learning and independent projects (Dove &
Zitkovich, 2003; Wong et al., 2006).
Imaging, 2001; Johnsen et al., 2006; Wighting, 2006). The multimedia aspects of
software can help students express ideas using sounds, pictures, diagrams, text,
and combinations of those media. The motivation can come from using software
features (Boon et al., 2007) or from using specialized equipment (Dove &
Zitkovich, 2003).
The ways in which technology is used can reflect the areas of giftedness, whether
academic or creative (Zentall et al., 2001). Students who are more academically
gifted typically produce fewer original materials than creatively gifted students,
but they demonstrate a greater aptitude for managing information and academic
achievement (Sak, 2004). They often use software in ways that reflect linear
thinking. In some software, part of the design structure of the program is to
scaffold student learning (Williams et al., 2007). Learning is enhanced when
software facilitates study and/or provides course-related materials (Betts et al.,
2004; Boon et al., 2007; Olszewski-Kubilius & Lee, 2004; Siegle & Foster, 2001).
Software has even been written with the aim of increasing levels of metacognition
by students (Kinnebrew et al., 2014).
Creative students display originality, curiosity (Fleith, 2000; Harrison, 2004; Sak,
2004), and nonconformity, both in their classroom interactions and in their
thinking patterns. Such students easily take on other viewpoints (Zentall et al.,
2001), a skill which can be encouraged using technology. Hyperlinks and multiple
windows reflect their nonlinear thinking. For example, gifted student writers
make extensive use of software functions that find synonyms to experiment with
how particular words change the meaning of a sentence (Sak, 2004).
Games may be tied to standards and sometimes may directly teach or reinforce
skills when students answer questions and get immediate feedback (Siegle 2015).
Interactive games are a form of specialized game software that can offer virtual
learning environments with content that appeals to academically gifted students.
They often have an overarching, linear storyline, but feature game play that is
multi-nodal in nature, attracting creatively gifted students. The self-selected
quests and the multiple ways to explore the gaming environment promote the
kinds of higher order thinking privileged by gifted and talented curriculum
(Tnzn, 2007; Williams et al., 2007).
Software can also individualize the educational experience. Programs paired with
paper and pencil assignments, such as those created by Accelerated Math, track
student progress and offer learning activities for specific levels of performance
(Betts et al., 2004; Ysseldyke & Bolt, 2007). In immersive educational computer
games, student choice produces avatars and results in individualized experiences
of tasks and levels of game play (Tnzn, 2007; Williams et al., 2007).
Conclusion
It is fitting that teachers of the gifted use technology in delivery of content for
their students (National Association for Gifted Children, 2013). Technology can
help teachers foster the motivation of high-end learners. Both digital literacy and
gifted education emphasize creativity, innovation, collaboration, critical thinking,
problem solving, and decision making. This overlap allows teachers to help
students develop in both areas simultaneously through strategic use of
technology in the classroom (Henriksen et al., 2016; International Society for
Technology in Education, 2007; Siegle, 2004). Differentiating lessons by
complexity, critical thinking, and challenge (Kaplan, 2016) will highly motivate
gifted students to better meet their needs and help them to achieve to their full
potential (Little, 2012).
References
Abelman, R. (2007). Fighting the war on indecency: Mediating TV, internet, and
videogame usage among achieving and underachieving gifted children. Roeper
Review, 29, 100-112.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02783190709554393
Albert, S. R., & Heward, W. L. (1996). Gotcha! Twenty-five behavior traps guaranteed to
extend your students academic and social skills. Intervention in School & Clinic, 31,
285-289. https://doi.org/10.1177/105345129603100505
Ba, H., Tally, W., & Tsikalas, K. (2002). Investigating childrens emerging digital literacies.
The Journal of Technology, Learning and Assessment, 1(4). Retrieved from
http://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/jtla/article/view/1670/1510
Bain, S. K., Bliss, S. L., Choate, S. M., & Brown, K. S. (2007). Serving children who are
gifted: Perceptions of undergraduates planning to become teachers. Journal for the
Education of the Gifted, 30(4), 450-478.
https://doi.org/10.4219/jeg-2007-506
Baule, S. M. (2007). The components of successful technology. Teacher Librarian, 34 (5), 16-
18.
Betts, J., Tardrew, S., & Ysseldyke, J. (2004). Use of an instructional management system to
enhance math instruction of gifted and talented students. Journal of Education of the
Gifted, 27, 293-310. https://doi.org/10.4219/jeg-2004-319
Boon, R. T., Fore, C., & Rasheed, S. (2007). Students' attitudes and perceptions toward
technology-based applications and guided notes instruction in high school world
history classrooms. Reading Improvement, 4(1), 23-31.
Callendar, A. A., Franco-Watkins, A. M., & Roberts, A. S. (2015). Improving metacognition
in the classroom through instruction, training, and feedback. Metacognition
Learning 11, 215-235. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-015-9142-6
Clausen, J. M. (2007). Beginning teachers technology use: First-year teacher development
and the institutional contexts affect on new teachers technology use with
students. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 39, 245-261.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15391523.2007.10782482
Clinkenbeard, P. R. (2012). Motivation and gifted students: Implications of theory and
research. Psychology in the Schools, 49, 622-630. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21628
Colangelo, N., & Davis, G. A. (Eds.). (2003). Handbook of gifted education (3rd ed.). Boston:
Allyn and Bacon.
Digital imaging supplement- shape: Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe
Premier used in Savannah R-III Elementary School. (2001). T.H.E. Journal, 29 (3),
66.
Donovan, L., Hartley, K., & Strudler, N. (2007). Teacher concerns during initial
implementation of a one-to-one laptop initiative at the middle school level. Journal
of Research on Technology in Education, 39, 263-286.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15391523.2007.10782483
Dove, M. K., & Zitkovich, J. A. (2003). Technology driven group investigations for gifted
elementary students. Information Technology in Childhood Education, 2003(1), 223-
241.
Fleith, D. d. F. (2000). Teacher and students perceptions of creativity in the classroom
environment. Roeper Review, 22, 148-153.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02783190009554022
Garcia, P., & Rose, S. (2007). The influence of technocentric collaboration on preservice
teachers attitudes about technologys role in powerful learning and teaching.
Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 15, 247-266.
Gottfried, A. W., Gottfried, A. E., Cook, C. R., & Morris, P. E. (2005). Educational
characteristics of adolescents with gifted academic intrinsic motivation: A
longitudinal investigation from school entry through early adulthood. Gifted Child
Quarterly, 49, 172-186. https://doi.org/10.1177/001698620504900206
Harrison, C. (2004). Giftedness in early childhood: The search for complexity and
connection. Roeper Review, 26, 78-84. https://doi.org/10.1080/02783190409554246
Henriksen, D., Mishra, P., & Fisser, P. (2016). Infusing creativity and technology in 21 st
century education: A systematic view for change. Educational Technology & Society,
19(3), 27-37.
Hettinger, H. R., & Knapp, N. F., (2001). Potential, performance, and paradox: A case
study of J. P., a verbally gifted struggling reader. Journal for the Education of the
Gifted, 24, 248-289. https://doi.org/10.1177/016235320102400303
Hong, E., & Aqui, Y. (2004). Cognitive and motivational characteristics of adolescents
gifted in mathematics: Comparisons among students with different types of
giftedness. Gifted Child Quarterly, 48, 191- 201.
https://doi.org/10.1177/001698620404800304
Housand, B. C., & Housand, A. M. (2012). The role of technology in gifted students
motivation. Psychology in the Schools, 49, 706-715.
https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21629
International Society for Technology in Education. (2007). National Education Technology
Standards for Students. Retrieved from
http://www.cnets.iste.org/standards/standards/for-students
Johnsen, S. K., Witte, M., & Robins, J. (2006). Through their eyes: Students perspectives of
a university-based enrichment program The University for Young People
Project. Gifted Child Today, 29 (3), 56-61. https://doi.org/10.4219/gct-2006-5
Kaplan, S. N. (2016). Challenge vs. differentiation: Why, what and how. Gifted Child Today
39(2), 114-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/1076217516628916
Kaufman, J. C., Gentile, C. A., & Baer, J. (2005). Do gifted student writers and creative
writing experts rate creativity the same way? Gifted Child Quarterly, 49, 260-265.
https://doi.org/10.1177/001698620504900307
Kilian, B., Hofer, M., & Kahnle, C. (2013). Conflicts between on-task and off-task behaviors
in the classroom: The influences of parental monitoring, peer value orientations,
students goals, and their value orientations. Social Psychology of Education, 16(1),
77-94. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-012-9198-y
Kimball, K. L. B. (2001). Interpretative stories from school careers of gifted students. Retrieved
from ProQuest database. (AAT 3032075)
Kinnebrew, J. S., Segedy, J. R., & Biswas, G. (2014). Analyzing the temporal evolution of
students behavior in open-ended learning environments. Metacognition &
Learning 9(2), 187-215. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-014-9112-4
Lanahan, L., & Boysen, J. (2005). Computer technology in the public school classroom:
Teacher perspectives. (NCES 2005-083). Washington, DC: National Center for
Education Statistics. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005083.pdf
Little, C. A. (2012). Curriculum as motivation for gifted students. Psychology in the schools,
49, 695-705. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21621
Mammadov, S. & Topcu, A. (2014). The role of e-mentoring in mathematically gifted
students academic life: A case study. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 37(3),
220-244. https://doi.org/10.1177/0162353214540824
Mohide, E. A., Matthew-Maich, N., & Cross, H. (2006). Using electronic gaming to
promote evidence-based practice in nursing education. Journal of Nursing
Education, 45, 384.
Moon, T. R., Callahan, C. M., & Tomlinson, C. A. (2003). Effects of state testing program
on elementary schools with high concentration of student poverty- Good news or
bad news? Current Issues in Education, 6(8). Retrieved from
http://cie.asu.edu/volume6/number8/
National Association for Gifted Children. (2010). 2010 pre-K-grade 12 gifted programming
Introduction
Directors of English as a Second Language (ESL) programs in higher education
face different professional challenges than those of their administrative
colleagues from other disciplines. ESL programs differ from other disciplines in
fundamental ways (Rowe, 2012). First, students take ESL either as a form of
skills training or to bridge into degree programs. They do not graduate with a
major or minor specialization in ESL (Panferov, 2012; Staczek & Carkin, 1984;
Stoller & Christison, 1994), and they often study English full-time and
exclusively (Szasz, 2009/2010). In addition, ESL programs in post-secondary
Literature Review
The challenges faced by ESL administrators are linked to the unique nature of
their roles. The literature points to specific traits and training that an ESL
program director is likely to have. In addition to the characteristics ESL program
directors possess as individuals, two additional key topics emerged about the
nature of ESL programs in higher education: the aspect of having to generate
revenue while simultaneously being marginalized on campus. Each of these key
topics inform a collective understanding of how ESL programs in higher
education exist and are managed.
Present Study
The available literature on the administration of ESL programs has identified a
number of concerns with program mandates, institutional support, and director
capacity and skills. There is an identifiable gap in the research involving the
collection of primary data in the area of ESL program administration,
particularly in the last 25 years. Much of the literature is based on authors
personal experiences, scholarly observations of the field, and literature reviews.
This study aimed to examine the issue from the perspective of ESL directors
within a Canadian context. The following research question was investigated: (1)
What do ESL program directors perceive to be the challenges and benefits of
leading a revenue-generating program in a university? Two additional questions
included: (2) What barriers do ESL program directors face in their roles?; and (2)
What qualities or experience are necessary for an ESL program director to lead a
revenue-generating ESL program in higher education?
Theoretical framework
There is a general lack of leadership literature within the TESOL field (Curtis,
2013; McGee et al., 2014). Greenier and Whitehead (2016) proposed a leadership
model for English language teaching, which covered the notion of authentic
leadership in the ESL classroom for teachers, but their work did not examine the
role of administrators. Pennington and Hoekje (2010) presented a leadership
model of language programs as an organizational ecology, noting the
dependencies of various interconnected components and how they are affected
by the larger context in which they exist (p. 214). Prior to that, only two edited
volumes touched upon the topic of leadership in language program
administration (Christison & Murray, 2009; Coombe, McCloskey, Stephenson, &
Anderson, 2008).
The current study is framed within the context of Heifetzs notion of adaptive
leadership (Heifetz, 1994, 2006, 2010; Heifetz, Grashow, & Linsky, 2009; Heifetz
& Laurie, 1997; Heifetz & Linsky, 2004). Adaptive leadership is relevant to the
current study as it speaks to work [that] is required when our deeply held
beliefs are challenged, when the values that made us successful become less
relevant, and when legitimate yet competing perspectives emerge (Heifetz &
Laurie, 1997, p. 124). For ESL program administrators, the need to generate
revenue as a necessary element of program management may deeply challenge
their belief that the motives for education should be altruistic. The values,
experiences, and expertise relating to second language teaching and language
acquisition that made them successful as classroom teachers become
significantly less relevant when they take on leadership roles.
Heifetz et al. (2009) have contended that adaptive leadership needs to address
current realities in which urgency, high stakes, and uncertainty will continue as
the norm (p. 62). They specifically discussed the notion of leading adaptively in
a situation of permanent crisis (Heifetz et al., 2009, p. 62). Although their
study applies to leadership in a business context, it is equally relevant to ESL
programs in higher education, because as Rowe (2012) pointed out, many ESL
programs operate through perpetual crisis management (p. 109). The wording
may differ slightly, but the notion of leading in conditions of unceasing crisis is a
common denominator between them. What is compelling about this theory is
that although it emerged from a business context, it applies equally well to ESL
program managers, who are mandated to think and act as though they are
running a business.
Crises in ESL can arise for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to those
involving a single student, a program-wide issue, and factors internal and
external to the program (Rowe, 2012). Hence, Heifetz et al.s (2009) notion of
leading in a permanent crisis was particularly relevant for the current study, as
participants consistently indicated the need to adapt to a variety of uncertainties
(e.g., institutional demands, market conditions, program enrollments) for their
programs to survive.
Research Method
This study examines the professional reality of three ESL program directors
whose experience parallels what the literature shows.
Research Design
Qualitative case study (Merriam, 1988; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016) provided the
overarching research design to address the research problem. Chapelle and Duff
(2003) pointed out that a university or a program is among the kinds of cases
typically studied in the TESOL field. The bounded case was a higher education
institution in a large urban Canadian city, with a combined enrollment of over
30,000 full- and part-time degree students. The institution was of particular
interest as it housed three distinct ESL programs operating on one campus, all of
which were administratively independent of one another. Two programs were
housed within the same faculty, but their directors reported to different senior
administrators. The third was housed in an entirely different unit on campus.
All three programs were mandated to generate revenue. None of the three
program directors were required to interact with one another as part of their
daily job functions.
It is worth adding that the number of students registered in these ESL programs
was neither disclosed nor publicly available through institutional documents. As
I have pointed out elsewhere (Eaton, 2009), ESL programs in higher education
institutions are often not required to release enrolment data. Thus, the total
enrollment of ESL students in the various programs studied remained unknown
throughout the research.
