scholarly journals Promotion of Critical Reading through the Use of Political Cartoons

HOW ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-140
Author(s):  
Willian Alexander Mora-Menjura
Keyword(s):  
Private University ◽  
Political Cartoons ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
English Classrooms ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Positive Results

Critical exploration of socio-political issues has been a topic strongly carried out in English classrooms in the last decades. This article is the result of a research study that shows what the use of political cartoons reveals about the promotion of critical reading in an EFL classroom at a private university in Colombia. The study was developed with fourteen students under a qualitative case study method. Workshops, teacher journals and focus-group interviews were used to collect data. The emerging categories show the positive results of using political cartoons and the change that the students had in their thoughts and actions in both the academic and social context. In the results, the students portray how they have perceived the ELT classroom, the importance of being a critical reader of texts and contexts, and how the different activities helped them construct their own critical awareness concerning social and political issues.

scholarly journals The views of teachers toward the Balanced Day schedule in one elementary school in southern Ontario

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori Peebles ◽  
Kristian John Kirkwood
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Instructional Practices ◽  
Traditional Schedule ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
School Year ◽  
Group Interviews

Using a case study method to describe the experience of the teachers of five Ontario elementary schools to implement the Balanced Day schedule in the 2004-2005 school year, data sources included questionnaires completed by teachers from the pilot schools, which were administered at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year, and three focus group interviews from one school, conducted twice during the year. Findings indicate that, overall, teachers perceived the Balanced Day to be more effective than the traditional schedule for student learning, and that the schedule also resulted in changes to their own instructional practices that positively impacted student learning.

scholarly journals Evaluating a methodology for assessing the strategic alignment of a mining company recruitment function

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adelé Janse van Rensburg ◽  
Gerhard Roodt
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Strategic Alignment ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Mining Company ◽  
Strategic Objectives ◽  
Emerging Themes ◽  
Group Interviews

In the human capital era, the strategic importance of measurement is unmistakable.  Therefore, the  objective  of  this  study  was  to  qualitatively  evaluate  a  methodology  for  assessing  the strategic alignment of a recruitment function. Persons working in the recruitment best practice community of a mining company were targeted as the case study for this research.  Individual (one-on-one) and focus group interviews were conducted to elicit the research data.  Thematic coding was used to identify the emerging themes from the research data.  The findings indicated that  this methodology can be used effectively  to determine  the alignment of  the  recruitment function with the strategic objectives of the company.  However, the bottom line contribution is still unclear.

scholarly journals Classroom inside writing activities from perspective of pre-service teacherÖğretmen adaylarının perspektifinden sınıf içi yazma çalışmalarının değerlendirilmesi

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 1534
Author(s):  
Seyit Ateş
Keyword(s):  
Student Teaching ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Classroom Setting ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Writing Practices ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Teachers Perspectives ◽  
Pre Service Teacher

