scholarly journals Harnessing the Beast - COVID-19: Integrative Knowledge-Building with LCT Autonomy

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-42
Author(s):  
Marnel Mouton
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Health Science ◽  
First Year ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Code Theory ◽  
Motivational Design ◽  
Novel Virus ◽  
Legitimation Code Theory ◽  
Design Theories ◽  
Satisfaction Model

<p style="text-align: justify;">Cytology is one of the core sections of introductory first-year Biology courses. Laboratory practicals form an integral component of these Cytology curricula - experiential learning through microscopy which students find fascinating and engaging. In contrast, we found that students are much less enthusiastic about the theory part presented during lectures – they perceive the content as being complex, high in volume and due to scale, often purely theoretical. Applicable real-world context is often far removed from the lived experiences of most students. However, the dramatic arrival of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) early in 2020 presented vast and new possibilities for these lectures and was therefore selected as narrative to teach certain Cytology concepts to improve engagement and equip students for the future challenge. The ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence and Satisfaction) Model of Motivational Design Theories underpins the rationale for using this narrative, whereas the Autonomy dimension of Legitimation Code Theory served as a theoretical framework to enable integrative knowledge-building. This strategy integrated two different bodies of knowledge, science and health science. It further harnessed the uncertainty caused by the novel virus to evoke a deeper level of curiosity and motivation among the students, who were visibly engaged in this Cytology offering.</p>

Exploring college English teaching of rhetorical knowledge: A Legitimation Code Theory analysis

2020 ◽  
pp. 136216882093163
Author(s):  
Wenchao Zhao
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Code Theory ◽  
College English ◽  
English Teaching ◽  
Knowledge Practices ◽  
Rhetorical Figures ◽  
Legitimation Code Theory

Despite a voluminous literature addressing English language teaching, the explorations focused on knowledge-building are rather limited in number. This is particularly the case with China’s tertiary English education. Unlike existing research, this study investigated Chinese college English teachers’ knowledge-building about rhetorical figures by drawing on the ideas of Autonomy and Semantics in Legitimation Code Theory. Designed as sequential mixed-method research with a development purpose, the study takes as its analytical data the pedagogic discourse generated in the finals of China’s National College English Teaching Context. It was found that the knowledge practices about rhetorical figures vary, for one thing, in their likelihood of shifting to introjected codes and returning to the initial sovereign code and the motivations for their possible drift into exotic codes; and for another, in whether they are unpacking-oriented, repacking-oriented, or unpacking-and-repacking-integrated. With this, the study demonstrated how varied knowledge practices in English language teaching or English-medium teaching can be portrayed, distinguished and explicated in terms of autonomy and semantic code shifts and by reference to their display of autonomy pathways and semantic profiles. The study also makes contributions by actualizing the perspectival complementarity between Autonomy and Semantics in describing and interpreting pedagogic practices, shedding light on the design and improvement of knowledge-building in both English language teaching and disciplinary teaching, and highlighting the necessity of developing non-native English teachers’ metalinguistic awareness of Legitimation Code Theory and systemic functional linguistics.

Building disciplinary knowledge through multimodal presentation

Babel ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 655-673
Author(s):  
Qianhua Ouyang ◽  
Yi Yu ◽  
Ai Fu
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Learning Outcome ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Disciplinary Knowledge ◽  
Code Theory ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
On Line ◽  
Specialist Knowledge ◽  
Legitimation Code Theory ◽  
Line Space

Abstract Digital innovations are revolutionizing education, bringing opportunities that are seized across disciplines including conference interpreting training. This research draws a transdisciplinary framework of Legitimation Code Theory and multimodality research to explore how to build and transfer the disciplinary knowledge of interpreting via an on-line course, a staple of today’s education. The paper first conceptualizes the disciplinary knowledge of interpreting as elite code that entails both specialist knowledge of high semantic density and tacit experience of professionals of the trade. Then, drawing on empirical data from the first interpreting MOOC in China, the paper describes how knowledge of different semantic features is built through distinctive patterns of multimodal presentation. Effectiveness of the multimodal presentation of knowledge is then triangulated with learning outcome research. Findings of this paper highlight how multimodal presentation in on-line lectures support the process of learning and hence elicit reflective perspectives on knowledge building of interpreting in the on-line space.

scholarly journals Revealing shifts from mastery of knowledge to problem solving in assessments of a tertiary physics programme

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Alan Cornell ◽  
Kershree Padayachee
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Theoretical Physics ◽  
First Year ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Code Theory ◽  
Doctoral Level ◽  
Assessment Tasks ◽  
Good Grasp ◽  
Legitimation Code Theory

There is an increasing pressure on lecturers to work with two goals. First, they need to ensure that their undergraduate students have a good grasp of the knowledge and skills of the intellectual field. In addition, they need to prepare graduates and postgraduates for careers both within and outside of academia. The problem we address in this paper is the way in which assessments may reveal a shift of focus from a mastery of knowledge to a work-focused orientation. We examine this shift through a case study of physics and the sub-discipline of theoretical physics as intellectual fields. The evidence is comprised of assessment tasks given to students at different points of their studies from first year to doctoral level. By examining and analysing the assessment tasks using concepts from Legitimation Code Theory (LCT), we demonstrate how the shifts in the assessments lead students incrementally from a pure disciplinary focus to one that enables them to pursue employment potentially both within and outside of academia. In doing so, we also highlight the usefulness of LCT as a framework for evaluating the preparation of science students for diverse workplaces.

scholarly journals Introducing the second law of thermodynamics using Legitimation Code Theory among first year chemistry students

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 981-994
Author(s):  
Taurayi Willard Chinaka
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Second Law Of Thermodynamics ◽  
Second Law ◽  
First Year ◽  
Mixed Method Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Code Theory ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Chemistry Students ◽  
Legitimation Code Theory

This study investigated the introduction of the second law of thermodynamics using the Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) (semantic waves) among first year chemistry students. The aim of the study was to investigate the extent LTC (semantic waves) reduce the entropy concept’s complexity and abstractness when introducing the second law of thermodynamics. A purposive sampling technique was used to sample participants from the accessible population. A sample of two hundred (n = 200) first-year chemistry students was chosen at a public university in South Africa. The study adopted a mixed-method research design. Data were collected using an Introductory Second Law of Thermodynamics Questionnaire (ISLTQ) and semi-structured interviews. Creating semantic waves during the lectures left many students in the trough of the sinusoidal wave of abstractness and complexity. Ranking the concepts related to entropy showed that many students knew the hierarchical order of the concepts. However, the interviews revealed that students tended to link entropy to the spread of particles instead of energy. The findings of this study are diagnostic and they assist module designers in determining the level of abstraction and complexity students face when introducing the second law of thermodynamics.   Key words: Abstraction; complexity; Legitimation Code Theory; second law of thermodynamics; semantic waves.

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