Participant selection
Directors of each of these revenue-generating ESL programs on campus gave
their written consent to participate, with the option of withdrawing at any time
Procedures
This study, and related components including data collection instruments,
participant recruitment plan, and consent form, were approved by the
institutional ethics review board. Data were gathered through 60- to 90-minute
semistructured interviews (Fylan, 2005; Harrell & Bradley, 2009; Luo &
Wildemuth, 2009). I transcribed the audio recordings, and the participants then
member checked the transcriptions for accuracy. Data were analyzed manually,
following a systematic codifying and categorizing of the data into themes
(Saldaa, 2009). In addition, I wrote analytic memos (Saldaa, 2009) to document
my reflections about coding choices and emergent patterns resulting from the
analysis.
Participant
Variable Ornelle Uma Lynn
Gender Male Female Female
Conclusion
This study has presented a unique and complex case of multiple revenue-
generating ESL programs existing within a single post-secondary institution. Its
significance lies in the new insights it offers into the realities of ESL language
program directors working in within the context of this bounded case study.
Generative Modest Extrapolations
Although case studies are often deemed to lack generalizability, Merriam and
Tisdell (2016) have argued that the concept of generalizability applied to
Recommendations
A primary recommendation emerging from this study is that TESOL graduate
programs must include a leadership component to provide more training and
support for those in the profession. Management skills have not typically been
included in the types of degree programs taken by TESL professionals, such as
an MA or MEd (Hussein, 1995; Reasor, 1986). Hussein (1995) suggested that
TESOL and applied linguistics programs should either include administrative
training or require students take such courses through a complementary
department, such as educational administration.
Not only do current ESL program administrators, as a body of professionals
with deep expertise and experience, have the opportunity to train the next
generation of ESL program administrators, we must provide professional
development opportunities for those currently serving in administrative roles
(McGee et al., 2014). Hussein (1995) suggested that professional associations can
facilitate further development those in administrative roles through workshops
and presentations at their annual conferences.
Leaders rely on their own first-hand experience as well as on their interactions
with professional peers with whom they work in similar contexts (McGee et al.,
2014; Sergiovanni, 1991). By incorporating components of leadership and
References
Eaton, S. E. (2009). Marketing of Revenue-generating ESL Programs at the University of
Calgary: A qualitative study. (Doctor of Philosophy), University of Calgary,
Calgary. Retrieved from
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet
?accno=ED508999
Eaton, S. E. (2013). The Administration of English as a Second Language (ESL) Programs
in Higher Education: Striking the Balance Between Generating Revenue and
Serving Students. In Y. Hbert & A. A. Abdi (Eds.), Critical Perspectives on
International Education (pp. 165-180). Rotterdam: Sense. doi:
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6091-906-0_10
Bista, K. (2011). How to create a learning-centered ESL program. English for Specific
Purposes World, 31(10). Retrieved from http://www.esp-
world.info/Articles_31/Ring-centered_Program.pdf
Blackstone, A. (2017). Principles of sociological inquiry: Qualitative and quantitative
methods, v. 1.0. Retrieved from
http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/catalog/editions/blackstone-
principles-of-sociological-inquiry-qualitative-and-quantitative-methods-1-0
Breshears, S. (2004). Professionalization and exclusion in ESL teaching [special issue].
TESL Canada Journal, 4, 2339. https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v0i0.1038.
Carkin, S. (1997). Language program leadership as intercultural management. In M. A.
Christison & F. L. Stoller (Eds.), A handbook for language program administrators
(pp. 49-60). Burlingame, CA: Alta Book Center Publishers.
Chapelle, C. A., & Duff, P. A. (2003). Some guidelines for conducting quantitative and
qualitative research in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 37(1), 157178.
https://doi.org/10.2307/3588471. Retrieved from https://www.tesol.org/read-
and-publish/journals/tesol-quarterly
Christison, M., & Murray, D. E. (Eds.). (2009). Leadership in English language education:
Theoretical foundations and practical skills for changing times. New York, NY:
Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203077009
Coombe, C., McCloskey, M., Stephenson, L., & Anderson, N. (Eds.). (2008). Leadership in
English language teaching and learning. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan
Press. https://doi.org/10.1108/s2041-272x(2010)0000002020
Curtis, A. (2013). A gap in our field: Leadership in language education. MultiBriefs.
Retrieved from http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/a-gap-in-our-field-
leadership-in-language-education
Eskey, D. E. (1997). The IEP as a nontraditional entity. In M. A. Christison & F. L. Stoller
(Eds.), A handbook for language program administrators (pp. 2130). Burlingame,
CA: Alta Book Center.
Fylan, F. (2005). Semi-structured interviewing. In J. Miles & P. Gilbert (Eds.), A handbook
of research methods for clinical and health psychology (pp. 6577). Oxford, UK:
Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/med:psych/9780198527565.001.0001
Greenier, V. T., & Whitehead, G. E. K. (2016). Towards a model of teacher leadership in
ELT: Authentic leadership in classroom practice. RELC Journal, 47(1), 7995.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688216631203. Retrieved from
http://journals.sagepub.com/home/rel
Harrell, M. C., & Bradley, M. A. (2009). Training manual: Data collection methods: Semi-
structured interviews and focus groups. Retrieved from
http://www.mbamedicine.activemoodle.com/mod/resource/view.php?id=486
Heifetz, R. A. (1994). Leadership without easy answers. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press
of Harvard UP.
Heifetz, R. A. (2006). Educational leadership: Beyond a focus on instruction. The Phi
Delta Kappan, 87(7), 512513. Retrieved from
http://journals.sagepub.com/home/pdk doi:
https://doi.org/10.1177/003172170608700709
Heifetz, R. A. (2010, Spring). Adaptive work. The Journal of the Kansas Leadership Center,
7277. Retrieved from https://klcjournal.com/
Heifetz, R. A., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. (2009, JulyAugust). Leadership in a
(permanent) crisis. Harvard Business Review, 6269. Retrieved from
https://hbr.org/2009/07/leadership-in-a-permanent-crisis
Heifetz, R. A., & Laurie, D. L. (1997). The work of leadership. Harvard Business Review,
124-134.
Heifetz, R. A., & Linsky, M. (2004). When leadership spells danger. Educational
Leadership, 61(7), 33. Retrieved from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership.aspx
Hussein, A. A. (1995). Preparation for administration of English as a second language
programs. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Teachers of English as a
Second Language (TESOL) Association, Long Beach, CA. Retrieved from
https://ia601308.us.archive.org/23/items/ERIC_ED392258/ERIC_ED392258.p
df
Impey, G., & Underhill, N. (1994). The ELT managers handbook: Practical advice on
managing a successful language school. Oxford, UK: Heineman English
Language Teaching.
Jenks, F. L. (1997). The quest for academic legitimacy: Building for language program
entry into institutional and community infrastructures. In M. A. Christison & F.
L. Stoller (Eds.), A handbook for language program administrators (pp. 107122).
Burlingame, CA: Alta Book Center.
Jenks, F. L., & Kennell, P. (2012). The quest for academic legitimacy. In M. Christison &
F. L. Stoller (Eds.), Handbook for language program administrators (2nd. ed., pp.
177196). Burlingame, CA: Alta Book Center.
Kaplan, R. B. (1997). An IEP is a many-splendored thing. In M. A. Christison & F. L.
Stoller (Eds.), A handbook for language program administrators (pp. 320).
https://www.tesol.org/read-and-publish/journals/tesol-quarterly
Rowe, J. A. (2012). Decision maker and negotiator. In M. Christison & F. L. Stoller (Eds.),
Handbook for language program administrators (2nd. ed., pp. 99116). Burlingame,
CA: Alta Book Center.
Rowe-Henry, A. (1997). The decision maker and negotiator. In M. A. Christison & F. L.
Stoller (Eds.), A handbook for language program administrators (pp. 7790).
Burlingame, CA: Alta Book Center.
Saldaa, J. (2009). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Saunders, M. N. K. (2012). Choosing research participants. In G. Symon & C. Cassell
(Eds.), Qualitative organizational research: core methods and current challenges (pp.
3554). London, UK: SAGE.
Sergiovanni, T. J. (1991). Constructing and changing theories of practice: The key to
preparing school administrators. The Urban Review, 23(1), 3949.
https://doi.org/10.1007 /BF01120237. Retrieved from
https://link.springer.com/journal/11256
Soppelsa, E. F. (1997). Empowerment of faculty. In M. A. Christison & F. L. Stoller (Eds.),
A handbook for language program administrators (pp. 123142). Burlingame, CA:
Alta Book Center.
Staczek, J. J. (1997). The language program budget: Financial planning and management
of resources. In M. A. Christison & F. L. Stoller (Eds.), A handbook for language
program administrators (pp. 219234). Burlingame, CA: Alta Book Center.
Staczek, J. J., & Carkin, S. J. (1984). Intensive English program fit in traditional academic
settings: Practices and promise. Paper presented at the Eighteenth Annual
Convention of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL),
Houston, TX. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED274166.pdf
Stoller, F. L. (1997). The catalyst for change and innovation. In M. A. Christison & F. L.
Stoller (Eds.), A handbook for language program administrators (pp. 33-48).
Burlingame, CA: Alta Book Center Publishers.
Stoller, F. L., & Christison, M. (1994). Challenges for IEP administrators: Liaison with
senior-level administrators and faculty development. TESOL Journal, 3(3), 1620.
Retrieved from https://www.tesol.org/read-and-publish/journals/tesol-
journal
Szasz, P. (2009/2010). State of the profession: Intensive English programs. CATESOL
Journal, 21(1), 194201. Retrieved from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1112266.pdf
Chris Kobylinski
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
Seoul, Republic of Korea
Introduction
Given the complexity inherent in learning a foreign language, it is not
surprising that motivating students has been identified as being one of the most
difficult aspects of teaching ELT; outranking even the selection of teaching
methodology, subject matter proficiency, and textbook and curriculum guide
usage (Veenman, 1984). Indeed, a lack of motivation is often a recurrent problem
in EFL classrooms (Dornyei & Kubanyiova, 2014; Ushioda, 2013). Given its
importance, this paper seeks to further research on motivational strategies and
chose the South Korean context as its focal point.
The South Korean ELT industry is massive in scale with ELT-based
institutions dotting the landscape in every conceivable direction. While the
industry is comprised primarily of domestic, ethnically Korean English teachers
for whom English is a second language, a considerable number of native English
speakers from the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom
also teach in the ELT industry at all levels and age ranges. These two groups:
Native Korean speaking English teachers (hereafter referred to as NKS teachers)
and Native English speaking English teachers (hereafter referred to as NES
teachers) have limited interactions with one another despite the common goals
they pursue within the same educational environment.
The researchers themselves being NES teachers who have worked in the
Korean ELT industry for over a decade became accustomed to Korean students
remarking with great frequency on the differences between NKS and NES
teachers. As such these anecdotal comments made by Korean students about the
differences between NKS and NES teachers led the researchers to ponder a
number of research questions:
Literature Review
There are a great many articles written about student motivation and
language learning with no small number of models having been created in an
attempt to understand the subject (eg., Clement, 1980; and MacIntrye, Clement &
Noels, 1998). Within the field two figures stand out as being relative authorities
on motivation and second language acquisition: Robert C. Gardner and Zoltan
Dornyei.
Gardner established his Socio-educational model as a model for
understanding motivation the 1960s and has been actively refining it ever since
(Gardner & Lambert, 1959; Gardner, 1985; Gardner & Lalonde, 1985). His model
is broadly divided into two types of motivation: instrumental and integrative
motivation. Instrumental motivation relates to things such as test scores, college
admissions, and job acquisition. Alternatively, integrative motivation concerns a
learners desire to embrace the target languages culture and community, which
Subjects
Graduate School Subjects
There were 49 participants from a graduate school of interpretation and
translation with highly selective admissions standards. Students admitted to that
program must pass two admissions tests. The first test judges the students
writing and translation ability with an eye towards their bilingual competency.
The second round of the test is an oral interview in which students are asked to
perform without preparation or notes generalized interpretative processes from
Korean to English and from English to Korean. The program does not rely upon
any forms of standardized testing to determine who is accepted into the
program. It is common for these students to have spent many years both in
Korea and other western nations such as the United States. For some of these
students, English is their dominant language though it is rarely their precise
mother tongue as the overwhelming majority of students are of Korean ethnic
descent.
Undergraduate Subjects
The undergraduate students were Korean university students from four
Communicative English classes; standard credit-bearing classes for first year
students. Communicative English classes are multi-skill classes designed to
prepare students to study in an English speaking classroom. The students are
level tested before the start of the semester and all students were placed in the
highest level. Each class size ranged from 28 students to 30 students and a total
of 102 participated in the survey. The level of the students ranged from fluent to
upper intermediate. Most students had a good grasp of English and of academic
language in their native language. The ages of the students ranged from 18 to 22.
Methodology
For the present study undergraduate and graduate school students from
the same Korean university were selected to answer a survey about the
motivational strategies of NKS and NES English teachers. The undergraduate
students were comprised of mostly freshman students of intermediate English
Findings
The first part of the survey that contained questions about previous
learning experiences provided insight into the English language learning
experiences of the students. Surprisingly, there answers were quite uniform
across all questions.
Both groups of students had studied English for a long period of time.
The graduate school students had studied for 16.5 years on average and the
undergraduate school students for 10.4 years. The graduate school students
reported that they spent 6.5 years studying with NES and 9.1 years with NKS.
The undergraduate students reported studying 5.1 years with NES and 7.5 years
with NKS. These numbers are very consistent given the fact that the average age
of the students was estimated to differ by roughly 6 years. These numbers show
a fairly constant approach to English language learning in South Korea and
highlighted the perceived importance of English in the Korean educational
system.
In terms of years spent studying English abroad, the graduate school
students spent an average of 5.4 years abroad and the undergraduate school
students spent an average of 1.7 years studying English abroad. This difference
wasnt unexpected, given the age difference between the students and the
importance of English in their majors.
The test scores that were optionally provided also showed that both
groups were successful English language learners. The graduate school students
reported an average TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication)
score (scores range from 10-990) of 977 and the undergraduate students reported
an average of 915. These scores were supported by the TOEFL (Test of English as
a Foreign Language) scores (scores range from 0-120). The graduate school
students averaged 110 and the undergraduate school students averaged 106. The
slight difference between these two scores was unexpected but since responses
were optional it is possible that a full accounting would reveal broader gaps
between the groups.
The results of the surveys were analyzed and some obvious patterns and
preferences emerged. One of the first and most notable trends was that the
graduate school group scored both the NKS and NES teachers lower than the
undergraduate students in nearly all categories with only a few exceptions
where the average scoring for a couple items was almost identical. On average
they scored everything 0.6 lower. Although speculations could be made to
explain this difference, the quantitative and qualitative data from the survey
didnt explain this difference.
Another clear pattern was that NES scored higher on average than NKS.
The NES average score was 4.1 compared to an average score of 3.5 for the NKS.
These numbers are not an indicator of preference or educational quality, rather
they highlight some key differences in the motivational styles of NKS and NES.
The purpose of this study wasn't to show which type of teacher was preferred,
rather it was to find motivational strategies and techniques that worked. The
numbers as a whole show little more than an interesting pattern, however, when
examined more closely, they also reveal that there are some things that NES may
be able to learn from the motivational strategies of NKS and vice versa.
