Lexicogrammatical aspects in English for dentistry acquisition materials

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 64-73
Author(s):  
Indra Karapetjana ◽  
◽  
Gunta Roziņa
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Integrated Learning ◽  
New Words ◽  
Information Giving ◽  
Grammar Acquisition ◽  
Transnational Communication ◽  
The University

In the 21st century, globalization and massive migration have increased the global demand for effective transnational communication skills in English in the health care workplace and academic contexts, including dentistry. English for Dentistry falls under the umbrella of English for Specific Purposes (ESP): this refers to teaching and learning English as a foreign language in a particular domain. While the role of grammar acquisition in ESP courses is often understated in the key theoretical literature on ESP, this article highlights the importance of lexicogrammatical knowledge. Dentistry students and practitioners in Latvia highly value the accuracy in communication since the knowledge of various syntactic and morphological rules of grammar and their use in the dentistry-related context contribute to the accuracy required in the performance of different communicative tasks, for instance, asking for, explaining, and providing information, giving instructions. Besides, if dentists are unable, for example, to explain a diagnosis, agree on treatment options with the patient in a meaningfully accurate way, the dentist’s authority may be undermined, resulting in unsuccessful communication. The case study reports on the tasks employing lexicogrammatical strategies in the material “Dentistry and Language Integrated Learning”, which has been developed by the authors of this article working in close collaboration with individual academic staff at the the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Latvia. The material piloted amongst both dentistry practitioners and students suggests that the applied strategies of morphological derivation, for instance, recognizing and building new words by gaining control of affixation devices, can be considered as useful tools in the new lexeme meaning-making process in dentistry. As a result, this study has attempted to support the assumption that ESP and content and language integrated learning (or CLIL) are compatible and can be efficiently mastered in the professional discourse development process.

Professional community and student engagement in higher education: rethinking the contributions of professional staff

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaw Owusu-Agyeman ◽  
Enna Moroeroe
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Professional Community ◽  
Professional Staff ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Culture ◽  
The University

PurposeScholarly studies on student engagement are mostly focused on the perceptions of students and academic staff of higher education institutions (HEIs) with a few studies concentrating on the perspectives of professional staff. To address this knowledge gap, this paper aims to examine how professional staff who are members of a professional community perceive their contributions to enhancing student engagement in a university.Design/methodology/approachData for the current study were gathered using semi-structured face-to-face interviews among 41 professional staff who were purposively sampled from a public university in South Africa. The data gathered were analysed using thematic analysis that involved a process of identifying, analysing, organising, describing and reporting the themes that emerged from the data set.FindingsAn analysis of the narrative data revealed that when professional staff provide students with prompt feedback, support the development of their social and cultural capital and provide professional services in the area of teaching and learning, they foster student engagement in the university. However, the results showed that poor communication flow and delays in addressing students’ concerns could lead to student disengagement. The study further argues that through continuous interaction and shared norms and values among members of a professional community, a service culture can be developed to address possible professional knowledge and skills gaps that constrain quality service delivery.Originality/valueThe current paper contributes to the scholarly discourse on student engagement and professional community by showing that a service culture of engagement is developed among professional staff when they share ideas, collaborate and build competencies to enhance student engagement. Furthermore, the collaboration between professional staff and academics is important to addressing the academic issues that confront students in the university.

Enculturation of the Utilization of Learning Management System

2010 ◽  
pp. 323-340
Author(s):  
Aida Suraya Md. Yunus ◽  
Hamidah Meseran ◽  
Zaidan Abdul Wahab
Keyword(s):  
Management System ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Learning Management System ◽  
Professional Service ◽  
Knowledge Repository ◽  
Extension Work ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Learning Management ◽  
The University

Universiti Putra Malaysia’s (UPM) vision is to become a university with international repute. The Strategic Plan Document 2001- 2010 includes a goal for the university to be fully wired through ICT in enhancing research, extension work, professional service, strengthening teaching and learning environment and enhancing the culture of ICT in supporting teaching and learning. Two strategies were drawn; namely (i) implement the use of one learning management system (LMS) and (ii) enhance competency of academic staff in using the LMS. It has been a practice that each faculty decides on a platform for implementing e-Learning. However, the use of various LMSs had created difficulties in the sharing of integrated database, continuous monitoring of the effectiveness of the e-Learning system, and depository of e-Learning resources in the UPM’s knowledge repository. This paper reports on UPM’s experience in adapting the use of LMS from the early 1990s until today.

scholarly journals Embedding social innovation and social impact across the disciplines

