Research Advisory Committee Report: Justification and Reform

1996 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 516-520

The 1994 and 1995 JRME articles authored by the Research Advisory Committee had as their central theme the relationship between theory and practice. In the 1994 article, the RAC described a new type of research session called “Reflecting on Practice” that was introduced at NCTM meetings to facilitate connections between research and practice, and between researchers, teachers, and teacher educators. In the 1995 article, the RAC presented a draft of NCTM's revised position statement on research in mathematics education. The RAC clarified that its primary goal when developing the statement was “to better reflect NCTM's efforts to have the teaching community both partake of, and parricipatc in, scholarly inquiry” (RAC, 1995, p. 301). The RAC extends the focus on the relationship between theory and practice in this year's article by considering two further issues. The first concerns the types of justifications given for new approaches to materials development and teacher development, and the second concerns the relation of both materials development and teacher development to research.

Author(s):  
Seyyed Ostovar-Namaghi ◽  
Shabnam Norouzi ◽  
Mobina Hosseini

The applied science model of teacher education implies that the relationship between theory and practice is unidirectional. In this study, however, the researchers make a case in the opposite direction, i.e., they believe that professional practice can also shed some light on theories of language teaching. Since narrative inquiry is best for capturing the detailed stories or life experiences of a single life, the researchers took it as a legitimate mode of research to uncover and make sense of the professional experience of an experienced and professionally popular language teacher. Analysis revealed six themes, which reflect the participant’s professional beliefs. Among other things, she believes that optimizing teaching practice depends on maximizing learner involvement, focusing on responsive teaching, leaving room for practice, and personalizing practice. The study has clear implications for practitioners and teacher educators.


Author(s):  
Torhild Skotheim ◽  
Baard Johannessen ◽  
Anne-Grete Kaldahl

Background: The Norwegian framework for teacher education serves to both provide a pathway for professional qualification and lay a foundation for educators to meet present and future challenges. Complementing work with teacher educators in the university classroom, a key focus of the framework is pre-service teaching practice, which aims to increase student teachers' knowledge, skills, and competencies via a triangular partnership among student teachers and teacher educators both in pre-service teaching practice and on campus. The aim of the study was to interview student teachers to investigate how their pre-service teaching practice can be better organized to meet these goals. Methods: Our data is based on six semistructured interviews and one focus group with six student teachers situated at the Oslo and Akershus University College and analyzed using inductive content analysis. The study was approved at the Norwegian Data Directorate. Results: The analysis revealed five categories that influence student teachers` pedagogical insight through pre-service teaching practice. These five categories were: Reflection plenaries on regular basis, the understanding of the relationship between theory and practice, teacher educators as mentors, and different competence and asymmetry in the mentoring process. Conclusions: To optimize pedagogical insight through pre-service teaching practice, our results emphasize the need to ensure quality throughout pre-service teacher training and clear guidelines for teacher educators. In particular, our sample of student teachers sought greater supervision and focus from teacher educators on the relationship between theory and practice, via use of reflection plenaries, and found most helpful pedagogical context that emphasized equal partnership with their teacher educators. 


2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Misako Tajima

Autobiographic and narrative research has recently grown in stature in the field of social sciences. Inspired by Asian TESOL researchers’ critical analyses of self-stories, this paper attempts to reflect upon the author’s personal history in relation to English and discuss ways in which she can position herself as both an English learner and a non-native English speaker (NNES) teacher. The self-reflection and discussion is followed by an argument for performativity, a notion drawing on poststructuralism to understand language itself and the global spread of English. This paper, itself a performative act conducted by a secondary school teacher, exemplifies the concept. The non-academic schoolteacher’s very act of writing in an academic journal aims to contribute to questioning assumptions underlying the relationship between theory and practice and to reconstituting the academic fields of applied linguistics and TESOL. 近年、自伝的かつ語りを含む研究が社会科学の分野で活発になってきている。本稿では、TESOLを専門とする、あるアジア人研究者が彼女たち自身の物語を素材として実施した批判的分析に着想を得て、英語にまつわる自己の歴史を振り返り、英語学習者としての、またNNESの英語教師としてのポジショナリティをどこに位置づけるのかという問題について議論する。さらに、この批判的自己内省を経て、言語そのもの、あるいは英語という言語の地球規模的広がりを理解するために、ポスト構造主義の概念であるパフォーマティヴィティについて検証する。なお、本稿これ自体がある高校教師によるパフォーマティヴな実践であることに言及しておきたい。研究者ではなく、一高校教師が学術雑誌に投稿することを通じ、理論と実践の関係性の背後にある前提に疑問を投げかけ、その結果、応用言語学やTESOLという学問分野の再構築に貢献できることを希望している。


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Songlin Yue ◽  
Yanyu Qiu ◽  
Pengxian Fan ◽  
Pin Zhang ◽  
Ning Zhang

Analogue material with appropriate properties is of great importance to the reliability of geomechanical model test, which is one of the mostly used approaches in field of geotechnical research. In this paper, a new type of analogue material is developed, which is composed of coarse aggregate (quartz sand and/or barite sand), fine aggregate (barite powder), and cementitious material (anhydrous sodium silicate). The components of each raw material are the key influencing factors, which significantly affect the physical and mechanical parameters of analogue materials. In order to establish the relationship between parameters and factors, the material properties including density, Young’s modulus, uniaxial compressive strength, and tensile strength were investigated by a series of orthogonal experiments with hundreds of samples. By orthogonal regression analysis, the regression equations of each parameter were obtained based on experimental data, which can predict the properties of the developed analogue materials according to proportions. The experiments and applications indicate that sodium metasilicate cemented analogue material is a type of low-strength and low-modulus material with designable density, which is insensitive to humidity and temperature and satisfies mechanical scaling criteria for weak rock or soft geological materials. Moreover, the developed material can be easily cast into structures with complex geometry shapes and simulate the deformation and failure processes of prototype rocks.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Pauleen