One of the clear differences that came out was that the students reported
that NES used various activities and projects to facilitate a communicative and
cooperative environment. On the statement, Create opportunities so that
students can mix and get to know each other better, NES scored 2.2 higher than
NKS. This was the biggest reported difference. This is supported by another
statement Encourage student participation by assigning group activities that
require involvement from each participant. NES scored 1.6 higher than NKS on
this statement.
In terms of classroom environment, statements 1, 15, 30, and 43 again
showed a higher average score for NES. NES scored 2 full points higher on
statement 1, Bring in and encourage humor and laughter frequently in your
class. NES scored 1.3 higher on statement 15, Make sure that grades reflect not
only the students achievement but also the effort they have put into the task;
1.4 higher on statement 30, Create a supportive and pleasant classroom climate
where students are free from embarrassment and ridicule; and 1.5 higher on
statement 43, Encourage students to share personal experiences and thoughts
as a part of the learning tasks.
The survey also showed a higher average score for NES in terms of
lesson content and format. Students felt that NES were better able to delve into
the cultural aspects of English. For the statements which said, familiarize the
learners with the cultural background of the English language, NES scored 1.8
higher. Statement 12, introduce in their lessons various types of interesting
content and topics which students are likely to find interesting, NES scored 1.3
higher.
Another important difference was that the students felt that NES did a
better job of communicating the importance of communicative competence,
while NKS were more focused on grammar. For the statement that said, Make
it clear to students that the important thing in learning a foreign language is to
communicate effectively rather than worrying about grammar mistakes, NES
scored 1.8. While this may seem like an obvious advantage, the qualitative
feedback showed that a strong focus on grammar was also valued by the
students, as they felt it better prepared them for standardized testing.
One area where NKS scored better was in terms of practical motivation.
While NES scored better on statements that related to integrative motivation,
NKS scored higher on statements related to instrumental motivation. NKSs
emphasis on stressing the importance of English for their lives and career was
reflected in statement 9, Regularly remind students that the successful mastery
of English is beneficial to their future. NKS scored .9 higher on this statement.
In addition to scoring higher on items concerned with instrumental
motivation, NKS also scored higher on items related to promoting realistic goals
for students. NKS scored .5 higher on statement 10, Encourage students to
select specific, realistic and short term learning goals for themselves. In
addition to helping students select short term goals, this also shows an emphasis
on giving the students responsibility, as the goals were selected by the students
themselves and not prescribed by the teacher.
Overall, the quantitative data revealed many patterns. NES scored better
on segments that related to integrative motivation. Students felt like the
classroom environment, cultural aspects, content, and the format of the classes
showed stronger signs of effective motivational strategies for NES. On the other
hand, NKS scored better on statements related to instrumental motivation and
practical goal setting.
environment. Students stressed that in Korea, most NES did not have to follow a
set curriculum and utilized discussions and essay writing more than NKS.
The graduate school students had seemingly negative things to say
about NKS but were convinced of the results of such methods. NKS were
characterized as being patient but not providing verbal encouragement; being
less flexible; not being passionate; not using English often in the classroom; and
relying on threats to motivate students, a strategy they said was common
across all subjects in Korean schools. While these attributes have a ring of
negativity to them, the graduate school students felt that they were necessary to
ensure high test scores on standardized tests, to keep a fast pace within the
classroom, and to accommodate students that are shy or reticent about
discussing topics in a classroom environment.
Limitations
One of the limitations of this study was its lack of specificity. Students
were asked to generalize quite broadly about years of experience with a variety
of teachers which amounts to a considerable amount of over-generalization. Still
the research questions were created based in part on student tendencies to make
such generalizations in their remarks about classroom environments. Being able
to examine a group with more homogenous backgrounds could produce
interesting results.
Another limitation of this study was its implementation by native
English speakers to Korean students. As a result of their knowledge that we
would be reviewing the data it may have skewed opinions even at a subtle level
to try to appease the researchers in some fashion. Utilizing a third party in
future studies may be a reasonable remedy for this situation.
Perhaps more significantly, the lack of random sampling to create the
data means the results are only valid for this group of students. In future studies
random sampling should be utilized to generate results with greater validity. In
terms of internal validity items 3 and 34 were selected to measure internal
consistency and the coefficient generated was 0.599 which suggests a modest
correlation between two similar items. It should be noted that those items are
not identical as item 3 is about creating opportunities for students to interact
through group work whereas item 34 is about requiring students to work in
groups to improve cooperation. However these were the two items with the
closest relationship to one another.
One of the conclusions of this survey is that different goals drive the
usage of differing motivational strategies but it would be interesting to see how
teacher training for both groups generally differs. Also it would be interesting to
look at how the goals for NES and NKS are formulated or promulgated. Do NES
tend to concern themselves less with standardized tests because they are given
specific directives by administrators or does their perspective arise from their
cultural values?
Further studies could explore the reasons for the use of different
strategies and whether or not these strategies are effective for their respective
goals as suggested by some students. Does a highly instrumental motivational
strategy result in higher scores on standardized tests? If so, many such strategies
could be of use to NES tasked with teaching Korean students and could account
for possible issues of low student satisfaction with English courses conducted by
NES.
References
Bernaus, M., and Gardner, R.C. (2008) Teacher motivation strategies, student
perceptions, student motivation, and English achievement. The Modern Language
Journal, 92, 387-402.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2008.00753.x
Bravo, Jorge Cevallos, Eder A. Intriago, Jhonny Villafuerte Holguin, Gustavo Molina
Garzon, Luis Ortega Arcia (2017). Motivation and Autonomy in Learning
English as Foreign Language: A Case Study of Ecuadorian College Students.
English Language Teaching, Vol. 10, No. 2, 100-113.
doi: https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v10n2p100
Cheng,H. F., & Drnyei, Z. (2007). The use of motivational strategies in language
instruction: The case of EFL teaching in Taiwan, Innovation in language learning
and teaching, 1, 153-174. doi: https://doi.org/10.2167/illt048.0
Clment, R. (1980). Ethnicity, contact and communicative competence in a second
language. In H. Giles, W. P. Robinson & P. M. Smith (Eds.) Language: Social
psychological perspectives: Selected papers from the First International
Conference on Social Psychology and Language held at the University of Bristol,
England, July 1979. Oxford: Pergamon.
Dornyei, Z. (1994). Motivation and motivating in the foreign language classroom. The
Modern Language Journal, 78, iii, 273-284.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1994.tb02042.x
Drnyei, Z. (1998). Motivation in second and foreign language learning. Language
Teaching, 31(3), 117-135.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S026144480001315X
Drnyei, Z. (2001a). Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511667343
Drnyei, Z. (2001b). Teaching and Researching Motivation. Harlow: Pearson Education
Limited.
doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3588444
Drnyei, Z. (2009). The L2 motivational self system. In Z. Drnyei, & E. Ushioda (Eds.),
Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 9-42). Clevedon, England:
Multilingual Matters.
Dornyei, Z., & Kubanyiova, m. (2014). Motivating learners, motivating teachers: Building
vision in the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
doi: https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2013.3.3.7
Gardner, R. C., & Lambert, W. E. (1959). Motivational variables in second-language
acquisition. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 13(4), 266-272.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0083787
Gardner, R. C., & Lalonde, R. N. (1985). Second language acquisition: A social
psychological perspective. Paper presented at the annual convention of the
American psychological association, California.
Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social Psychology and Second Language learning: The Role of
Attitudes and Motivation. London: Edward Arnold.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0272263100007634
Appendix 1
For the following questions please rate domestic Korean English teachers
(referred to as Korean English Teachers and Native English speaking English
Teachers (referred to as Native English Teachers) based on their use of
motivational strategies using the following scale:
1 = Hardly Ever
6=Very Often
Use your general impression as a guide as opposed to thinking just about one
teacher for either category.
1. Bring in and encourage humor and laughter frequently in your class.
2. Show students that they respect, accept and care about each of them.
3. Create opportunities so that students can mix and get to know each other
better (e.g. group work, game-like competition).
4. Familiarize the learners with the cultural background of the English
language.
5. Explain the importance of the class rules that you regard as important
(e.g. lets not make fun of each others mistakes) and how these rules
enhance learning, and then ask for the students agreement.
6. Give clear instructions about how to carry out a task by modelling every
step that students will need to do.
7. Invite senior students who are enthusiastic about learning English to talk
to your class about their positive English learning experiences/successes.
8. Monitor students accomplishments, and take time to celebrate any
success or victory.
28. Encourage learners to try harder by making it clear that you believe that
they can do the tasks.
29. Give students choices in deciding how and when they will be
assessed/evaluated.
30. Create a supportive and pleasant classroom climate where students are
free from embarrassment and ridicule.
31. Bring various authentic cultural products (e.g. magazines, newspapers or
song lyrics) to class as supplementary materials.
32. Make clear to students that the important thing in learning a foreign
language is to communicate meaning effectively rather than worrying
about grammar mistakes.
33. Notice students contributions and progress, and provide them with
positive feedback.
34. Include activities that require students to work in groups towards the
same goal (e.g. plan a drama performance) in order to promote
cooperation.
35. Teach students various learning techniques that will make their learning
easier and more effective.
36. Adopt the role of a facilitator (i.e. their role would be to help and lead
students to think and learn in their own way, instead of solely giving
knowledge to them).
37. Highlight the usefulness of English and encourage your students to use
their English outside the classroom (e.g. internet chat room or English
speaking pen-friends).
38. Motivate your students by increasing the amount of English they use in
class.
39. Share with students that they value English learning as a meaningful
experience that produces satisfaction and which enriches your life.
40. Avoid social comparison amongst your students (i.e. comparing them
to each other for example when listing their grades in public).
41. Encourage learners to see that the main reason for most failure is that
they did not make sufficient effort rather than their poor abilities.
42. Make tasks attractive by including novel or fantasy elements so as to
raise the learners curiosity.
43. Encourage students to share personal experiences and thoughts as a part
of the learning tasks.
Russell Butson
University of Otago
Dunedin, New Zealand
Background/Context
It would be fair to say that the act of undertaking doctoral research is somewhat
daunting. It is also worth noting that doctoral research exists within a complex
mix of aspirations and expectations. Doctoral students operate not on their own,
but against the backdrop of pressures and agendas from family, supervisors,
peers, and institutions. For this reason, insights into the research processes that
doctoral students employ and their experiences of how they plan and achieve
the various phases of work, would be beneficial to our understanding of what is
required and how to prepare students to leverage the benefits of doctoral study.
The purpose of this paper is not to debate whether there is a right or wrong
way of undertaking doctoral research. Rather, the paper reports on the various
approaches PhD students employ in their doctoral research. It is worth
mentioning that this paper is derived from the first authors PhD study on An
investigation into the way PhD students utilise Information Communication and
Technology (ICT) to support their doctoral research process but the ICT aspect
was eliminated from the data analysis for the purpose of this paper. Insights
from this study will serve to inform as well as enhance, our understanding of the
conceptions and practices of doctoral students in order to provide an
opportunity for academics, especially supervisors of postgraduate research
students, to provide better support for PhD students through their doctoral
research process.
Literature Review
While the purposes for undertaking doctoral research may vary, the procedures
associated with empirical research typically follow four core phases according to
Gardner (2008): Preparation, Fieldwork, Analysis and Writing.
It appears that this structure is not, however, well known by PhD students. A
study by Meyer, Shanahan, and Laugksch (2005) found that many PhD students
conceptualise what research is and how it should or should not be done, very
differently to each other and their supervisors. For instance, they showed PhD
students focused more on concrete activities such as information-gathering,
discovering facts and uncovering gaps in the research rather than following the
procedural framework of preparation, fieldwork, analysis and writing.
Participants: Three questions were used for recruiting participants for this study.
The questions were:
1. My discipline background is
a. Sciences
b. Health Sciences
c. Humanities
d. Commerce
3. Please indicate the ratio (within 10) of how much your workload is,
according to the research phase that you have chosen in question two. For
example, write 5:5 if you have a balanced workload between Analysis Phase and
Write-up Phase.
Preparation Phase ( )
Fieldwork Phase ( )
Analysis Phase ( )
Writing Phase ( )
Twenty full-time doctoral students volunteered for the study. From this group
nine were selected based on their study type being empirical (i.e., with
fieldwork involved), a mix of 1st, 2nd and 3rd year experience and their self-
reported level of computer literacy as high. The year of study was converted to
study phases defined as Early (approximately 1 year), Middle (approximately 2
years) and Final (approximately 3 years). Early refers to a student who could be
broadly described as in the preparation phase, while Final refers to a student
who is the final write-up phase in preparation for submission. Middle refers to
anyone who isnt Early or Final. As previously mentioned, Question 4 on the
doctoral students use of ICT was excluded in the data analysis for this paper.
Table 1: The PhD phases and the discipline backgrounds of the student
participants
PhD Phase Participant No. Discipline
Early 2 Health Science
5 Science
6 Commerce
Mid 1 Science
7 Commerce
8 Commerce
Final 3 Humanities
4 Humanities
9 Health Science
Data
Participants were invited to create a drawing of the research process. They were
allowed to use any form they wished: sketch, shapes, mind-maps, cartoon etc.
The participants carried out the task in their own time, unsupervised by the
researchers over a period of 5-7 days. Participants were free to include text,
either on the drawing or as an accompaniment.
Once completed, participants met one of the researchers to discuss what they
had generated. This allowed an opportunity for the participants to articulate
what the diagrams represented, particularly:
During these meetings, participants were encouraged to talk freely and to make
additions to the diagrams. These sessions played a key role in forming meaning
from the drawings.
A general inductive approach (Guba & Lincoln, 1989) was employed to guide
the process of coding and analysing the audio recordings of the discussion
sessions. Qualitative analysis software (NVivo) was employed to facilitate a
systematic, iterative method of coding. The process of the analysis for
participative drawing phase 1 is summarised in Figure 1.
To gain an overall sense of the data, the analysis involved repeated reviews of
the audio- recorded discussion sessions, researcher notes and the texts and
markings on the participants drawings, as shown in the example in Figure 2
below. This iterative process led to the identification of an initial code list based
on each of the participants personal explanations of their doctoral research
process. As emphasised earlier, the ICT aspect as presented in all the following
drawings would not be analysed and discussed in this paper.
Figure 2: Participant drawings showing further markings in dark blue & black that
were added during a discussion session.
The Process: We found that the participants constructed their perceptions of the
doctoral research process in three distinct ways: a) Linear vs. Non-Linear; b)
Traditional vs. Non-Traditional; c) Simple vs. Complicated.
Figure 3 shows two examples which serve to illustrate differences in the way
these two students perceived the process. The image on the left illustrates
doctoral research as a three step sequential process, from generating the
research topic to running analysis followed by making conclusions. The
emphasis on the linear process is displayed by the student use of green directed
arrows between the steps. Six participants represented their understanding of
doctoral research in a similar linear way. The drawing on the right depicts a
non-linear form. One of the three proponents of this non-linear approach
explained doctoral research as never straightforward but a mix of moving
forward, backward and sideways. In all three non-linear cases, these depictions
showed a higher degree of messiness.
The two participants in their early PhD phase and the mid-PhD phase
mentioned how perplexing (messy) the doctoral research process was. This was
repeatedly stated by these students in discussions and presented in their
diagrams. It was, however, surprising to discover messiness in the diagrams of
participants in the final phase. The assumption was that these more experienced
students would be in a position to articulate, retrospectively, the process in a
clear methodical manner.