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 242-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bethany Alden Rivers ◽  
Alejandro Armellini ◽  
Ming Nie
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Pedagogical Tools ◽  
Innovative Teaching ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The University

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose an attributes framework for embedding “Changemaker” – a university initiative for promoting social innovation and social impact – across the disciplines at the University of Northampton. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on the authors’ (2015) phenomenographic study that proposed five different conceptions of Changemaker held by academic staff: (1) Changemaker as institutional strategy; (2) Changemaker as critical thinking, perspective shifting and problem solving; (3) Changemaker as employability; (4) Changemaker as social betterment; and (5) Changemaker as personal transformation. The present study explores pedagogic literature to identify skills, behaviours and attributes associated with each of these five categories. Findings – Findings from this literature review inform a set of Changemaker attributes, which offers a framework to consider skills and behaviours associated with the five conceptions of Changemaker. Research limitations/implications – The conceptions of Changemaker, that form the basis of the Changemaker attributes, represent the beliefs of teaching staff at the University of Northampton. Despite inherent limitations, the approach of using practice-based empirical findings to develop pedagogical tools may be of direct benefit to other education providers as they develop their own models for teaching and learning. Practical implications – The Changemaker attributes will be used by the University of Northampton during the design, approval and review of courses to ensure that social innovation and social impact is embedded across the disciplines. Academic staff can refer these attributes when designing assessments and for inspiration towards innovative teaching practice. Originality/value – The findings of this study will provide a point of reference for other higher education institutions as they look for guidance on embedding social innovation and social impact into their curriculum.

scholarly journals Partnerships and Pedagogy: Transforming the BA Online

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Lloyd ◽  
Annika Herb ◽  
Michael Kilmister ◽  
Catharine Coleborne
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Learning Objects ◽  
Digital Revolution ◽  
Learning Platform ◽  
Innovative Learning ◽  
The University

There has been much written recently round the “digital revolution” of universities (Nascimento Cunha et al., 2020). Indeed, in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the need for universities to adapt and adopt new technological tools for teaching and learning, as both the global world we live in changed, and as students adapted to the continually evolving digital landscape. The BA Online is a new interdisciplinary online presence for the humanities and social sciences, and includes a focus on constructive alignment, innovative learning objects, and social learning. The semester-long courses were built as a supported social learning experience that is purposefully constructed with a narrative. This article reveals how the BA Online project was realised through the use of partnerships, particularly that of the university learning designers who worked very closely with both the online learning platform FutureLearn and academic staff in curriculum design and course transformation.

scholarly journals Reflections on the impact of COVID-19 on teaching and learning in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Nottingham

2021 ◽  
pp. 47-55
Author(s):  
Cecilia Goria
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Pedagogical Approach ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Emergency Measures

It is widely believed that digitally-driven changes are not welcomed amongst academic staff in higher education. However, when in March 2020, the University of Nottingham went online in response to the UK government’s COVID-19 lockdown, a different picture started to emerge. This contribution reflects on the initial steps taken to respond to the COVID-19 emergency measures, including the support required to implement these steps and ensuing staff feedback. It also reflects on the process of moving forward from a state of emergency to a more thought-through digital pedagogical approach. In this scenario, the ultimate goal of this reflection is to argue that, as a consequence of the educational turbulence caused by COVID-19, the portrait of academics prone to resisting digitally-driven changes needs to be replaced by one that emphasises the significance of making the pedagogical values of these changes meaningful to the staff who eventually implement them.

Teamwork Development across the Curriculum for Information Technology Students at Liepāja University: Processes, Outcomes and Lessons Learned

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 509
Author(s):  
Dzintars Tomsons ◽  
Anita Jansone
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Learning Organisation ◽  
Technology Students ◽  
Information Technology Students ◽  
The University

<p><em>Teamwork skills are key feature for Information Technology (IT) specialists. The university IT curriculum contains both IT specific courses, and comprehensive courses. Due to limited amount of the learning courses and efficient achievement of learning goals, it is necessary to look for opportunities to integrate activities developing social and communication skills courses into IT specific courses. Managing the teamwork that is close to practice, it is necessary to solve the problems of teaching and learning organisation, and assessment of individual learning outcomes and competences. In Liepāja University, the student teamwork has been managed for several years as integral part of Software Engineering courses and study projects. The course management system Moodle has been used in learning process providing possibilities to evaluate both assignments submitted by students and their learning behaviour.  The current paper describes and analyses the experience of academic staff of Liepāja University.</em></p>

scholarly journals An examination of the views of key stakeholders on the development of learning spaces at a regional university