Purpose Dave Snowden has been an important voice in knowledge management over the years. As the founder and chief scientific officer of Cognitive Edge, a company focused on the development of the theory and practice of social complexity, he offers informative views on the relationship between big data/analytics and KM. Design/methodology/approach A face-to-face interview was held with Dave Snowden in May 2015 in Auckland, New Zealand. Findings According to Snowden, analytics in the form of algorithms are imperfect and can only to a small extent capture the reasoning and analytical capabilities of people. For this reason, while big data/analytics can be useful, they are limited and must be used in conjunction with human knowledge and reasoning. Practical implications Snowden offers his views on big data/analytics and how they can be used effectively in real world situations in combination with human reasoning and input, for example in fields from resource management to individual health care. Originality/value Snowden is an innovative thinker. He combines knowledge and experience from many fields and offers original views and understanding of big data/analytics, knowledge and management.


2021 ◽  
pp. 147078532110304
Author(s):  
Encarnación Ramos-Hidalgo ◽  
Rosalia Diaz-Carrion ◽  
Carlos Rodríguez-Rad

The importance of ethical behavior in consumers has never been so evident, and in recent years, researchers have generated a great deal of knowledge about ethical consumption. The search for happiness in consumption has been a recurrent line of research by academics of the management and, mainly, the marketing fields. Our study analyses the relationship between ethical and sustainable behavior in consumption and the achievement of consumer happiness. Employing structural equations, the findings of the study suggest that there is a positive relationship between consumers’ predisposition toward sustainable behavior and happiness. In addition, the findings indicate that, when there are reasons to justify unethical behavior in consumption, the consumer also manages to be happier. Important implications for theory and practice are derived from the results. Emphasizing the benefits of sustainable consumption for enhancing happiness might instigate sustainable consumption, especially in the case of those consumers who do not have a positive attitude toward sustainable consumption.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3341
Author(s):  
Jesús Maya ◽  
Juan F. Luesia ◽  
Javier Pérez-Padilla

Universities strive to ensure quality education focused on the diversity of the student body. According to experiential learning theory, students display different learning preferences. This study has a three-fold objective: to compare learning styles based on personal and educational variables, to analyze the association between learning styles, the level of academic performance, and consistency of performance in four assessment methods, and to examine the influence of learning dimensions in students with medium-high performance in the assessment methods. An interdisciplinary approach was designed involving 289 psychology, early childhood education and primary education students at two universities in Spain. The Learning Style Inventory was used to assess learning styles and dimensions. The assessment methods used in the developmental psychology course included the following question formats: multiple-choice, short answer, creation-elaboration and an elaboration question on the relationship between theory and practice. Univariate analysis, multivariate analysis, and binomial logistic models were computed. The results reveal Psychology students to be more assimilative (theoretical and abstract), while early childhood and primary education students were evenly distributed among styles and were more divergent and convergent (practical) in absolute terms. In addition, high scores in perception (abstract conceptualization) were associated with a high level of performance on the multiple-choice tests and the elaboration question on the relationship between theory and practice. Abstract conceptualization was also associated with medium-high performance in all assessment methods and this variable predicted consistent high performance, independent of the assessment method. This study highlights the importance of promoting abstract conceptualization. Recommendations for enhancing this learning dimension are presented.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 451
Author(s):  
Rebekah Lamb

This essay introduces and examines aspects of the theological aesthetics of contemporary Canadian artist, Michael D. O’Brien (1948–). It also considers how his philosophy of the arts informs understandings of the Catholic imagination. In so doing, it focuses on his view that prayer is the primary source of imaginative expression, allowing the artist to operate from a position of humble receptivity to the transcendent. O’Brien studies is a nascent field, owing much of its development in recent years to the pioneering work of Clemens Cavallin. Apart from Cavallin, few scholars have focused on O’Brien’s extensive collection of paintings (principally because the first catalogue of his art was only published in 2019). Instead, they have worked on his prodigious output of novels and essays. In prioritising O’Brien’s paintings, this study will assess the relationship between his theological reflections on the Catholic imagination and art practice. By focusing on the interface between theory and practice in O’Brien’s art, this article shows that conversations about the philosophy of the Catholic imagination benefit from attending to the inner standing points of contemporary artists who see in the arts a place where faith and praxis meet. In certain instances, I will include images of O’Brien’s devotional art to further illustrate his contemplative, Christ-centred approach to aesthetics. Overall, this study offers new directions in O’Brien studies and scholarship on the philosophy of the Catholic imagination.


Ecclesiology ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 27-43
Author(s):  
Graham Buxton

AbstractThe author critiques inductive approaches to pastoral theology that rely on the empirical methodology of the social and human sciences, and presents an alternative Christocentric praxis model of pastoral ministry. The result is an attempt to integrate pastoral theory and practice that shifts the perspective away from functionally-determined theologies of ministry to a relationally oriented and hermeneutically coherent model of orthopraxis in which theory and practice interact in a way that is intended to both deepen faith and transform lives. Some of the key themes that inform the discussion are the importance of theological method, the role of the community as the context for care, the relationship between practical ministry and systematic theology, and the notion of praxis in articulating the nature and scope of practical theology today.


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