Writing, which is defined as a statement of thoughts, emotions, and knowledge in a writing form, is an important skill used by any individual during lifelong. Due to this fact, writing skill have drawn more attention from educators and researchers and a number of empiric and theoretical researches have been conducted on how to acquire and develop this skill. Additionally, how this skill is transferred into classroom setting has an interest. The current research aimed to explore the writing practices in the classroom settings from the pre-service teachers’ perspectives. This research employed qualitative case study method and the data was collected though the structured observations and semi-structured focus group interviews. The fourth-year pre-service teachers studying at elementary school classroom teaching and their experienced teachers in their student teaching experience schools constituted the research sample. The data was analyzed by using descriptive techniques. The overall findings of the research showed that there was a relative lack of the practice used for developing writing skills in the classroom setting. While the grade level changed, the practices for writing di not differentiated. Based on the research findings, the recommendations were given. Extended English abstract is in the end of PDF (TURKISH) file. ÖzetZihindeki duygu, düşünce ve bilgilerin yazılı bir şekilde ifade edilmesi olarak tanımlanan yazma bireyin hayatı boyunca kullanacağı önemli bir beceridir. Bu nedenle yazma her zaman eğitimcilerin ve araştırmacıların ilgi odağı olmuş, bu becerinin kazanımı ve geliştirilmesiyle ilgili kuramsal ve uygulama temelli çok sayıda araştırma yapılmıştır. Bu araştırmaların sınıflara nasıl yansıdığı ise merak konusudur. Bu araştırmada öğretmen adaylarının perspektifinden sınıfta gerçekleştirilen yazma çalışmalarının betimlenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Araştırma nitel yaklaşımla gerçekleştirilmiş olup veriler yapılandırılmış katılımlı olmayan gözlemler ve katılımcılarla yapılan odak grup görüşmeler yoluyla elde edilmiştir. Sınıf öğretmenliği eğitimi son sınıf öğrencileri ve bu öğrencilerin staja gittikleri okullardaki öğretmenler araştırmanın çalışma grubunu oluşturmaktadır. Araştırmada gözlem ve görüşmelerden elde edilen veriler betimsel analizle çözümlenmiştir. Araştırmadan çıkarılan en genel sonuç ilkokul sınıflarında yazmanın geliştirilmesine yönelik uygulamaların yetersiz olduğu yönündedir. Sınıf düzeyinin değişmesine rağmen yazma öncesinde, yazma sırasında ve yazma sonrasında sınıflarda yapılan çalışmalar farklılaşmamaktadır. Araştırmada elde edilen sonuçlar doğrultusunda uygulamaya yönelik öneriler geliştirilmiştir.

scholarly journals What Makes a Good Program? A Case Study of a School Admitting High Academic Achievers

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 1027-1036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ching Man Lam
Keyword(s):  
Administrative Support ◽  
Program Effectiveness ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Program Success ◽  
Project Coordinator ◽  
Clear Vision ◽  
Tier 1 ◽  
Group Interviews

This paper reports the results of a qualitative study that explored the administration and implementation of the Tier 1 Program (Secondary 1 Curriculum) of the Project P.A.T.H.S. The case study method was used to explore perceptions of the teachers and the project coordinator of program effectiveness, and to identify various factors for program success. A school admitting high academic achievers was selected, and site visits, as well as individual and focus group interviews, were conducted with the program coordinator, social worker, and course teachers. The results suggested that clear vision and program goals, high quality of curriculum, helpful leadership, positive teacher attitude, and strong administrative support are factors for program success. Analyzing the data enables the researchers to understand the characteristics of a successful program as well as the interplay among factors for producing success.

scholarly journals Prospective English Language Teachers’ Grammatical Awareness Development to Undertake Academic Writing

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Jaramillo Delgado ◽  
Erika Marcela Restrepo Bolívar
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Private University ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Grammatical Awareness ◽  
Grammatical Errors ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Internal And External Factors

This study examines prospective English language teachers’ grammatical awareness development, and its impact on the production of academic written texts in an English teaching undergraduate program at a private university in Colombia. Data were collected through semi-structured individual and focus group interviews, as well as participants’ academic written production. Results reveal the internal and external factors which affect pre-service teachers’ grammatical awareness development in this context, in addition to the frequent grammatical errors found in their work. This research highlights the importance of establishing useful strategies to help future English language teachers develop grammatical awareness to succeed in academic writing.

scholarly journals COOPERATIVE ASSESSMENT WRITING PRACTICES AT AN ACEHNESE PRIVATE UNIVERSITY: HELPING OR TROUBLING?

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-119
Author(s):  
Saiful Akmal ◽  
Syarifah Dahliana ◽  
Rani Fadhila
Keyword(s):  
Private University ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Writing Practices ◽  
Good Ability ◽  
Peer Reviewing ◽  
Writing Class ◽  
Good Writing ◽  
Academic Year

A good writing skill could be a benchmark of someone’s good ability in English.  This study aims find the way how the practice of cooperative assessment can diminish errors and mistakes in students’ writing and to see students’ view towards cooperative assessment method in writing class. Qualitative approach by using case study method was selected, and the data were taken by means of observation, document analysis and interview towards the fourth semester students of Serambi Mekah University Banda Aceh, Indonesia in 2018/2019 academic year. The findings shown that there were three techniques of cooperative assessment that may lessen errors and mistakes in students’ writing, namely; peer review, lecturers’ feedback and classroom reviewing activity. In students’ view, cooperative assessment has some benefits (improving grammatical awareness, improving students’ vocabularies, and improving the structure of students’ writing) as well as drawbacks (peer errors in editing, and time consuming). Therefore, it is recommended that students make their errors and mistakes diary notes and lecturers are advised to start making grammar errors and mistakes checklists based on the learning objectives for students’ peer reviewing practice.