Figure 4 shows two further depictions of the doctoral process, this time
illustrating traditional and non-traditional approaches to doctoral research. The
first image (on the top) shows a representation of the process illustrated in a
traditional format: from literature review to data collection and analysis
followed by a write-up. The emphasis on the traditional process is displayed by
the focus on finding a gap in the literature that leads to the research idea and
data collection and analyses. Six participants represented their doctoral
research in this manner. The other three participants opted for a more non-
traditional form which they felt showed innovation in developing a personal
approach to research practice.
While we expected that students in the early and mid-PhD phases would be
conventional in their illustrations of process, two were not. In these cases, there
was clearly an interest in doing something different.
Similar to the illustration on Figure 5 (on the top), seven students represented
their doctoral research in a simple layout that captured their idea of the project
to proposal preparation, followed by collecting evidence, developing framework
and generating validation ended by write-up. The emphasis on the simplicity is
displayed by the focus on the lay terms used in the drawing. Others, however,
chose to present their doctoral research in a network layout with linkages
among the tasks-to-do. In this way the diagram reveals linkages showing how
particular stages affected important decisions relevant to other stages. It was
interesting that the author of the diagram in Figure 5 (at the bottom) spoke of
doctoral research as a rather tortuous process where it was easy to get confused
and lost.
Students in the early phase of their doctoral research tended to represent their
processes in more complex ways, while those in the final phase of doctoral
research presented in more simplistic forms. We had expected the reverse. We
thought it was likely that at start-up, PhD students would have a linear,
textbook style view of the process that lacked insight into the complexities and
those at the end of the process would be much more conscious of the
complexities involved.
Finding-2 The Starting Point: All students talked a great deal about the starting
point of their doctoral research. Findings from the analysis of the drawings as
well as the discussions showed that the participants began their doctoral
research in three different ways: a) With an idea; b) Fishing for an idea; c)
Finding a supervisor as presented in Figure 6 below.
All indicated a preference for, and dependence on, a way to begin their doctoral
research. Three believed that one has to have a research idea in order to start the
doctoral research process. A further three preferred to begin their doctoral
research by finding a gap in the literature in order to generate a research idea.
The remaining three identified the need to secure a supervisor as the first and
most important task.
Finding-3 The Language Used: Findings from the analysis of the drawings as
well as the discussion sessions showed that the participants were very
dependent on language to mediate process and meaning within their diagrams.
Typically, language was used in three different ways: a) General terms; b)
Specific terms; c) Structural terms as presented in Figure 7 below.
Four students used general terms to describe the processes in the light of
completing a thesis, such as Analysis, Literature, Research Proposal and
Initialising to describe the steps in their doctoral research. Others chose
specific terms or phrases to illustrate each step in regards to the content of their
thesis, such as Use GIS to identify patterns in the recorded features for
discussion in the body of the thesis and Establish the spatio-temporal models
for different renewable resources respectively. Three of the participants
adopted structural terms to highlight their practices, such as Validation,
Submission and Publication in order to explain the process of their doctoral
research.
In the discussion sessions, participants for the most part, focused on the outcome
gaining the PhD (product) rather than on how to gain the PhD (process).They
explained that the outcome was more important than the process. In fact, it
seemed that some had manipulated the process in order to speed up the
completion time-frame. Many spoke about life post-PhD. For example, one
participant pointed out that, Basically you cant really get a job in Chemistry
without a PhD. Another stated, I need a PhD because I am a very academic
person and I would like to stay in academia for the rest of my life.
In summary, for those just starting the doctoral research process, we had
expected to see a degree of messy thinking and diagrams loaded with nave
complexity, but instead these participants tended to draw simple linear
drawings. They possessed less knowledge than we were expecting and
struggled with describing many of the phases and terms that define the various
Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to investigate the ways PhD students
conceptualised and practised doctoral research. The focus was on a group of
PhD students conceptions as well as their practices in different stages of
doctoral research processes and thus, the study did not examine the broader
domain of individuals or groups associated with the PhD process, such as the
supervisors or peers. While on the surface, the small cohort appears to imply
limitations to the research, it is important to note the research aimed to explore
deep data of individual experiences as opposed to a broader more general
approach.
The findings of this study have relevance for the broader tertiary population to
engender awareness of different ways to understand research into student
research practices. We hope it will provide an opportunity for academics,
especially supervisors of postgraduate research students, to understand PhD
students research processes as well as practices and/or to what degree support
might be required to support PhD students. It is hoped that these findings will
help promote a deeper conversation about the ways PhD students understand
the process and practice of doctoral research. Additionally, visual and situated
behavioural data could be employed in higher education research as such data
may offer new insights not found in data gathered through questionnaires and
surveys. Perhaps research on larger and more diverse groups of students could
be considered to obtain more representative data of the student population, as
this study is focussed on a small group of students at one university.
The process and outcomes of this study have convinced us of the benefits of
visual methodologies within higher education research. We hope this work acts
as a catalyst for those looking for new ways of undertaking research, particular
those involved in the field of doctoral research.
Acknowledgement
The study presented in the paper is derived from one aspect of KwongNuis
PhD thesis on An investigation into the way PhD students utilise ICT to
support their doctoral research process, which was completed at the University
of Otago, New Zealand in 2015 under the supervision of Sarah Stein, Russell
Butson and Jacques van der Meer.
Retrieved from https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/handle/10523/6263
References
Kiley, M., & Mullins, G. (2005). Supervisors conceptions of research: What are they?
Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 49(3), 245-262.
Leonard, D., Becker, R., & Coate, K. (2005). To prove myself at the highest level: The
benefits of doctoral study. Higher Education Research & Development, 24(2), 135-
149.
Meyer, J. H. F., Shanahan, M. P., & Laugksch, R. C. (2005). Students conceptions of
research I: A qualitative and quantitative analysis. Scandinavian Journal of
Educational Research, 49, 225-244. doi:10.1080/00313830500109535
Nelson, A. (1994). Researching adult transformation as autobiography. International
Journal of Lifelong Education, 13(5), 389-403
Pearson, M., & Brew, A. (2002). Research training and supervision development. Studies
in Higher Education, 27(2), 135-150
Pyhlt, K., Stubb, J., & Lonka, K. (2009). Developing scholarly communities as learning
environments for doctoral students. International Journal for Academic
Development, 14(3), 221-232.
Seifert, T. (2004). Understanding student motivation. Educational Research 46(2), 137-149.
Spencer, S. (2011). Visual Research Methods in the Social Sciences (First ed.). London and
New York: Routledge.
Stubb, J., Pyhlt, K., & Lonka, K. (2011). Balancing between inspiration and exhaustion:
PhD students experienced socio-psychological well-being. Studies in Continuing
Education, 33(1), 33-50.
Sweitzer, V. (2009). Towards a theory of doctoral student professional identity
development: A developmental networks approach. The Journal of Higher
Education, 80(1), 1-34.
Wellington, J. (2012). Searching for 'doctorateness'. Studies in Higher Education, 38(10),
1490-1503.
Wood, K. (2006). Changing as a person: the experience of learning to research in the
social sciences. Higher Education Research and Development, 25(1), 53-66.
Jase Moussa-Inaty
Zayed University
Abu Dhabi, The United Arab Emirates
Introduction
Providing students with a variety of learning approaches offers a competitive
edge for any higher education institute. When instructors provide lecture type or
face-to-face (F2F) experiences, there is risk of students experiencing cognitive
overload especially if presented materials are crowded with information that is
redundant (Moussa-Inaty & Atallah, 2012; Moussa-Inaty, Ayres, & Sweller,
2012). Blended learning may offer a positive contribution and may reduce the
risk of cognitive overload hence provide an opportunity for students to engage
in a variety of delivery modes of instruction where F2F is not the only form of
learning. In a blended class, students engage in various targeted tasks through a
range of technological tools. Indeed, information and communication
technologies have become a fundamental part of the educational system and
learning in countries worldwide (Matukhin & Evseeva, 2014).
The following two research questions are addressed in this paper: (1) How did
students feel about their blended learning experience? (2) What
difficulties/challenges did students experience during their blended learning
experience?
The UAE studies presented in the literature are mainly preliminary in nature
and do not report on blended learning experiences. It is evident that there is a
need to seek students and faculty attitudes toward e-learning. A closer look at
current and first time blended learning experiences by students is also crucial. In
doing so, information can be gained especially when it comes to developing,
evaluating, and running current and future blended learning classes.
Methodology
The study adopted a qualitative method employing text analysis of students
online reflective journals to investigate student feelings towards a blended
learning experience. Journal writing as a method which involves analyzing,
criticizing, evaluating, and identifying challenges has gained significant
prominence in the literature (Daniel, 1992). Journal writing involves the
stimulation of thoughts - allowing one to look into oneself, ones feelings, and
ones actions (Wood, 2012). In addition to providing a platform from which
instructional designers can work from when designing and running blended
learning classes, it was anticipated that by looking at students reflective
journals, students were provided a voice to express themselves and a way of
conversing with themselves as they attempted to make sense of their blended
learning experience.
Participants
The study was conducted at a federal university in the UAE with seventy-two
undergraduate female Emirati students who were enrolled in an education class
on human growth and development. There were no male students in this class
because of the structure of the university (an all-female campus), hence the
participants were only females. The education class was not only open to
education students and so for most the students, this class was an elective. As
such, the participants were from the mixed majors offered at the university;
namely, Arts and Creative Enterprises, Business, Communication and Media Sciences,
Education, Sustainability Sciences and Humanities, and Technological Innovation.
Though the language of instruction was in English, the participants native
language was Arabic, but they all were able to read, write, and speak in English.
The participants were familiar with some e-learning tools such as Blackboard
and this was their first blended learning experience. The mean age for the
participants was 20.5 years. Ages ranged from 19 to 22.
Procedure
Technical skills and familiarity with the communication platform is crucial prior
to the start of the blended learning experience and warrants consideration
(White, Ramirez, Smith, & Plonowski, 2010). Accordingly, all students enrolled
in the blended learning class received various supporting and guiding tools at
the start of classes, which were F2F in order to help support their novel learning
experience. For example, a detailed course guide that included screenshots and
various images was provided to show how students could navigate and
effectively use Blackboard for (a) content related materials, and (b) assessment
related materials. Blackboard was used as the basic platform for the various
online and virtual activities such as discussion board. By also using Blackboard
as a platform for journal entry, the students were encouraged to write reflective
journals and although they were encouraged to contribute to their journal at
least once a month, they were allowed to add entries whenever they felt they
had something to write or share. Students were reminded that the journal was
about them, that is their feelings, thoughts, views, and reactions towards their
blended learning experience.
Research question 1: How did students feel about their blended learning experience?
The outcome of the data analysis revealed the emergence of three major
categories in relation to how students felt towards their blended learning
experience. The first theme was F2F Preference and this referred to individuals
who preferred F2F class sessions throughout the blended learning experience.
The second category that emerged was Blended Preference which referred to
individuals who had positive feelings towards the blended learning experience -
preferring a mix of both F2F and online sessions. The last category to have
emerged was Converted Preference and this category referred to individuals who
preferred one specific learning approach at the beginning of the semester, and
then had a different or converted learning approach preference towards the end
of the semester.
It is important to note that of the students who had converted preferences, 75%
of them had originally preferred F2F and then changed to a blended preference.
There was not a significant number of students (25%) who converted from
preferring a blended approach to then preferring a F2F approach.
The data demonstrates that some students had stable and fixed feelings
regarding their blended experience throughout the course (either F2F or
blended), while others had changing or converting feelings. The students who
had positive feelings about their blended learning experience did admit that
since it was their first blended learning experience, they felt a little lost and
confused but then that feeling changed quickly as the days and weeks passed
on. For instance, this student wrote, In the beginning it was a little bit confused
because I didnt know how to use it...Later on I found it much easier that I thought.
Another student specifically wrote about her studying skills and how they had
been impacted positively as a result of the blended learning experience. She
wrote, From the beginning of the semester I thought that the online part will be hard
for me and I may face some difficulties in remembering what to do and when to do it. But
I find it a chance to try new thing and try to learn out of it being responsible and
organize my lifeMy behaviour totally changed during the last couple of weeks and I
really enjoy marking my tasks or appointment on my calendar which helped me a lot.
One can argue that the content of the course as well as the teacher conducting
the class may have impacted students preference for F2F or blended learning.
The students indicated that because the topics were appealing and relevant, they
were eager to read and learn more. One student wrote, our topics are appealing
and they attract the reader or the student to read moreonline experience is better, it
forces you to concentrate. Another student wrote, the topic about children and their
developments, thoughts and behaviours is really interesting for me and I would like to
learn more about the topic whether it was by online learning or face-to-face lectures.
Yet another student wrote, For this specific topic I would rather learn about it face-
to-face because it is a very sad topic and Id want to hear stories from my classmates
about their experiences with them. One student expressed how the course content
helped her stay involved. She wrote, I was amazed by the course content and
information that I felt unconsciously involved in such topics. Another student who
focused on the relevance of the content in her life stated, the class experience was
very interesting and well-managed. The topics we covered were very important and
useful. I believe that the core of this course is highly important to all girls where most of
us will be future mothers of new generations. In one final journal entry, this student
expressed that, what I liked most about this course is how useful and fun it is.
Another observation was that, those who preferred F2F still acknowledged some
positive feelings towards the online experience. One student wrote, There are
some skill that developed such as I have been able to organize my time.
Managing This category refers to One student wrote, I found it difficult and
Time difficulties/challenges challenging to maintain the level of control
related to time. required in an online classroom. I always had the
idea that I would get to do the work assigned
eventually, but I ended up wasting a lot of time.
Technical This category refers to One student wrote, downloading the power
Issues difficulties/challenges points took a really long timeanother challenge
related to technical was to be able to hear clearly the sounds of the
issues. girls that were recorded.
Novelty of the This category refers to A student stated, I dont have full knowledge
Learning difficulties/challenges how should I work in the best way of learning
Experience related to the novelty this subject.
of the experience.
Another student stressed, everything is new
to me and that make me very anxious.
Added This category refers to One student mentioned that, we faced many
Responsibilities difficulties/challenges difficulties as getting the main ideadeciding
related to students what to focus on.
added responsibilities
when enrolled in a Another student wrote, when I read the
blended learning slides, there were some difficult parts that I could
class. not understand, but I immediately opened the
book and read more about that topic.
Learning Style This category refers to One student specified that, honestly speaking
difficulties/challenges I cant depend on myself I would rather have
related to individual someone explain it to me and I would listen.
preferences for
learning. One other student also said, I prefer
listening and writing notes while the instructor
is explaining which makes it easier for me to
focus, understand, and memorize.
An interesting observation was that the many students who had positive
feelings towards their blended learning experience also expressed that the
experience made them more independent and responsible. This finding supports
the work of Broadbent (2017) and Wang (2003) who showed that technologies
not only promote greater student involvement but also generate more individual
control and responsibility in the learning process. Still some viewed the added
responsibility as a challenge and difficulty as demonstrated in Table 2 above.