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barrie James Todhunter
Keyword(s):  
Blended Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Design Guidelines ◽  
Learning Spaces ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Personalised Learning ◽  
Regional University ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
The University

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the degree of alignment between the views of key stakeholders on the development of learning spaces in a new teaching and learning building at a satellite campus of a regional university. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with six stakeholders including senior executives, technical staff, academic staff and students. The interviews were transcribed and the data analysed to identify common and differing themes on the part of the respective interviewees in relation to learning spaces in general, and in relation to the new teaching and learning building in particular. Findings – A comprehensive framework should be articulated by the university for its theme of personalised learning so that decisions can be made at lower levels of the university to operationalise the theme across academic and administrative functions. A clear definition of the blended learning pedagogy, which is proposed to be implemented as part of the personalised learning theme, should be articulated. The implications of the blended learning pedagogy for the design of learning spaces should be identified and clear design guidelines for learning spaces should be articulated. Learning spaces in the new building should be reviewed to achieve alignment with the personalised learning framework and the guidelines for learning spaces. Research limitations/implications – As this is a preliminary study with a small number of participants, a qualitative approach was taken to identify the indicative views of representatives of key stakeholders. The findings relate specifically to the context of this study at a regional Australian university. Originality/value – This paper provides valuable insights into how a university’s philosophy on learning spaces manifests itself through creation and implementation of high-level policy and how that is interpreted and actioned by a range of stakeholders across campuses, including staff and students.

scholarly journals Computer-supported experiential learning (Phase One - staff development)

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Staley ◽  
Diana Eastcott
Keyword(s):  
Staff Development ◽  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Computer Networks ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Appropriate Use ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Network Technologies ◽  
The University

In recent years the University of Central England in Birmingham has made considerable investments in developing computer networks. Developments have been technology-led, and the major use of the network has been for administration. The Computer-Supported Experiential Learning Project has been designed to refocus upon the curriculum, and to encourage academic staff to use the network technologies for teaching and learning. The broad aim of the project is to investigate and systematically evaluate the appropriate use of technology to improve the quality of learning.DOI:10.1080/0968776990070107

Hospitality and Higher Education

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Fulford
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Contact Time ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Value For Money ◽  
Scant Attention ◽  
The University ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Teaching Intensity

In the 21st-century landscape of higher education, there is increasing consideration given to documenting, managing, and regulating practices of teaching and learning in the university. In particular, there has been an emphasis on what students can expect of their experience of studying at university, and of the expectations around contact time with academic staff. This has led to the development of metrics that assess teaching intensity and value-for-money. Such developments anticipate certain modes of being with students, ones that tend to give scant attention to what it is to be in a relationship of mutual hospitality with another person. While we can think of hospitality more broadly in different educational contexts, especially in terms of moves toward an ethics of hospitality, there is also a space for thinking about a pedagogy of hospitality, especially as it may be realized in contemporary higher education. Here, hospitality is experienced in the pedagogical moment—through conversation with others in which we are invited to welcome alterity. This reading of hospitality is richly illustrated in the American philosopher and essayist Henry David Thoreau’s celebrated work, Walden. Examples from Thoreau’s work show how the concept of hospitality may open up other ways of thinking about what it means to be with students in the contemporary university, and what possibilities for mutual education this concept may help realize.

PREDICTING THE ACCEPTANCE OF ELECTRONIC LEARNING BY ACADEMIC STAFF AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND, SOUTH AFRICA

Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Neil Evans ◽  
Stephan Mutula
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Deductive Reasoning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Learning Resources ◽  
Electronic Learning ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
The Social ◽  
E Learning ◽  
The University ◽  
Mandatory Use

In this article we provide a quantitative method to predict the acceptance of electronic learning resources by academic staff in a blended learning environment at the University of Zululand. Conceptually the study followed a positivist epistemological belief and deductive reasoning, but this article will also embrace the interpretive research paradigm to include the researchers’ insights on the results. Inferential statistics were used to predict the level of acceptance of e-learning and show the strengths and significances of the postulated Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model’s relationships. From the results, the majority of academic staff accepts the use of e-learning resources. The study concludes that UTAUT’s moderate accuracy and relevance could be improved by adopting contextualised socio-economic moderators relevant to the education sector rather than adopting those found to be significant in the financial sector of Venkatesh et al.’s (2003) study. The study’s recommendations would be firstly, to provide useful resources that will improve both teaching and learning, and secondly provide appropriate skills development and support for these resources. Another recommendation was the introduction of user policies to instill mandatory use of these resources by academic staff while concluding that the social influence relationship will strengthen with the increased interactions and relationships between management, academic and support staff.

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