scholarly journals Preparing Students for Education, Work, and Community: Activity Theory in Task-Based Curriculum Design

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Campbell ◽  
Seonaigh MacPherson ◽  
Tanis Sawkins
Keyword(s):  
Activity Theory ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Immigrant Students ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Postsecondary Institutions ◽  
Participation Communautaire ◽  
Langue Seconde ◽  
And Task

This case study describes how sociocultural and activity theory were applied in the design of a publicly funded, Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB)-based English as a Second Language (ESL) credential program and curriculum for immigrant and international students in postsecondary institutions in British Columbia, Canada. The ESL Pathways Project was conceived to prepare immigrant students to navigate the multiple pathways in the settlement process from postsecondary education to the workplace, community participation, and citizenship. The innovation in curriculum design resulted from the systematic reinterpretation of situated cognition and task-based design using activity theory. Given that both situated and task-based learning share intersecting theoretical lineages with activity theory, this reinterpretation was more a deepening and improvement than a reconceptualization process. The ensuing units were defined by the real-world activities and contexts of target communities of practice, with relevant instructional topics, tasks, genres, skills, and outcomes presented in a systematic manner to support learners to participate, ultimately, in those target communities. This process contrasts with traditional ad hoc forms of task-based curriculum design in ESL and EAP (English for Academic Purposes).Cette étude de cas décrit dans quelle mesure la théorie socioculturelle et la théorie de l’activité ont joué un rôle dans la conception d’un programme d’étude à crédits pour l’anglais langue seconde reposant sur les niveaux de compétence canadiens et visant les immigrants et les étudiants internationaux dans les institutions postsecondaires en Colombie britannique au Canada. Le projet « ESL Pathways » (Parcours en anglais langue seconde) a été conçu pour aider les étudiants immigrants à naviguer les divers parcours que présente le processus d’établissement, depuis les études postsecondaires à la citoyenneté en passant par le milieu du travail et la participation communautaire. Le programme novateur résulte d’une réinterprétation systématique, par le biais de la théorie de l’activité, de la conception située et centrée sur les tâches. Puisque la cognition située et l’apprentissage basé sur les tâches partagent des éléments de la théorie de l’activité, cette réinterprétation représente plutôt un approfondissement et une amélioration qu’une reconceptualisation. Les unités qui en découlent reposent sur des activités réelles et des communautés de pratiques cibles, et elles présentent des thèmes, des tâches, des genres, des habiletés et des résultats de façon systématique de sorte à favoriser la participation des apprenants à ces communautés. Ce processus se distingue des formes traditionnelles et ad hoc de conception des programmes d’étude en anglais langue seconde et en anglais académique.

ARE MIGRANT STUDENTS CLOSING THE GAP?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Nicole Marx ◽  
Christian Gill ◽  
Tim Brosowski
Keyword(s):  
Grade Level ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Immigrant Students ◽  
Central Importance ◽  
Migrant Students ◽  
Data Points ◽  
Closing The Gap ◽  
Reading Subskills ◽  
Mainstream Students

Abstract Since 2015, increased numbers of newly immigrated schoolchildren in Europe have resulted in divergent, often ad hoc measures to provide for their education. Because the basis of classroom learning is information found in written texts, the development of grade-level reading skills is of central importance. However, little is known about immigrant students’ reading skills at and following transition, and no data is available for Germany, where the study was conducted. We report the results of a longitudinal study in which migrant students’ (N = 136) reading subskills after transition into mainstream were investigated at three points over the course of 2 years and compared to cohort performance (N = 517) in grades 7 through 9. Results showed that immigrant students performed significantly below mainstream students on all measures for all data points, with little evidence that they are beginning to close the gap even after several years in mainstream.

scholarly journals Heterogeneity of Older Learners in Higher Education

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phyllis A. Cummins ◽  
J. Scott Brown ◽  
Peter Riley Bahr ◽  
Nader Mehri
Keyword(s):  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Postsecondary Institutions ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Older Learners ◽  
Public College ◽  
Enrollment Trends ◽  
Education Data ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Time Basis