Even though almost all students discussed difficulties whether they were F2F or
blended learning related difficulties, one student stated that she, did not see any
difficulties at allI just find it very easy and flexible course that I would recommend to
all my friends.
In general, this study showed that the participants had mixed feelings about
their blended learning experience with the majority preferring F2F learning,
although they did not mind some online class sessions because it was a new
Similar studies could be carried out with other courses and varying
concentrations. One could argue that some courses that are heavy in content
may lend themselves better to a blended learning approach. Still it would be
interesting to continue investigating students blended learning experiences, so
long as there are blended learning opportunities. This can provide valuable
information for course designers as they consider current students feedback
toward blended learning and make necessary changes that will in turn aim to
enhance blended learning experiences.
Implications for pedagogical practice, which could lead to more positive feelings
towards blended learning may include providing more opportunities for
students to experience blended learning, strengthening practical knowledge
related to blended learning and designing and offering courses that have
relevant, interesting and applicable content. Informing students of the benefits of
the actual blended learning experience and providing all sorts of support
(technical, student learning, etc.) throughout the blended learning experience
may further lead to more positive feeling towards blended learning. As it stands,
F2F continues to have a strong impact on student learning.
References
Al-Mekhlafi, A. (2004). The internet and EFL Teaching: the reactions of UAE secondary
school English language teachers. Journal of Language and Teaching, 2(2), 88-113.
Atallah, F., & Moussa-Inaty, J. (2012). Exploring Faculty and Student Readiness for E-
Learning in a UAE Public University. In Proceedings of World Conference on E-
Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2012 (pp. 1747-
1754). Chesapeake, VA: AACE. Retrieved from
http://www.editlib.org/p/41862.
Atallah, F., & Moussa-Inaty, J. (2013). Emirati Student Voices on E-learning Readiness.
Paper presented at the E-Learn 2013 World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate,
Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education, Las Vegas, NV, United States,
(October 21-24).
Biju, S.M. (2010). E-learning and blended learning in the Gulf region. in I. Iskander, M.,
et al. (eds.), Technological Developments in Education and Automation (pp. 7).
Springer, New York.
Bonk, C. J., & Graham, C. R. (2012). The handbook of blended learning: Global perspectives,
local designs. John Wiley & Sons.
Bower, M., Kennedy, G. E., Dalgarno, B., Lee, M. J. W., & Kenney, J. (2015). Design and
implementation factors in blended synchronous learning environments:
Outcomes from a cross-case analysis. Computers and Education, 86, 1-17.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2015.03.006
Broadbent, J. (2017). Comparing online and blended learner's self-regulated learning
strategies and academic performance. The Internet and Higher Education, 33, 24-32.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2017.01.004
Buran, A. & Evseeva, A. (2015). Prospects of blended learning implementation at
technical university. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 206(17), 177 -182.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.10.049
Daniel, C. (1992). The phenomenology of writing by hand. Intelligent Tutoring Media
3(2/3), 65-74. https://doi.org/10.1080/14626269209408310
Dziuban, C.D., Hartman, J.L., Moskal, P.D. (2004). Blended Learning. Research Bulletin,
2004 (7). Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erb0407.pdf
El Alfy, S., Gmez, J. M., & Ivanov, D. (2017). Exploring instructors technology
readiness, attitudes and behavioral intentions towards e-learning technologies in
Egypt and United Arab Emirates. Education and Information Technologies, 22(5),
2605-2627. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-016-9562-1
Estelami, H. (2012). An exploratory study of drivers of student satisfaction and learning
experience in hybrid-online and purely online marketing courses. Marketing
Education Review, 22(2), 143-155. https://doi.org/10.2753/mer1052-8008220204
Glaser B.G., & Stauss, A. L. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory, Chicago: Aldine.
Gradel, K., & Edson, A.J. (2011). Cooperative learning: Smart pedagogy and tools for
online and hybrid courses. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 39(2), 193-
212. https://doi.org/10.2190/et.39.2.i
Tubaishat, A., & Lansari, A. (2011). Are Students Ready to Adopt E-Learning? A
Preliminary E-readiness Study of a University in the Gulf Region, International
Journal of Information and Communication Technology Research, 1(5), 210-215.
Vrazalic, L., MacGregor, R., Behl, D., & Fitzgerald, J. (2009). E-learning barriers in the
United Arab Emirates: Preliminary results from an empirical investigation. Ibima
Business Review, 4, 1-7.
Wang, Y.S. (2003). Assessment of learner satisfaction with asynchronous electronic
learning systems. Information and Management, 41, 75-86.
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0378-7206(03)00028-4
White, C. P., Ramirez, R., Smith, J. G., & Plonowski, L. (2010). Simultaneous delivery of a
F2F course to on-campus and remote off-campus students. TechTrends, 54(4), 34-
40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-010-0418-z
Wood, J. (2012). Transformation through journal writing: The art of self-reflection for the
helping professions. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Zhai, X., Gu, J., Liu, H., Liang, J. C., & Chin-Chung, T. (2017). An Experiential Learning
Perspective on Students' Satisfaction Model in a Flipped Classroom
Context. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 20(1), 198.
Zhu, C. (2017). University student satisfaction and perceived effectiveness of a blended
learning course. International Journal of Learning Technology, 12(1), 66-83.
https://doi.org/10.1504/IJLT.2017.083996
Birgitte Malm
MID Sweden University
Introduction
All formal teacher education is concerned with restructuring the everyday concepts and
initial beliefs of the students. It is important to shed light on the crucial role that teacher
education has in order to develop awareness and reflection among the students about
their own initial beliefs and expectations, since these are the structures towards which
the new knowledge and experiences will be understood (von Wright, 1997, p. 259).
solve problems, and preparation for meeting changes in working life. In addi-
tion to basic knowledge and skills, students need to develop capacities for seek-
ing and evaluating knowledge on a scientific level, keeping up to date with
knowledge development and be able to exchange knowledge even with persons
outside their special field of knowledge (Higher Education Act, 1992:1434, 8 ).
According to a recent report (Swedish Research Council, 2015) preschool re-
search is in need of urgent expansion due to the fact that this field of research
has not developed in relation to extensive changes related to high expectations
of the preschool as an agency for pro-action and equality (ibid., p. 26). As
Sheridan, Williams, Sandberg and Vuorinen (2011, p. 435) contend: Preschool
competence is constituted in the intersection of values, knowledge and ideolo-
gies on different system levels. From a perspective of critical ecology, preschool
teachers can thus be viewed as a community of learners and agents of change.
Further results from the report point towards preschool and qualitative
pedagogical relationships as being determined and formed by a close link be-
tween care and teaching. This implies that a new concept of teaching is needed,
that moves from formal and adult-directed situations to situations where pre-
school staff engage the childs learning through dialogue, which even includes
dialogue that is non-verbal (ibid., p. 27). A recurring implication is the impor-
tance of preschool teachers knowledge, competences and commitment in con-
junction with all childrens participation and inclusion. Furthermore, studies
show that pedagogical relationships between preschool staff and children are of
crucial importance for the enhancement of childrens learning and socio-
emotional development (ibid.).
Ways in which preschool teachers work towards providing suitable condi-
tions for young childrens learning and development is the focus of yet another
recent report (Swedish National Agency for Education, 2015). Building on the
assumption that capacities such as creativity, the will to co-operate, meticulous-
ness and a sense of responsibility determine how individuals succeed with their
education and working life, it is concluded that work done within preschools
and during the early years in school in order to enhance these capacities, is of
specific importance. Being able to enhance young childrens capacities for learn-
ing and development is therefore a quality of crucial and particular importance
to all prospective preschool teachers.
For the award of a Degree of Bachelor of Arts in Early Years Education,
Swedish student teachers are required to demonstrate knowledge in three main
areas: (1) knowledge and understanding; (2) competence and skills; (3) judge-
ment and approach. The latter is of special interest to this study as it is in this
area that essential qualities of teaching are expressed, related to personal dispo-
sitions, competences and qualities and as such can be difficult to measure or
assess. According to The Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100) students need
to demonstrate the following knowledge within the area Judgement and approach:
self-awareness and the capacity for empathy; the capacity to adopt a profes-
sional approach to children and their caregivers; the capacity to make assess-
ments in educational processes on the basis of relevant scientific, social and ethi-
cal aspects with particular respect for human rights, especially childrens rights
according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and sustainable devel-
opment; the capacity to identify the need for further knowledge and to develop
his or her own skills in professional practice.
Other specific concepts related to personal dispositions and self-development
that are included in The Higher Education Ordinance can be found under the
heading Knowledge and understanding: demonstrate knowledge and understand-
ing of social relationships, conflict management and leadership; and Competence
and skills: display the capacity to benefit from, systematize and reflect critically
and autonomously on personal experience, the experience of others and relevant
research findings and thereby contribute to his or her own professional devel-
opment and the formation of knowledge in the field of professional practice.
According to Olofsson (2013) the concept of an educational contract is of gen-
eral relevance to studies of higher education; especially so in regard to academic
professional training where students have expectations related to their studies
and aspirations that are primarily connected to their future occupations. He de-
scribes important aspects on four different levels: the educational system and
society as a whole; students education related to the labour market; students
and their education (programme, subject, institution, university); students,
teachers and learning in any given educational situation.
The last two are incorporated into what Olofsson calls a teaching contract.
This is described as being a mutual, presupposed and relatively stable agree-
ment between students and teachers on the aims and content of the teaching
programme (in other words, a system of partly taken for granted and partly con-
tradictory conceptions, expectations and norms for what characterizes a good
education). Of interest is not primarily the situation as such but also the process
whereby such reciprocity is established and emerges. In sum it is the interplay
between expectations, approaches, negotiations and a fixed institutional form
that are central to the concept. Olofssons studies demonstrate that: students
expectations include being given help and support from teachers in order to
succeed with their studies; demands make on them are reasonable and realistic;
they are treated well, kept well-informed and taken care of; they will get a quali-
fied education that will provide them with a job. At the same time however, all
these expectations can come into conflict with the students desire for a stimulat-
ing as well as stress-free education (ibid., p. 54).
Cross and Hong (2009, p. 278) suggest that professional identity can be un-
derstood as a framework established and maintained through interaction in
social situations, and negotiation of roles within the particular context. Caires et
al (2012, p. 172) found that teaching practice is perceived as a particularly
stressful and demanding period, which involves considerable amounts of dis-
tress, changes in psycho-physiological patterns and an increasing sense of wea-
riness and vulnerability () Despite these difficulties, data also reveal student
teachers positive perceptions regarding their growing knowledge and skilful-
ness, their increasing sense of efficacy, flexibility and spontaneity in their per-
formance and interactions, as well as the awareness of having achieved reason-
able levels of acceptance and recognition amongst the school community. Ac-
cordingly, it can be claimed that the warmth, acceptance and satisfactory condi-
tions offered to these newcomers may determine not only their growing sense of
belonging but also (partially) their self-fulfilment regarding the teaching pro-
fession or the reasonable sense of professional identity acknowledged by these
ties. Educators alone cannot enhance a positive development, but they should
be able to - in concrete teaching situations - create the necessary prerequisites
for it.
Maintaining a meaningful balance between students rights and obligations also
implies students active participation in programmes and course evaluations.
This is important to ensure that the best conditions for learning and for the ac-
complishment of the goals of the programme or course are provided. Evalua-
tions provide students with the opportunity of sharing their experiences and
opinions of the course and should therefore be made accessible to all.
Method
The aim of the present study is to provide valuable insight into how individual
approaches to lives and work affect student teachers perceptions and expecta-
tions regarding the content and meaning of their pre-school teacher training
programme. Overriding questions of significance are: How well does contempo-
rary Teacher Education prepare student teachers for their future role? Do stu-
dents feel that their teacher-training programme has sufficiently prepared them
for their profession?
Among the students who started their teacher training programme at this
Department of Early Childhood (the same term as the present study was com-
pleted), 75 % were younger than 29 years old and an overwhelming majority
were female. Almost half (44 %) combined full-time studies with part-time work.
41 % of the students had one or more children and 19 % did not have Swedish as
their home language. 64 % had more than 2 years previous work experience and
39 % had already studied at a college or University. 25 % were concerned that
their studies would be difficult and half of the students expressed a desire to
continue with their studies. In answer to the question of what they wished of
their coming profession, this group of students answered that it be: Creative (77
%); Intellectually stimulating (62 %); Of relevance to society (48 %); Well paid (21
%); Able to offer opportunities for career advancement (19 %). Of interest is the
fact that creativity and intellectual stimulation are ranked so highly and that a
good salary and opportunities for career advancement are not their main priori-
ties.
Qualitative data analysis in this study is based on the written evaluations of
181 final year Early Childhood student teachers. Of these, 123 answers were col-
lected from a voluntary and anonymous web questionnaire. Here data collection
comprised only the students answers to the last question, which was open-
ended and where they were able to, in their own words, add anything they felt a
special need to convey regarding their experiences of the teacher-training pro-
gramme.
In addition to the data collected via the web questionnaire, two separate
groups (a total of 58 students) were asked to first discuss and then answer the
following specific questions in writing: (1) In what ways has the teacher-training
programme had an impact on your personal development? (2) What in your
Teacher Education has influenced you the most? (3) Have you found anything to
be lacking in the teacher-training programme? (4) What is your experience of the
connection between theory and practice? (5) In what ways has your Teacher
Education prepared you for your future role? These students were part of my
supervision group. They discussed the questions in smaller groups, documented
their comments and handed in their notes to me. The written answers from the
questionnaire as well as from the two groups were transcribed, categorized and
analyzed in relation to the aims of the study and the five central questions.
Complementary notes from a student council meeting (attended by two
teachers and four students) as well as from a teacher educators conference (at-
tended by thirty-two lecturers and senior lecturers) were also transcribed, cate-
gorized and analysed as supplementary data.
Results
In answer to the question of in what ways the teacher-training programme had
impacted on their personal development, one of the students wrote that she had
become more profound as a person, her self-confidence had increased and she
didnt have as many prejudices as she used to: Its easier for me now to accept
diversity. Another student describes how she has acquired a deeper under-
standing for hat the profession implies and for how we can help make others
understand the way we feel about it. In general, these students describe the
ability to reflect and analyse as being a natural and integrated part of the way
they work. Among these students, time spent in their practice schools has influ-
enced them the most. As one student concludes: Everything Ive read and in-
terpreted and have been able to apply in practice! Other positive influences
include positive relationships with specific teachers, opportunities for learning
to think critically, and discussions in their mentor groups. Most students feel
that most of the courses have been relevant and interesting. One student writes:
Weve had many group presentations in front of the class. This has make me
stronger as a person and given me the wonderful feeling of daring to try! A
negative factor described by one of the students, has been stress related to our
exams.
Many students feel that they lack examples of how to do certain practical
things, eg. implementing parent meetings and practicing together on how to
conduct performance appraisal meetings with parents. Other things described as
lacking include cardiopulmonary rescue, sign-language and practical courses in
maths and science. Many students would have liked to learn more about special
needs education. Having more mentor group meetings and discussions about
course literature was also something these students would have liked more of.
Several mention the desire for a more effective schedule, where fewer lectures
and more seminars could open up for opportunities for discussion with the
teacher and ones classmates. A negative aspect mentioned by many students is
related to the lack of communication between different group mentors. One stu-
dent writes: They say and do different things, resulting in misunderstandings
and different pre-conditions for the students. This has disappointed me the
most.
