Possible implementation of subjects taught using English as a Medium of Instruction methodology in tourism studies

The present study analyses which conditions would be necessary to implement subjects taught using English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) methodology in the undergraduate degree in tourism studies at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC). In the literature review, some of the concepts related to this methodological approach are examined to clarify diverse methodological approaches that are frequently confused, namely Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), EMI, and English for Specific Purposes. With the objective of finding out the specific conditions necessary for implementing EMI subjects in the Degree in Tourism at the ULPGC, a revision of EMI subjects that have been already implemented at this institution would be made. Then a proposal indicating the conditions that are regarded as vital for implementing EMI subjects in this degree would be presented.

Turkish EFL teachers’ attitudes towards online instruction throughout the Covid-19 outbreak

The purpose of the present study is to shed light on the attitudes of Turkish EFL teachers towards online instruction (OI), the impact of training on their attitudes, the obstacles they encounter, and the strategies to deliver OI more successfully throughout the Covid-19 outbreak. The participants were 70 EFL teachers (52 female, 18 male). The data was collected through a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed by using SPSS 26. Descriptive statistics of each item was calculated and an independent sample t-test was conducted to answer the research questions. For the analysis of the interview data, the responses of the participants were transcribed and the recurring themes were identified. The results revealed that the attitudes of Turkish EFL teachers, who experienced online instruction during the Covid-19 outbreak, are not as positive as expected regarding some of the results of the related research in the literature. The interview findings revealed that EFL teachers do not feel capable of delivering online instruction effectively since they do not have adequate knowledge and necessary skills to do that. In view of the findings, it’s suggested that online instruction methodology should be integrated into teacher training programs and teachers should receive an in-service training about the related subject.

Improving Students' Motivation and Focus Through the Gamification in the Computer Science Peer Instruction Methodology (CSPI)

The Peer Instruction (PI) is an active learning, student-centered approach designed to engage students through the administration of conceptual questions. On its turn, the CSPI is an adaptation of the PI to the computer science area, mainly Introductory Programming (CS1) courses. In this work, we present the initial assessment of the gamification adoption into the CSPI. Two CSPI/CS1 courses were administered, one without gamification (control experiment) and one with it. We identified that, although participants originally didn’t expect that gamification would affect their experience, results suggest that gamification positively impacts participants' motivation and focus. Future work involves the analysis of collaboration and interaction variables through learning analytics tools.

Tour Guide Simulation: A Task-Based Learning Activity to Enhance Young Thai Learners’ English

Purpose - This study aimed to explore the effects of task-based language teaching (TBLT) with a tour guide simulation as a focused activity on young Thai learners’ English speaking skill and their attitudes towards the instruction. Methodology - Based on a three-phase framework (i.e., pre-task, during-task, and post-task), TBLT was implemented with a Grade 4 class for a period of eleven weeks. Initially, a set of English lessons developed based on the context of local tourist attractions was implemented at the pre-task stage. In the second stage, a simulated tour guide task was used to assess their ability to turn the language input into a practical and authentic use of English speaking. Subsequently, corrective feedback on each student’s performance was provided, and their attitudes towards the instruction were examined at the last stage. Findings - The students were able to satisfactorily complete the tour guide task in English, indicating the potential of the task as a device to strengthen their speaking skill. Moreover, they generally had a favourable attitude towards the instruction. Significance - These findings are significant for both school teachers and curriculum designers. In addition to confirming the effectiveness of TBLT, this study highlights the promising use of context specific-based lessons and class activities as an avenue for young learners to practice speaking English in a context relevant to them.

METODOLOGIAS ATIVAS NO ENSINO DE FÍSICA: UM PANORAMA DA PESQUISA STRICTO SENSU BRASILEIRA

This paper presents an exploratory study whose main objective was to draw an overview of the strict sense research carried out in Brazil, addressing the use of active methodologies in the teaching of physics, from 2009 to 2019. To achieve this objective weanalyzed theses and dissertations available in the collection of the Biblioteca Digital Brasileira de Teses e Dissertações-BDTD. The choice for this platform is justified by its breadth. By defining the descriptors "active methodologies" AND "Physics", related by the Boolean operator "AND" and adopting as exclusion criteria the non-belonging to the area of Physics, we identified twenty-six works. After analyzing the selected material, it was possible to detect a sharp growth in the number of these researches in recent years, most of them composed by dissertations from professional master’s programs. Almost all the work was carried out in public institutions and addressed the use of active methodologies at all levels of education, most of them directed to high school. We also found that there is a predominance of the use of Peer Instruction methodology. Another fact that deserves attention is the concentration of research in the Southeast and South regions from Brazil.