Recent years have seen growing recognition of the importance of a college-educated workforce to meet the needs of employers and ensure economic growth. Lifelong learning, including completing a postsecondary credential, increasingly is necessary to improve employment outcomes among workers, both old and young, who face rising demands for new and improved skills. To satisfy these needs, many states have established postsecondary completion goals pertaining to the segments of their population ages 25 to 64 years. Although it is not always clear how completion goals will be attained for older students, it is widely recognized that community colleges will play an important role. Here, we use data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to examine enrollment trends by part-time and full-time status for students enrolled in Ohio’s public postsecondary institutions from 2006 to 2014. Unlike previous research that considers all students 25 and older as a homogeneous group, we divide older learners into two groups: ages 25 to 39 and ages 40 to 64. We find that adults in these age groups who attend a public college are more likely to attend a community college than they are a 4-year institution and are more likely to attend on a part-time basis. We discuss the implications of these trends and their relevance to college administrators.

A Transformative Mixed Methods Assessment of Educational Access and Opportunity for Undocumented College Students in the Southeastern United States

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassie L. Barnhardt ◽  
Kimberly Reyes ◽  
Angela Vidal Rodriguez ◽  
Marisol Ramos
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Immigrant Students ◽  
Southeastern United States ◽  
Undocumented Immigrant ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
Organizational Settings ◽  
Campus Administrators ◽  
Transformative Mixed Methods

The Southeastern United States is home to one of the most culturally resistant arenas for undocumented immigrant students to pursue postsecondary education. Using a transformative mixed methods approach, we explore the multidimensional dynamics of contention that are present as campus administrators navigate the process of serving a group of students who are marginalized due to their unresolved immigration status. Our article contributes to the methodological literature by exemplifying how transformative mixed methods are powerful tools for understanding how the oppression of vulnerable populations is institutionalized in organizational settings.

scholarly journals Data for Students: The Potential of Data and Analytics for Student Success

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Leu
Keyword(s):  
Student Success ◽  
Financial Aid ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Data Analytics ◽  
Data Science ◽  
Postsecondary Institutions ◽  
College Completion ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Education Data ◽  
Data Linkages

Postsecondary education is awash in data. Postsecondary institutions track data on students’ demographics, academic performance, course-taking, and financial aid, and have put these data to use, applying data analytics and data science to issues in college completion. Meanwhile, an extensive amount of higher education data are being collected outside of institutions, opening possibilities for data linkages. Newer sources of postsecondary education data could provide an even richer view of student success and improve equity. To explore this potential, this brief describes existing applications of analytics to student success, presents a framework to structure understanding of postsecondary data topics, suggests potential extensions of these data to student success, and describes practical and ethical challenges.

Context and Participation

2018 ◽  
pp. 49-66
Author(s):  
Geraldine Torrisi-Steele
Keyword(s):  
Activity Theory ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Participatory Design ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
First Century ◽  
Student Experiences ◽  
Opposing View ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Programs Of Study

Programs of study are an important interface between student and institution. The program curriculum, as the architecture of learning experiences greatly influences the learning environment and the students' experience of the institution. Despite the recent institutional concern about program quality and significant investment in making positive change to teaching and learning, there is evidence of little change in curriculum design processes. Programs are frequently faced with challenges of criticisms, poor student experiences and opposing view points about what should and should not be done. The present chapter develops a conceptualisation of the program level curriculum design process, with the intent of contributing to evolving approaches of program level curriculum design which meet the demands of the twenty first century. The conceptualisation of program level curriculum design presented in the chapter brings together key ideas from the literature including curriculum models, capacities for the twenty first century learners, activity theory and participatory design.

Current and Emerging Trends in Transcultural Blended Learning and Teaching

2012 ◽  
pp. 347-362
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Jean Francois
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Adult Students ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Postsecondary Institutions ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Blended Courses ◽  
Emerging Trends ◽  
Learning Programs

This chapter serves as the conclusion of the book and outlines some challenges and current and emerging trends related to blended learning and teaching in postsecondary education. The current and emerging trends include, but are not limited to: accelerated blended learning programs for non-traditional adult students, adaptability of blended learning and teaching to diverse disciplines, quality assurance, transnational extent, possible transition to blended learning orienting postsecondary institutions, and the development of self-pace blended courses in postsecondary programs.