A majority of the students experience the connection between theory and
practice as positive. One student writes: Ive been able to identify connections
and been able to apply my theoretical knowledge in practice. For another it had
felt worthwhile and important, but I would have wanted more! The time
spent in practice school also gives a welcome break from school, which can be
nice at times. It makes it fun returning to ones studies and discussing ones ex-
periences with the class. When asked in what ways their education has prepared
them for their future role, there are only positive remarks. From having learnt to
take responsibility for ones own learning and development, to being an al-
most full vessel today - which will continue to be filled as long as I continue
working in preschool! One student describes her process: At the beginning I
did things without really understanding why. But after awhile I was able to ex-
plain why I did certain things. It is important to be able to stand up for what I do
and explain why. Most of all I think its important as it can contribute towards
raising the status of our profession based on the knowledge we possess. An-
other student concludes: This has been a wonderful journey in many ways. Its
been fun, with lots of challenges and lots of laughs!
After having completed the teacher-training programme, critique from earlier
courses is still evident. This includes lack of communication between group
mentors, ambiguity, ineffective schedules and too little practice. That which
most of the students feel to be lacking is how to plan and implement parent
meetings, how to handle performance appraisal meetings and how best to assist
children with special needs. These students would also like more rhetorical ele-
ments earlier in the program and feel they need more training in being able to
give individual presentations (in contrast to the many group presentations re-
quired during their training). In regard to personal development, many students
feel that they have gained self-confidence, acquired a deeper understanding of
the meaning of the profession as a whole as well as having developed capacities
for reflection and analysis as a natural part of their work. Several mention the
fact that specific teacher educators have made a difference. A majority of the
students feel that theory and practice during their teacher training has gone
hand in hand, and has been of great benefit to them. In many positive ways they
feel that the programme has prepared them for their future role. It seems natural
that what these students at this final stage feel to be lacking are often practical
elements that they will need in their immediate future.
At a Student Council meeting for Early Childhood Education at the same De-
partment, student teachers from Terms 3 and 7 (the final term) shared experi-
ences of their teacher education regarding content and learning environment.
From the transcribed notes of their conversation it is evident that when these
student teachers start their education they have high expectations; they want
and expect to make a contribution. This is especially evident during the first
term. They consider practice time in preschool as conclusive to being able to
connect with themselves and find their identity as teachers. There is soon a
growing frustration over what they deem to be too many theoretical work tasks
taking time from practical experience and thereby the possibility of self-
confirmation in their teacher role. By the third term there is a growing concern
over increasing academic challenges; the students have difficulty finding mean-
ing and consistency; there is self-doubt and absenteeism. Statistics from this
University also show that it is at this point that many students discontinue their
studies.
After the fourth term, 89 % of the students express the need for more clarity
and structure in their training programme and better communication between
the teachers; 70 % want more and better connections between theory and prac-
tice. During the following terms the students express dissatisfaction over ineffi-
cient schedule planning, low expectations, too much spare time and once again a
lack of communication between teachers and students.
During the final year, and in retrospect, the meaning and significance of their
teacher education becomes much clearer. Students however want more rhetori-
cal elements included in their different courses as they see this as a necessary
and essential communicative competence in relation to working with children,
parents, school leaders etc. in their future profession. Although most experience
themselves as students during the programme, it is after they have been out in
their practice schools for the second time that they start feeling more aware of
having a specific professional role. These students also suggest that they be in-
cluded more actively in different parts of the course; they feel that this may in-
crease a sense of commitment and counteract absenteeism. They also express the
wish of sharing the end product their thesis in public, to make it a more
meaningful experience for them.
At a teacher educators conference 32 lecturers and senior lecturers at this
Department shared their thoughts on the students evaluations. Ways in which
students are introduced to the Academy they feel is important, i.e. addressing
the question of what it means to study at a University. Educators need to state
their case clearly. What is expected of the students? There has to be clear distinc-
tions between the students and the educators sense of responsibility. A di-
lemma arises based on the uncertainty of younger students: will their uncer-
tainty disappear if they are given too much support too early, or will it instead
create a pattern of dependency? The question was raised if it really is a prob-
lem that group mentors say different things, an often recurring criticism from
students. Group mentors have different personalities and this should instead be
accepted and considered as a resource - as long as examination criteria are ad-
hered to. Students need to be able to distance themselves from upper secondary
school; how should students be approached who want to be controlled (need
constant confirmation and acknowledgement)? What is fixed (learning out-
comes, course literature) and what is open? Students continually seem to fluc-
tuate between wanting to be cared for, and the uncertainty of relying on them-
selves. A recurring predicament is how to get the students to feel motivated to
engage in all aspects of the training programme, and not only choose to partake
of activities that are not examinations. Students need to be encouraged at an
early stage to motivate their opinions, in order to enhance critical thinking. The
concluding challenge is: Raise expectations! Students need to be proud of their
education!
Connecting theory with practice is one of the long-standing challenges of preparing new
teachers (Klette and Hammerness (2016, p. 44).
A constant and recurring theme throughout the teacher training programme has
been the wish for more practice time. One student refers to the University as a
bubble and practice schools as reality. Von Wright (1997, p. 263) believes
that the gap between theory and practice in teacher education is created when
theories about development stages or class differences remain distant from prac-
tice and do not become tools for the student teachers personal theories. She
concludes that:
Self-reflection and awareness of ones own beliefs, choices and strategies do
not come by themselves, but they have to be acquired and practised. In order to
have a fruitful encounter between teacher education and the students develop-
ment into professional teachers, it is important that the students themselves are
confronted with their own initial beliefs and get opportunities to challenge and
problematize them, to co-ordinate them and possibly alter them (ibid., p. 265).
Prospective teachers existing knowledge and beliefs have been found to play
a crucial role in how they experience and/or envision their professional role
(Bukor, 2015). As far back as 1975, Lortie emphasized the intuitive, imitative and
personal aspects of teaching: Students are undoubtedly impressed by some
teachers actions and not by others, but one would not expect them to view the
difference in a pedagogical, explanatory way. What students learn about teach-
ing then, is intuitive and imitative rather than explicit and analytical, it is based
on individual personalities rather than pedagogical principles (ibid., p. 62). As
Saunders (2012, p. 306) contends: Exploring individuals emotions as constructs
which are separate from the environment and their social relationships denies
the complex and inherently social nature of teaching. As noted by Caires et al
(2012, p. 166):
We who work in preschool need to feel proud of what we do and I believe that
by calling our occupation for a profession we can feel more special and more
proud of our work. This is especially important today when so many change
careers; we need to give the profession something that no one else can. No one
should be able to come from outside and be able to do our work as well or better
without an education. Then something is wrong. The course is extremely rele-
vant in order to show that we can actually accomplish things within our occu-
pation and are able to show what this is.
Concluding remarks
This article has addressed issues within Teacher Education that have dealt with
student teachers perceptions of their education in relation to their future profes-
sion, to the meaning and content of their teacher-training programme and to
teachers and learning in specific educational contexts (see Olofsson 2013). Of
general relevance has been student teachers expectations and aspirations con-
nected to their future profession. Of specific relevance has been student teachers
perceptions and thoughts on what Olofsson (ibid.) describes as being a mutual,
presupposed and relatively stable agreement between students and teachers on
the aims and content of the teaching programme. These situations and processes
are determined by the constant interplay between expectations, approaches, ne-
gotiations and a fixed institutional form.
Quoting Brennan (2008, p. 385), Kehm (2015) describes a further dimension as
being the increasing social embeddedness of higher education institutions
within a multitude of communities that make their own particular demands
(ibid., p. 72). According to Kehm this has led to new relationships between
higher education institutions and their external communities at local, national
and international levels that have sometimes been analysed as needing and lead-
ing to a new social contract between higher education institutions and society
References
Bohlin, H. (2013). Bildung and Intercultural Understanding. In Intercultural Education,
24(5), 391-400. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2013.826019
Boyd, D., Grossman, P., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2009). Teacher Preparation
and Student Achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 31(4), 416
440. https://doi.org/10.3386/w14314
Brennan, J. (2008). Higher education and social change. Higher Education, 56, 381-393.
Korthagen, F., Kessels, J., Koster, B., Lagerwerf, B., & Wubbels, T. (2001). Linking practice
and theory: The pedagogy of realistic teacher education. London: Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410600523
Kristjansson, K. (2000). The Didactics of Emotion Education. Analytic Teaching, 21(1), 5-
15.
Kuisma, M. & Sandberg, A. (2011). Preschool teachers and student preschool teachers
thoughts about professionalism in Sweden. In Dalli, C. & Urban, M. (eds) Profes-
sionalism in Early Childhood Education and Care London: Routledge, pp. 55-64.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13502930802141618
Lortie, D. (1975). Schoolteacher: A sociological study. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Malm, B. (2011). En helhetssyn p lrarkompetens [A Holistic Approach to Teacher
Competence]. I A. Burman & P. Mehrens (Red.), Det goda lrandet: En antologi om
liberal arts education [Good Learning: An Anthology of Liberal Arts Education],
129-141. Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Malm, B. (2009). Towards a new professionalism. Enhancing personal and professional
development in Teacher Education. Journal of Education for Teaching. International
Research and Pedagogy, 35(1), 77-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607470802587160
Nilsson Lindstrm, M. (2012). Att bli lrare i ett nytt landskap: Identitet och utbildning [Be-
coming a teacher in a new landscape: Identity and Education], Lund: Arkiv frlag.
Olofsson, G. (2013). Utbildningskontraktet [The Educational Contract]. In E. Fasth & G.
Olofsson (red), Studenterna och deras utbildningar vid ett nytt universitet [Students
and their Education at a new University]. Lund: Ariadne frlag.
Saunders, R. (2012). The role of teacher emotions in change: Experiences, patterns and
implications for professional development. Journal of Educational Change, 14(3),
303-333. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-012-9195-0
Sheridan, S., Williams, P., Sandberg, A., & Vuorinen, T. (2011). Preschool teaching in
Sweden a profession in change. Educational Research, 53(4), 415-437.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2011.625153
Swedish National Agency for Education. (2009). Att fnga bildning [Encompassing Self-
formation], (Rapport 2009:24 R). Stockholm: Hgskoleverket.
Swedish National Agency for Education. (2015). Att utmana och stimulera barns lrande och
utveckling i frskolan [Challenging and stimulating childrens learning and develop-
ment in Preschool]. Stockholm, Sweden: Skolverket.
Swedish Research Council (2015). Forskning och skola i samverkan: Kartlggningar av
forskningsresultat med relevans fr praktiskt arbete i skolvsendet [Research and Schools
in collaboration: A survey of research results of relevance for practical work in the school
system]. Stockholm, Sweden: Vetenskapsrdet.
The National Union of Teachers in Sweden [Lrarnas Riksfrbund] (2016). Hur bra r den
nya lrarutbildningen? Studenternas uppfattningar om 2011 rs lrar- och frskollra-
rutbildninger [How good is the new Teacher Education? Students perceptions of teacher
and preschool teacher education 2011].
https://www.lr.se/opinionpaverkan/undersokningar/arkiv/lararutbildningenbehoverstark
as.5.18b9c7241583bbc395a472b1.html Retrieved 2017-09-28.
von Wright, M. (1997). Student Teachers Beliefs and a Changing Teacher Role. European
Journal of Teacher Education, 20(3), 257-266.
https://doi.org/10.1080/0261976970200305
strand, B. (2012). Does Teacher Education Matter? Newly Graduated Teachers Evalua-
tions of Teacher Education in Sweden. Reflecting Education, 8(2), 6-22.
Abstract. The aim of the study has been to determine the ways that may
facilitate the freshmen at universities, who have English as their second
language, with comprehension and understanding of study material. It
has included different levels of reading material to the students in order
to identify which approach is more convenient for the students to
perceive. The approach has concluded that advanced vocabulary and
grammatical structure may make it difficult for the students to perceive
the meaning of study material. It has been perceived from the study that
simplification in the text can bring upon positive impacts on the
comprehensibility of content. The comprehensiveness can assist
students in learning the study modules yet, it is also presumed that
simplification may not enhance the students' capability to comprehend
the second language more efficiently. It is expected that further research
in the field may give deeper insight of the linguistic modifications that
may improve the comprehending abilities of the students.
Introduction
Language skills in the bilingual university students are greatly varied as a
result of inconsistency of their language understanding (Hoff & Core, 2013).
Research in second language acquisition (SLA) assures that comprehension of a
note by language learners is a critical situation in acquisition process. Similarly,
language input in SLA has to be comprehensible for the sake of understanding
and achievement. It has been observed that meaning focused instructions are not
sufficient to ensure the success in second language learning (Saito & Saito, 2016).
Moreover, many researchers in SLA consider that the cognitive processes,
convoluted in language acquisition, are simplicity-oriented. One manifestation is
to manage the variations in linguistic data by fitting it into a context of rules and
categories that the beginner already holds or has already formulated (Ellis,
2015).
Problem Statement
Language skills in the bilingual university students are considered as the
significant factors for building the educational basis. Comprehension abilities of
students are highly dependent on the grounds of education. Past literature has
indicated that meaning focused instructions are not sufficient for ensuring the
success in second language learning. The inconsistency between the provided
study material and comprehension of students can create a gap in the
educational development. It is thus, necessary to provide the students with
several ways that can be comprehensible for them.
Research Objective
The main objective of this research has been to identify the ways that can
help the fresh students in universities, who have English as their second
language, with comprehending and understanding their study material. The
study has considered the problems faced by students due to English language at
the educational institutes in Saudi Arabia. The investigation has included
different levels of reading material to the students in order to identify which
approach is more convenient for the students to perceive.
Method
The study has implemented quantitative experimental research design. It
investigated the differences in the efficiency of reading comprehension among
the university students of Saudi Arabia. The target population is comprised of
100 Saudi male students, who began their Preparatory Year Program (PYP) at
Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University (PSAU), at the first term of the academic
year 2014-1015. Their ages ranged between 18 to 20 years. The students have
been assessed on the basis of an evaluating test, derived from the standard
testing method of British IELTS. Furthermore, students, who scored from 20% to
40% in the test, were recruited as the sample population for the study. The
freshman population from the Saudi university was assigned randomly to the
four treatments that consisted of an activity to read a passage in four levels. The
reading comprehension was developed in four manners as displayed in Table 1.
Results
Table 2 presents the reading comprehension mean scores of four treatments
on 25-item test. It shows that the students, who read the lexically simplified text,
scored the highest marks (X = 12.32). The least mean score (X = 9.68) was
observed in the group, who read the authentic text. However, no significant
difference has been found between the mean scores of achievement for the other
two groups; their mean scores were (X= 10.00) and (X= 10.48), respectively.
Table 3 presents the result of ANOVA Test that displays the differences between
the mean scores of the four treatments (F = 4.426, df = 3, p = 0.006).
Table 2. Reading Comprehension Mean Scores and Standard Deviations for the Four
Groups
Group N Mean Std. Deviation
Authentic Text 25 9.68 3.132
Lexically Simplified Text 25 12.32 3.038
Syntactically Simplified Text 25 10.00 2.062
Lexically & Syntactically 25 10.48 2.859
Simplified Text
Total 100 10.62 2.947
Table 3. One-Way Analysis of Variance of the Reading Comprehension Scores for the
Four Groups
Sum of df Mean F Sig.