scholarly journals Graduate Transitions

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 264-289
Author(s):  
Jordan Stouck ◽  
Lori Walter
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Academic Literacy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Institutional Expectations ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Perceived Experiences

This exploratory study researches the experiences of Canadian graduate students as they pursue writing tasks for their degree. It also explores the supports currently utilized by such students and the need for additional supports. The research uses a case study design based on qualitative focus group interviews to provide detailed information regarding graduate students' perceived experiences with their academic writing tasks and available supports. The approach is informed by academic literacy theory. Graduate students who participated in this study identified a transition in voice, increased pressure to publish and professionalize, and misalignments between their own and supervisory and institutional expectations, which resulted in some interrogation of institutional norms. They utilized Writing Centre, online and supervisory supports, but called for additional ongoing and peer support. The study has implications for the development of new, collaborative and peer-based writing supports, as well as identifying future research areas related to interdisciplinary degrees.

scholarly journals Female School Leaders’ Perceptions and Experiences of Decentralisation and Distributed Leadership in the Tatweer System in Saudi Arabia

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rfah Alyami ◽  
Alan Floyd
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Female Leaders ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Leadership Responsibilities ◽  
System A ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Group Interviews

While school reform has been the subject of much research globally, few studies have examined “on the ground” educational reform in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), especially in relation to the “Tatweer” System, an initiative which purports to transform education and lead educational change within the country. This paper aims to address this knowledge gap and reports on a study which examined female leaders’ perceptions and experiences of the system. A qualitative case study of three Tatweer schools was conducted, with data being drawn from one-on-one interviews (n = 16), focus group interviews (n = 4) and documentary analysis. Our findings suggest that the Tatweer system is what can be termed “semi-decentralised”, which appears to be linked to issues of accountability, trust, and perceived staff competence. However, at the local level, major breakthroughs seem to have taken place in relation to distributing leadership responsibilities and decision-making processes within these female-led schools.

Using Project-Based Learning to Teach Sustainability Issues to Elementary Students

2014 ◽  
pp. 190-209
Author(s):  
Ingrid Weiland ◽  
Elisa Pokral ◽  
Kristin Cook
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Elementary Students ◽  
Fourth Grade ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Support Students ◽  
Grade Classroom

This chapter describes a project-based learning unit on sustainability that was implemented in a fourth grade classroom by an informal educator (the second author) employed by a local waste management district. Previous instruction by the informal educator consisted of one-hour lessons that were separate units lacking the project-based learning format and transition links. This chapter describes a mixed-method case study in which pre and posttest tests as well as focus group interviews assessed students' learning as a result of participating in a cohesive project-based learning unit designed by the authors. There was a statistically significant change (p<0.05) in students' pre to posttest scores, and focus group interviews indicated that students could elaborate much more deeply on their ideas about sustainability after the program. The authors conclude that project-based learning can support students' understandings of sustainability while providing an engaging and enriching format to informal educator programs.

Physical Activity for Disabled Youth: Hidden Parental Labor

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 342-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna L. Goodwin ◽  
Amanda Ebert
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Relational Ethics ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Disabled Children ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Phenomenological Case Study

Locating suitable, inclusive community physical activity programs for disabled children can be challenging for parents. The aim of this study was to uncover everyday hidden labor experienced by parents, as they sought inclusive physical activity opportunities for their children. Focus group interviews with eight families of youth aged 13–19 years were completed using an interpretative phenomenological case study research approach. Four themes, interpreted through the framework of relational ethics, captured their experiences: (a) inclusion is immensely effortful; (b) judged by their impairments, not their possibilities; (c) ongoing education needed to open doors and sustain participation; and (d) the guilt of staying home. Reliance on hidden parental labor highlighted an exclusion agenda in community, accentuated by ableist belief systems.

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