The Landscape of Postsecondary Education in Prison and the Influence of Second Chance Pell: An Analysis of Transferability, Credit-Bearing Status, and Accreditation

2018 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 405-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin L. Castro ◽  
Rebecca K. Hunter ◽  
Tara Hardison ◽  
Vanessa Johnson-Ojeda
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Educational Opportunity ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Postsecondary Institutions ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Pilot Program ◽  
Institution Type ◽  
Second Chance

This article documents availability, accreditation, institution type, and geographical distribution of postsecondary education in prison across the United States. Using descriptive analysis, we report the total number of postsecondary institutions currently providing credit-bearing coursework to incarcerated people and discuss the influence of the federal Second Chance Pell Pilot Program on these findings. Focusing on issues of equity and quality, we use a critical framework to broadly assess the current status of the field and to document what constitutes postsecondary education in prison. In conclusion, we provide implications and suggestions for expanding quality postsecondary educational opportunity for incarcerated college students.

Economic Development as an Administrative Prerogative: An Event History Analysis of APLU Institutions

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 242-268
Author(s):  
Nathan A. Moore ◽  
Rachel A. Burns
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Event History Analysis ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Postsecondary Institutions ◽  
Event History ◽  
Public Higher Education ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Strategic Action ◽  
History Analysis

Economic development has assumed enlarged importance in public postsecondary education in recent decades. In fact, efforts to harness academic functions for statewide economic growth have been accentuated to such a degree that some consider the mission to be the fourth pillar of public higher education. Yet the extent to which economic development has been adopted as a central administrative feature of public institutions and how this has changed over time are unexamined in the current literature. Moreover, what drives the prioritization of economic development as an administrative focus in public postsecondary institutions is also unexplored. The authors explore these questions by deploying an event history analysis in concert with the neo-institutional and strategic action fields theoretical frameworks. The authors’ findings reveal that economic development has been progressively emphasized by public universities and that a variety of institutional and environmental factors appear to influence the mission’s accentuation.

scholarly journals Does the Quality of Source Notes Matter? An Exploratory Study of Source-based Academic Writing

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heike Neumann ◽  
Sarah Leu ◽  
Kim McDonough ◽  
Leslie Gil ◽  
Bonnie Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Source Information ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
Langue Seconde ◽  
The Relationship

Integrated writing tasks have increased in popularity in second language writing classrooms. Extensive research on these tasks has examined the challenges that students face when completing such tasks. One significant challenge is the transformation of source language use when students integrate source information into their own essays. However, little is known about the relationship between students’ source notes and the quality of the essays that they produce. This exploratory study examined this issue by investigating the relationship between characteristics of English for academic purposes (EAP) students’ notes (N = 24) and their essay scores. The students’ notes were coded in terms of how they appropriated information from the source texts using four categories: copied, copied with changes, copied with gaps, and paraphrased. A multiple linear regression revealed that essay scores were predicted by the degree to which the students transformed source language and avoided copying. The implications of these findings for second language (L2) writing pedagogy and assessment are discussed. Les tâches de rédaction intégrée deviennent de plus en plus populaires dans les classes de rédaction en seconde langue. Ces tâches ont fait l’objet de nombreuses recherches qui ont étudié les défis auxquels font face les étudiants lorsqu’ils les exécutent. Un défi de taille est la transformation de l’utilisation de la langue source lorsque les étudiants intègrent l’information tirée des sources dans leurs rédactions. Cependant, on ne sait pas grand chose sur la relation entre les notes des étudiants provenant des sources et la qualité des rédactions qu’ils produisent. Cette étude exploratoire s’est intéressée à ce problème étudiant la relation entre les caractéris- tiques des notes des étudiants dans les cours d’anglais académique (N = 24) et les notes obtenues pour leurs rédactions. Les notes des étudiants ont été classées en quatre catégories selon la façon dont ils s’appropriaient l’information des textes sources : copiées, copiées avec des changements, copiées avec des lacunes et para- phrasées. Une régression multiple linéaire a révélé que les notes obtenues pour les rédactions étaient prédites par le degré auquel les étudiants avaient transformé la langue source et avaient évité de copier. On discute des implications de ces résultats pour la pédagogie et l’évaluation de la rédaction en langue seconde (L 2).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document