Squares Square
Reading Between 104.440 3 34.813 4.426 .006
Comprehension Groups
Score * Group Within 755.120 96 7.866
Groups
Total 859.560 99
Discussion
Results revealed that the type of written language input influences students
comprehension in general. The mean scores of comprehension for the group,
who read the lexically and syntactically simplified text was higher than that of
those, who read the authentic text. The statistical analysis of data showed that
the difference in the mean scores of the two groups has not been significant. The
positive influence of linguistic simplification was statistically significant only in
the case of lexical simplification. Accordingly, this study confirmed the results of
previous research (Moradian et al., 2013) that text simplification (in general)
enhances comprehensibility of SL learners. The study stated that incorporating
lexical and linguistic items in the text can be helpful in exposing the learners to
new material that can enhance their abilities to comprehend the content.
The students, who read the lexically simplified text, scored better on the
comprehension test than those who read the authentic content, syntactically
simplified text, and text containing both forms of simplification. Such result can
be attributed to a set of factors. First, syntactic simplification may produce
written input that differs remarkably from authentic English and may lead to the
loss in meaning or message of the text (Oh, 2001). Second, the use of artificial
presentation modes of meaning, shorter sentences, and repetition of words may
disturb the readers cognition and impede the comprehension. Nevertheless, the
results of ineffective use of syntactically simplified input in reading instruction
approves previous research findings and recommendations of researchers (Oh,
2001).
Previous research; such as Crossley et al., (2007) and Crossley, et al., (2014),
argued that simplifying vocabulary can make reading texts harder to
understand due to more confusing and vague words. However, this study
demonstrated the opposite. The results could be attributed to the nature of the
comprehension test, which concentrated on factual and referential types of
questions that did not require students to go deeper in analyzing words in terms
of connotation and denotation (Allington, McCuiston & Billen, 2015).
Similarly, other research findings showed that syntactic simplification did
not lead to higher comprehension. However, despite the fact that there were no
statistically significant differences between the comprehension scores of the
groups, who read the authentic versus the syntactically simplified texts, the
latter enhanced the comprehension of the participants. It means that splitting
complex sentences into independent shorter ones made the text easier for the
participants to understand. The level 2 (L2: English as second language) teachers
and readers usually have two options, when choosing the reading texts: the first
is the authentic text that was formed for the level 1 (L1: English as native
language) language readers or the text that has been simplified linguistically to
increase the comprehension (Crossley et al., 2016).
For many university students, who study English as a foreign language and
part of their education requirements, reading has been considered as an
important skill. The courses are usually delivered in the classrooms in the first
language. It has been noted that textbooks for the daily class lectures are mostly
equipped in the English language. These textbooks are those that are primarily
developed for the native English speakers. Reading in English might be an
ordeal for less proficient second language students because of the great amount
References
Allington, R.L., McCuiston, K. and Billen, M. (2015). What research says about text
complexity and learning to read. The Reading Teacher, 68(7), 491-501. DOI:
10.1002/trtr.1280
Crossley, S. A., Skalicky, S., Dascalu, M., McNamara, D. S., & Kyle, K. (2017). Predicting
Text Comprehension, Processing, and Familiarity in Adult Readers: New
Approaches to Readability Formulas. Discourse Processes, 1-20.
Crossley, S., Yang, H.S. and McNamara, D. (2014). What's so simple about simplified
texts? A computational and psycholinguistic investigation of text
comprehension and text processing. Reading in a Foreign Language, 26(1), 92-
113.
Crossley, S.A. and McNamara, D.S. (2016). Text-based recall and extra-textual
generations resulting from simplified and authentic texts. Reading in a Foreign
Language, 28(1), 1-19.
Crossley, S.A., Louwerse, M.M., McCarthy, P.M. and McNamara, D.S. (2007). A
linguistic analysis of simplified and authentic texts. The Modern Language
Journal, 91(1), 15-30. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00507.x
Davoudi, M. and Yousefi, D. (2015). Comprehension Breakdown: A Review of Research
on EFL Learners Reading Difficulty and Problems. All rights reserved., 58-72.
DellOrletta, F., Montemagni, S. and Venturi, G. (2014). Assessing document and
sentence readability in less resourced languages and across textual genres. ITL-
International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 165(2), 163-193.
Hoff, E. and Core, C. (2013), November. Input and language development in bilingually
developing children. In Seminars in speech and language (Vol. 34, No. 04, pp.
215-226). Thieme Medical Publishers.
Moradian, M.R., Naserpoor, A. and Tamri, M.S. (2013). Effects of lexical simplification
and elaboration of ESP texts on Iranian EFL university students reading
comprehension. International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Research,
2(6), 332-338.
OH, S.Y. (2001). Two types of input modification and EFL reading comprehension:
Simplification versus elaboration. Tesol Quarterly, 35(1), 69-96. DOI:
10.2307/3587860
Park, Y., & Warschauer, M. (2016). Syntactic enhancement and second language literacy:
An experimental study. Language Learning & Technology, 20(3), 180-199.
Saito, Y. and Saito, K. (2016). Differential effects of instruction on the development of
second language comprehensibility, word stress, rhythm, and intonation: The
case of inexperienced Japanese EFL learners. Language Teaching Research,
p.1362168816643111.
Siddharthan, A. (2016). Automatic Text Simplification and Linguistic Complexity
Measurements. Mandya, A. A., Nomoto, T., & Siddharthan, A. (2014). Lexico-
syntactic text simplification and compression with typed dependencies. In 25th
International Conference on Computational Linguistics.
Woodsend, K., & Lapata, M. (2011). Learning to simplify sentences with quasi-
synchronous grammar and integer programming. In Proceedings of the conference
on empirical methods in natural language processing (pp. 409-420). Association for
Computational Linguistics.
Ying-Hsueh, C. and Good, R.L. (2009). L1 glosses: Effects on EFL learners' reading
comprehension and vocabulary retention. Reading in a Foreign Language, 21(2),
p.119-142.
Zhang, X., & Lapata, M. (2017). Sentence Simplification with Deep Reinforcement
Learning. arXiv preprint arXiv:1703.10931.
Declarations
Acknowledgement
The author is very thankful to all the associated personnel in any reference that
contributed in/for the purpose of this research.
Conflict of Interest
This research holds no conflict of interest.
Maxwell and Schwimmer (2016b) reported two studies that explored codes of
ethics as indicators of professional ethics for teachers, with the first study
applying content analysis to determine whether there is any consensus on
teachers' professional responsibilities, and the second study deploying
interpretive analysis to assess whether there emerge some dominant core
values of professionalism in teaching. Maxwell and Schwimmer (2016b)
found that there were specific limitations in using codes of ethics as the
content of education of professional ethics.
With 50 teacher participants in their study, Shapira-Lishchinsky (2011)
explored ethical dilemmas in critical incidents in teaching and the responses
elicited by the incidents. They found that teachers chose to suppress these
incidences since the unpleasant feelings were evoked. Shapira-Lishchinsky
(2011) revealed what they called a multifaceted model of ethical dilemmas
which included for example clashing with the school rules, standards, or
norms. Contextualizing in early childhood education and care settings,
Taggart (2011) argued that early childhood education and care was a caring
profession with legitimacy, similar to care in other professions such as
nursing or social work which is defined by ethical purposes. Early childhood
practitioners enact an ethic of care as part of the teaching professionalism.
In summary, literature has provided sufficient evidences of the
importance of teacher professional ethics, the need for education of teacher
professional ethics and the tension and complexity involved in the subject of
teacher professional ethics. However, there is little, if not none, research that
focuses on teachers perception of their own professional ethics. Given the
particular importance of agency, reflectivity and reflexivity for the teaching
profession (Ryan & Bourke, 2013), the lack of research in the area is
concerning. This research gap becomes even more apparent when it comes to
early childhood teaching in China. There is scant research in the English
literature that focuses on professional ethics among Chinese early childhood
teachers. To address such a research gap, this study is aimed to provide a
sample or specimen of the real picture of how professional ethics are
interpreted and implemented among Chinese kindergarten teachers, which is
expected to prompt further international research on the same topic. Focusing
on several dimensions of teacher professional ethics, the study addresses the
research question: How well are professional ethics enacted by kindergarten
teachers in China?
Methods
The study design is questionnaire survey. The questionnaire is
comprised of 29 items which come under four constructs of teacher
professional ethics, that is, teachers conduct during daily routine activities,
teachers conduct concerning colleagues, teachers conduct in relation to
parents, and teachers beliefs about work ethics. The constructs were
developed based on review of the key components of professional ethics in
the scholarly articles and policy documents in the policy Chinese context.
Participants were sampled from kindergartens in Chinas rural areas
across four provinces (Jiangsu, Shanxi, Hainan, and Qinghai). Several
national teacher professional training sessions were utilized to deliver
questionnaires. From November 2014 to November 2015, a total of 500
questionnaires were delivered using both online and paper-based surveying
methods, and 463 questionnaires were returned and 437 were valid
questionnaires. The response rate is 92.6%, and the rate of valid
questionnaires is 87.4%. Survey was administered both online and
paper-based.
Water drink and toilet use are important elements of the daily routine
activities. Section 22 of Kindergarten Working Regulation (Ministry of
Education of the Peoples Republic of China, 2015) provides that
kindergartens should include toilet training in the daily routine, and there
should be no restriction on the frequency and time of the use of toilet by the
children. As Table 2 shows, 57% of the teachers reported that there was a
general scheduled toilet use time but individual needs would be met, 21% of
the teachers reported that there was no scheduled toilet use time and children
could use the toilet at any time, 14% of the teachers reported that there was
scheduled toilet time and children were assisted accordingly, and 8% of the
teachers reported that children could use the toilet at any time except the
group activity time.
Table 2 Teachers conduct toward childrens water drinking and toilet using
Approach to water drinking and toilet using Frequency Percentage
Regular scheduled time 61 14%
Anytime and no restriction 92 21%
Anytime except the group activity time 35 8%
Generally scheduled but individual needs met 249 57%
Total 437 100%
During the lunch time period, for children who do not want to eat lunch,
21.05% of the teachers reported that they would first spoon feed the children
and then encourage them to eat on their own, 7.32% reported that they would
spoon feed them, talk about the nutrition in the food, and keep on feeding for
several days, 42.79% of the teachers reported that they would get to know
about the childs routine at home and individualize their strategy, 28.84% of
the teachers reported that they would give the child less food and encourage
the child to eat on their own. Therefore, the majority of the teachers were able
to provide individual support according to the needs of individual children
and attach importance to development of the childrens self-help ability (See
Table 3).
During the afternoon sleep time, 6.78% of the teachers reported that they
would individualize their approach and allow the children to sleep at
different times, 29.98% of the teachers reported that they would ask the
children to sleep at the same time, 59.72% of the teachers reported that the
majority of the children sleep at the scheduled time but exceptions would be
allowed, and 4.12% of the teacher reported other approaches. Therefore, the
majority of teachers were able to manage the afternoon sleep time reasonably
but some teachers insisted on a rigid schedule (See Table 4).
As Table 7 shows, during the play period, 2.97% of the teachers reported
that they would do their own things during play time, 18.76% of the teachers
reported that they would observe childrens learning and development and
provide guidance during the play, 16.48% of the teachers reported that they
would not step in unless there was safety concerns during the play time.
Therefore, the majority of teachers were able to provide appropriate guidance
while allowing the children space to explore on their own.
and educational home environment and gain the knowledge of education and
care of children. In response to the question on family-kindergarten
partnership, 74.83% of the teachers held that parents were key stakeholder,
14.87% of the teachers held that family-kindergarten partnership depended
more on those parents with better educational background, 2.52% of the
teachers held that there was no way for parents and teachers to cooperate,
7.78% of the teachers held that family-kindergarten partnership was mainly
about the kindergarten providing education to parents (Table 13).
in value. The data shows that over 80% of the teachers adhered to the
boundary between gifts and bribes.
Table 15. Teachers approach to the boundary between gifts and bribes
Boundary between gifts and bribes Frequency Percentage
Teachers should accept gifts from parents 29 6.64%
Teachers should not accept gifts from parents 359 82.15%
Teachers should not accept monetary gifts 42 9.61%
from parents
Teachers can accept gifts worth below 200 7 1.60 %
Total 437 100%
Discussion
Our survey shows that the majority of the Chinese kindergarten teachers
are capable of adhering to professional ethics during daily activities.
Professional ethics are embedded in all moments of the daily activities and
are visible through verbal and non-verbal language of the teachers. During
the different periods of daily activities, morning welcome, group activities
and play time, teachers professional ethics are very visible. Professional
ethics are an important component of teachers professional qualities. The
survey confirms that the majority of the teachers conform to the professional
ethics, for example, during the morning welcome, 64.07% of the teachers
waited at the gate and welcomed the parents and the children, which is a
significant contributor to the childrens enjoyment of the day. For water
drinking and toilet using, 57% of the teachers attended to the different needs
of individual children. Over 90% of the teachers provided individual support
and allowed the childrens independent choice during the lunch time. It is
clear that the teachers had strong awareness of the importance of respect for
children and were meeting the needs of individual children. There were
certainly issues with some teachers. For example, over two thirds of teachers
admitted that they had preferred and disliked children and only less than one
fourth of teachers truly treated the children equally. Research has shown that
the children are sensitive to teachers attitude toward them, the
differentiation in teacher-child relationship is not only a barrier to childrens
growth but also goes against the principle of social justice and equity. It is
easy for the kindergarten teachers to say that they would treat all children
equally, nevertheless, it is not easy to enact the equity principle.
Given the extreme importance of teamwork for early childhood
education (Heikka, Waniganayake, & Hujala, 2013), professional relationship
with colleagues becomes so crucial that it is not only an ordinary element of
professional qualities but also important part of the ethics. For the benefit of
children, kindergarten teachers must build up healthy and constructive
relationship with their colleagues. This is one of the fundamental
characteristics of the nature of early childhood teaching. The majority of the
teachers were able to establish professional and mutually supportive
relationship with each other, for example, embracing the teaching innovation
initiated by colleagues and voting for the right person for excellence of
teacher. It is notable that there were some teachers who adopted
unprofessional standards and displayed negative sentiments when engaging
in team activities, for example, detachment and jealousy which are in essence
harmful for effective delivery of education and care of children.
In early childhood, partnership with families and parental involvement
are essential and more important than any of other stages of education
(Fantuzzo, et al., 2013). Professional relationship between teachers and
parents is the basis of such partnership. The majority of the teachers adhered
to the professional and ethical principles, for example, not accepting parents
monetary gifts and emphasizing the importance of parent-teacher
cooperation. There were small proportion of teachers who were not able to
understand the essence of parent-teacher partnership, that is, they viewed
parents as the audience of teachers talk rather than a stakeholder that would
make more meaningful contribution to the education and care of children.