Personalised video instruction

The liaison librarian to a college with a substantial and growing online learning population began using asynchronous, personalised video instruction as an online replacement for the traditional face-to-face, one-on-one bibliographic instruction reference appointment. This project was informed by the framework of metaliteracy and the “See One, Do One, Teach One” instruction methodology utilised by the health sciences. While formal outcomes assessment has yet to be conducted, unsolicited comments from students are overwhelmingly positive, and preliminary data analysis of usage and engagement reveals several promising trends. 65% of all watched videos were watched for the entire duration of the video, and the liaison librarian found video creation to be less time-consuming than scheduling appointments. The liaison librarian to a university with a substantial and growing online learning population began using asynchronous, personalised video instruction as an online replacement for the traditional face-to-face, one-on-one bibliographic instruction reference appointment. This project was informed by the framework of metaliteracy and the ‘See One, Do One, Teach One’ instruction methodology utilised by the health sciences. While formal outcomes assessment has yet to be conducted, unsolicited comments from students are overwhelmingly positive, and preliminary data analysis of usage and engagement reveals several promising trends. Of all watched videos 65% were watched for the entire duration, and the liaison librarian found video creation to be less time-consuming than scheduling appointments. Providing personalised video instruction tailored to the individual student’s information literacy need is a novel approach that may benefit online learners and librarians alike.

TRANSLATING PROBLEM STATEMENTS INTO ACTIONABLE SOLUTION PROCEDURE: DEVELOPING PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS

Junior-level chemical engineering students often struggle with solving problems in fundamental undergraduate courses. This deficiency is generally attributed, by instructors and students alike, to gaps in mathematical knowledge. However, the difficulty may instead be rooted in an inability to interpret the information from problem statements. In this contribution, a coordinated, multi-faceted instruction methodology is proposed, over a sequence of second-year chemical engineering fundamental courses, to foster the development of problem-solving strategies and to increase the confidence of students in their abilities to decipher problem data, to develop a proper mathematical framework, and to apply a first-principle approach to problem solving. Compared with traditional lectures alone, obstacles to problem solving may be overcome when students are offered additional learning streams in the form of interactive workshops and video-recorded examples. This results in raised confidence levels toward translating problems into actionable solution procedure.

The Study of Flipped-Classroom for Pre-Service Science Teachers

The relatively new methodology, flipped-classroom, is one of blended learning instruction methodologies in which the traditional-classroom is inverted. This methodology asserts that students can participate and engage more successfully in their class and can attain better learning when their classroom is flipped. This work presents a two-year study to measure the effects of the flipped-classroom model on the performance, perceptions, and emotions for teacher training students in science education. Particularly, this research was carried out during two courses, 2014/2015 and 2015/2016, in a general science subject. With a post-task questionnaire, we obtained the information to assess their performance, perceptions, and emotions, toward the class. The results confirmed that a statistically significant difference was found on all assessments with the flipped-classroom students, performing higher on average, showing favorable perceptions, and demonstrating positive emotions about the flipped-classroom model. Thus, the students were ready to take more courses pursuing a flipped-classroom model. The results achieved in this study show a promising inclination about the performance, perceptions, and emotions of students toward the flipped-classroom methodology, and will provide an entirely a new impetus for this relatively new instruction methodology.

Emancipation of Lexical Motivation and Second Language Teaching under the Framework of Cognitive Linguistics

Unlike formal linguistic paradigm which starts from the assumption that language is basically arbitrary. Cognitive linguistics holds that motivation in language is both primary and pervasive. This paper intends to justify the necessity of explicit lexical instruction and an instruction methodology that is made possible by cognitive linguistics, namely, emancipation of lexical motivations which can facilitate the understanding and memorization of multi-words expressions and in-depth lexical knowledge and points out the challenges teachers may face in the conduction of the new language teaching approach.