The study discloses some sensitive and subtle issues which are seemingly
apparent but in fact hard to address in practice. These issues include: scolding
children, treating children differently, being unprepared for teaching. While
these conducts are against the professional ethics, due to the macro
environment and the teachers past life experiences, some teachers still are not
able to overcome the outdated, teacher-centred teaching philosophy that was
ingrained in the traditional Chinese notion of the authority of teacher (Ma &
Tsui, 2015). Another reason for the existence of such issues could be related to
the rural areas in particular. In China, although the gap between the rural and
urban areas are being narrowed, in some rural and remote counties and
villages, the traditional and old fashioned teaching philosophy still prevails,
for example, the teachers are still seen figures who have the authority to
discipline and control their students.
Conclusions
In spite of the limitations, it can be concluded from the study: (1) The
majority of the kindergarten teachers in China are aware of the importance of
professional ethics and adhere to the ethical principles in the profession; (2)
There are small percentage of kindergarten teachers who comprise on key
professional ethical principles, which is due to complex social cultural context
of the teaching profession in China; (3) For the benefits of all stakeholders,
particularly the children, there is a need for kindergartens, society and
government to work together to help kindergarten teachers improve on their
knowledge, skills, and attitude, and professional ethics in particular.
References:
Boon, H. (2011). Raising the bar: Ethics education for quality teachers. Australian
Journal of Teacher Education, 36(7), 76-93. doi: 10.14221/ajte.2011v36n7.2
Bullough, R. V. (2011). Ethical and moral matters in teaching and teacher education.
Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(1), 21-28. doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2010.09.007
Campbell, E. (2008). The ethics of teaching as a moral profession. Curriculum Inquiry,
38(4), 357-385. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-873x.2008.00414.x
Fantuzzo, J., Gadsden, V., Li, F., Sproul, F., McDermott, P., Hightower, D., & Minney,
1. Introduction
This study formed part of an annual evaluation of teaching methods for first-
year Bachelor of Nursing (BN) students. The specific aims were 1) to enhance
our understanding of students experiences and perceptions of learning using
Adobe Connect in a foundational Professional Nursing course, and 2) to use the
findings to improve our teaching practice using web-based video conferencing
technology.
1.1 Background
The first year of the BN degree programme at Otago Polytechnic has six theory
and two clinical practice courses. Theory courses (Bioscience, Pharmacology,
Sociology, Psychology, Theory for Practice, Professional Nursing: Theory and Research
1) are taught using a blended learning approach. Teaching methods include
traditional didactic lectures, small group tutorials and a range of directed and
self-directed online learning activities. Clinical courses, (Medical and Surgical
Nursing) are taught and nursing skills are practiced in laboratories and
simulation suites before students are placed in (hospital wards, community
centres and aged residential care facilities) to further develop their skills. This is
done under the guidance of a Registered Nurse preceptor and a clinical lecturer.
All nursing students are campus-based learners and course attendance is
compulsory.
Three years ago, an academic lecturer with a young family living in a remote
location and expertise in the subject offered to teach the Professional Nursing 1
course from home using web-conferring software technology. Adobe Connect
was selected, enabling students to use their own devices (computer, laptop and
smart phones) and to log into live-streamed broadcast lectures. This facilitates
lecturer sharing PowerPoint and other teaching resources on-screen with
students, closely resembling a face-to-face classroom environment.
In the first year of using Adobe Connect (2015), students could join the lecture
using their personal computer, or attend a live broadcast in a campus classroom
with other students supported by an academic staff member. However, due to
poor student attendance the classroom option was dropped (numbers fell to 10
in the third week). Small group tutorials (n=26-28) were later added in response
to students request for more face-to-face learning support. Tutorials were
facilitated by the distance lecturer (who travelled to campus) and when required
was assisted by other academic staff. In 2016, lectures were recorded and links
posted on Moodle. Changes were made in response to students missing lectures
due to illness, part-time work and family commitments. These decisions are
supported by research finding that recordings increased the students learning
flexibility (ONeil, Singh & ODonoghue, 2004).
There are many advantages for students associated with e-learning technologies,
among which, the most often cited, is the increased flexibility offered by the
online learning environment and the ability for students to be self-paced when
studying (Button, et al., 2014; Farrell, Cubit, Bobrowski & Salmon, 2007;
Hampton, Fachie & Moser, 2017). In one study, nursing students reported that
learning in the online environment was deeper than in the classroom (Mitchell,
Ryan, Carson & McCann, 2007). In a second study, connecting with peers and
getting to know each other outside of the classroom were important features of
the online learning environment (Kelly, Lyng, McGrath & Cannon, 2009). E-
learning and online courses also provide equal access to and equivalent learning
opportunities for those in remote areas (Carter & Heale, 2010; Wood, 2016).
Negative aspects relate to increased levels of anxiety and include a lack of skill
when using digital devices, insufficient technical support and time wasted when
computer systems do not work properly (Creedy, Mitchell, Seton-Sykes, Cooke,
Patterson, 2007; Levett-Jones, Kenny, Van der Riet, Hazelton & Kable, et al.,
2009). Other technical problems, such as computer screens freezing, online
connections dropping out and slow Internet broadband speed are other
frustrating impediments to learning (Bond, 2009; Deltsidou, Voltyraki,
Mastrogiannis & Noula, 2010). Educators thus generally favour using a blended
learning approach including online and face-to-face teaching methods
(Englehart, 2015). In todays educational landscape, producing well-designed
courses using a mix of traditional and online teaching technologies enrich
students learning experiences and generate re-usable and sustainable teaching
resources.
2. Methods
2.1 Research purpose
This study formed part of an evaluation of first-year teaching because Adobe
Connect was newly adopted as a teaching and learning technology. The
research was based on end-of-year formal course evaluation feedback, indicating
that while students were highly satisfied (M=4.84, on a scale of 1 = strongly
disagree though to 6 = strongly agree) with Professional Nursing, they were
somewhat dissatisfied with the technical aspects of using Adobe Connect.
were analysed when all students had completed their 2016 academic
assessments.
3. Results
Two thirds (66%) had problems hearing the lecture yet only 4% rated the audio
quality as terrible or poor. Web camera picture quality was highly rated
(M=3.84) but most (79%) had experienced delay or Internet drag that interfered
with the presentation quality of the lecture. The majority (81.5%) favoured a
lecture time of at least 30 minutes and most (58%) felt it was easy to concentrate
for the current 50-minute lecture time. Nearly all (94%) accessed the post-lecture
recordings. Data relating to accessing and using the online classroom are
presented in Table 1 and show that mean scores that ranged from 2.49-3.84. The
higher the mean the more students agreed with the statement.
Item Mean
I feel confident in accessing the online classroom 3.43
I have enough support to be able to use the technology 3.36
I feel supported in my own learning needs 3.07
I am able to engage with the learning process when using Adobe Connect 2.96
I feel that I belong to a community of online learners 2.94
I feel that I was able to develop a relationship with the lecturer delivering 2.81
the content via Adobe Connect
I was more likely to ask questions in the chat box than in a classroom 2.49
setting
These data show that while students were confident in assessing and using the
technology and online classroom, they did not feel strongly that they belonged
to a community of online learners or that they had a relationship with the
lecturer. Also evident was a low preference for using the chat box function to
ask questions during the lecture.
What is the worst thing about learning Poor sound quality (11)
using Adobe Connect software? (n= 43) Digital lag/visual breakup (9)
Dont like/prefer face-to-face (6)
Impersonal, hard to connect with the
teacher (6)
Lecturer misses a question (5)
Lack of connection to group (3)
3. 4 Disadvantages
Fewer disadvantages were reported; 42 responses yielded seven themes. The
main problem related to technical delivery and reception, i.e., poor sound
quality, digital lag and picture break-up. The following comment summed up
these frustrations:
For some of the lectures, there was a blank screen. Audio has been a big
problem. Sometimes the connection isnt very good and we get audio cuts and
miss information.
Many students (n=9) voiced a preference for face-to-face teaching and more
opportunity to connect with the lecturer. Another comment that sometimes the
lecturer would miss a question in the chat box and not answer it indicated that a lack
of real-time connectivity and a missing response was a disadvantage of the
virtual classroom. Table 3 shows responses to the remaining open-ended
questions.
4. Discussion
From the student perspective, these results confirm the value of using Adobe
Connect, especially as part of a blended teaching and e-learning approach.
Predominantly Generation Z learners, i.e. those born in 1995 and aged 21 or
younger (Hampton & Keys, 2017), these net savvy students had no difficulty
using web-conferencing software or concentrating for the 50-minute lecture
time.
The benefits of e-learning for students are well known: providing greater time
flexibility and the ability to be self-paced (Farrell, et al., 2007; Hampton, et al.,
2017). For these respondents, the greatest perceived benefit of accessing it
anywhere and from the comfort of my own home is critical. This aligned with Milne
et al.s, (2014) findings that second-year student midwives preferred using
video conferencing because it was home-based learning. Furthermore, enjoying
time flexibility for academic study and learning from the comfort of my own
home bears testimony to the high number of students who have part-time work
or family commitments and find travelling to campus expensive and/or
inconvenient. It also enables learners more freedom to multi-task whilst at
home i.e., to get food and drink, and to deal with problems and chores, as was
found in Cappiccie and Desrosiers (2011) study of social work students.
Flexibility also helps those who miss attending a class because of illness or
personal factors (Button, et al., 2014).
In this study a distance lecturer used Adobe Connect to teach a large campus-
based class, whereas this technology is most often used by a campus based-
lecturer to teach distance students. How then to best support the distance
lecturer? Wood (2016, p. 256) recently noted, little has been written about
faculty working at a distance emphasising that the role required thoughtful and
diligent preparation with extra attention being paid to equipment needs,
support and strategies for ensuring continued engagement. The final issue
relates to students themselves becoming distance learners as an outcome of the
convenience of staying at home. Not regularly being on campus results in a lack
of interaction with peers and missed opportunities to build communication and
social skills. Social isolation of young people is concerning in the age of
increased digital connectivity that sometimes leads to over-reliance and over-use
of digital devices: a phenomenon recently referred to as the Generation Z mobile
phone addiction (Ozkan & Solmaz, 2015). However, requests for more face-to-
face tutorials indicated that students were reluctant to fully adopt online
learning.
6. Conclusion
flexibility and opportunities for educators to innovate and deliver courses to suit
disparate groups of learners. However, to maximise e-learnings potential,
educators (and distance teachers in particular) require training in course design
and ongoing communication support. Similarly, students need instruction,
support and adequate opportunities for social engagement with campus-based
peers. First-year BN students liked using Adobe Connect and were confident in
accessing and using this technology. Poor sound quality and digital lag were
widely reported, yet successful learning was not impeded. Access to recorded
lectures and a backed up by a limited number of face-to-face tutorials were most
appreciated providing students with the best of both worlds in todays
challenging educational environment.
References
Bond , C. S. (2009). Surfing or still drowning? Student nurses Internet skills. Nurse
Education Today, 30, 5. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2009.11.005
Button, D., Harrington, A., & Belan, I. (2014). E-learning & information communication
technology (ICT) in nursing education: A review of the literature. Nurse
Education Today, 34, 1311-1323. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.netd.2013.05.002
Carter, L. M., & Heale, R. (2010). Teaching undergraduate nursing courses via
videoconference: All that glitters is not gold. Journal of Distance Education
(Online), 24(2), 109.
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/379854/1/Open%2520access%2520pub%2520All%2
520that%2520glitters%2520is%2520not%2520gold.pdf
Cappiccie, A., & Desrosiers, P. (2011). Lessons learned from using Adobe Connect in the
social work classroom. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 29, 296-302.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15228835.2011.63829
Creedy, D. K, Mitchell, M., Seton-Sykes, P., Cooke, M., Patterson, E., Purcell, C., &
Weeks, P. (2007). Evaluating a web-enhanced bachelor of nursing curriculum:
perspective of third-year students. Journal of Nursing Education, 46(10), 460-467.
http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/17955743
Deltsidou, A., Voltyraki, E. G., Mastrogiannis, D., & Noula, M. (2010). Undergraduate
nursing students computer skills assessment: A study in Greece. Health Science
Journal 4(3), 182-188. http://www.hsj.gr/medicine/undergraduate-nursing-
students-computer-skills-assessment-a-study-in-greece.pdf
Englehart, D. (2015). Explorations in online learning using Adobe Connect. International
Journal of Teaching and Educational Research, 14(2), 89-110.
Farrell, G. A., Cubit, K. A., Bobrowski, C. L. & Salmon, P. (2007). Using the WWW to
teach undergraduate nurses clinical communication. Nurse Education Today,
27(5), 427-435. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.netd
Greenberg, A. (2004). Navigating the sea of research on video conferencing-based distance
education. Duxbury, USA: Wainhouse Research.
Hampton, D., Fachie, P. F. P., & Moser, D. K. (2017). Preferred methods of learning for
nursing students in an on-line degree programme. Journal of Professional Nursing,
33(1), 27-37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/profnurs.2016.08.004
Hampton, D.C., & Keys, Y. (2017). Generation Z students: Will they change our nursing
classrooms? Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 7(4), 111-115.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/jnep.v7n4p111
Heijstra, T., M., & Sigurardttir, M. S. (2017, August 8). The flipped classroom: Does
viewing the recordings matter? Active Learning in Higher Education,
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/146978741772317
Kelly, M., Lyng, C., McGrath, M., & Cannon, C. (2009), A multi-method study to
determine the effectiveness of students attitudes to online instructional video,
for teaching clinical nursing skills, Nurse Education Today, 29(3), 292-300. doi:
10.1016/j.nedt.2008.09.004. ..
Levett-Jones, T. Kenny, R., Van der Riet, P., Hazelton, M., Kable, A., Bourgeois, S., &
Luxford, Y. (2009). Exploring the information and communication technology
competence and confidence of nursing students and their perception of its
relevance to clinical practice. Nurse Education Today, 29(6), 612-616. doi:
10.1016/j.nedt.2009.01.007. Epub 2009 Feb 23.
Milne, T., Skinner, J., & Baird, K. (2014). Survey results of first and second year New
Zealand midwifery students level of engagement in a flexible delivery
programme. New Zealand College of Midwives, 50, 5-10.
Mitchell, E. A., Ryan, A., Carson, O., & McCann, S. (2007). An exploratory study of web-
enhanced learning in undergraduate nurse education. Journal of Clinical Nursing,
16(12), 2287-2296. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2006.01931.x
ONeill, K., Singh, G., & ODonoghue, J. (2004). Implementing e-learning programmes
for higher education: A review of the literature. Journal of Information Technology
in Education, 3, 313-23. jite.org/documents/Vol3/v3p313-323-131.pdf
Ozkan, M. & Solmaz, B. (2015). Mobile addiction of generation Z and its effects on their
social lives. Procedia: Social and Behavioural Sciences, 205, 92-98.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/sbspro.2013.10.110
Paechter, M. & Maier, B. (2010). Online or Face-to-Face? Students' Experiences and
Preferences in E-Learning. Internet and Higher Education, 13(4), 292-297. Retrieved
October 1, 2017 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/108376/.
Torun, E. D. (2013). Synchronous interaction in online learning environment with Adobe
Connect Pro. Procedia Social and Behavioural Science, 106, 2492-2499.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/sbspro.2013.12.286
Wood, F. G. (2016). Where are the faculty? Fulfilling the traditional faculty role at a
distance. Journal of Professional Nursing, 32(4), 256-
261.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2016.01.009