Research on Blending learning Design for Promoting Deep Learning

Under the background of further promoting the construction of "golden class" in universities, how to use teaching innovation and promote the cultivation of learners is the focus of educational researchers. Guided by the theory of deep learning, based on MOOC resource platform and teaching management platform, this study constructs a "3-stage-2 platform" blended learning mode for deep learning in three stages: before class, in class and after class, puts forward teaching strategies to promote deep learning, and based on this mode, takes the computer network course as an example to carry out the blended teaching design and practice. The results show that the model has a certain role in promoting learners' knowledge mastery and ability training, and good emotional experience is conducive to learners' deep learning. Keywords: Deep learning, mixed teaching, teaching design.

Teaching methodology in students with special educational needs during their transition to secondary education

The gap between the skills of students with special educational needs (SEN) and learning requirements is widening as they move from primary to secondary education. The purpose of this research is to implement and evaluate the pedagogical tool "Targeted, Individual, Structured, and Integrated Program for Students with Special Educational Needs" (TISIPfSENs), through which a special teaching methodology is proposed for the reading support of students with SEN. The methodology applied was mixed and lasted 5 years in 5 general Greek secondary schools. The study sample consisted of students with neurodevelopmental disorders (N = 10) and adults (N = 130) who encountered them learning, therapeutically, and socially. The qualitative data were collected in the context of the action research with the utilization of observation and intervention tools, while the quantitative data were collected from an unbalanced questionnaire. The results showed that "TISIPfSENs" supports students with neurodevelopmental disorders in reading skills during their transition to secondary education. The findings showed that students can actively participate in the general learning process, provided that the intervention is governed by certain principles, such as individualization of teaching, structuring of teaching methodology in certain phases, informal pedagogical assessment, and differentiation activities for the cultivation of neurodevelopmental areas. Keywords: School transition, TISIPfSENs, neurodevelopmental disorders, reading skills, secondary school teaching methodology

Study of moral education as the objectives in College English teaching: A case from the Teaching Star final competition in 2020

With the reform of educational evaluation in China, moral education has received much attention. Many scholars have discussed different aspects of the topic. To fulfill the fundamental task of educating students by instilling virtues as proposed by the Central Government, colleges and universities across the country are carrying out education and teaching reform by striving to combine language teaching with moral education. But how can moral education be included in the teaching and learning of English? Is it possible to improve students’ morality while developing their linguistic ability? Based on Hauenstein's taxonomy of educational objectives, this study examined the cases of the Teaching Star final competition in 2020 as examples for analysis, aiming to identify the means to effectively improve the moral education of students in the teaching and learning of College English. All of the objectives and classroom activities are sorted out and analyzed as to whether the objectives of moral education were gained, according to the framework constructed under the guidance of Hauenstein’s taxonomy of educational objectives. The analysis is undertaken from the perspectives of moral education as the objectives, classroom activities and the completeness of the moral instruction system. It is showed that the candidate teachers have awareness of combining language teaching with moral education by formulating teaching objectives at various levels and considering the moral educational function in organizing classroom activities. Despite the results reported here, it is clear there is still much room for improvement. Some moral educational objectives do not display the characteristics of moral education. Most moral educational goals appear to be set at a low level, with the result that they fall short of creating a good behavior profile and, more importantly, of achieving the government’s moral educational goals. It appears clearly that the design of the classroom activities in the cases examined could not support the achievement of the moral educational goals. In consideration of all of these concerns, College English teachers may need to reconsider the cognitive levels of the moral educational goals and design different levels of classroom activities to achieve the goals. Keywords: Moral educational goals, classroom activities, behavioral domain, behavioral profile

An empirical study to explore the cognition and needs with health community for the elders in Taiwan

Along with social progress and medicine technology developed, the birth rate and the death rate is decreasing, thus the aging society has become a major issue. The current status in Taiwan is located in remote agricultural areas; the population of elders is a problem more serious than before, the elders' population are over 14%, moreover, some are in the metropolitan area and consumption center with concentrated population, for traffic convenience and governance, major construction must consider elders needs and convenience. This empirical study was done through sampling and questionnaire administration. After three months a total of 500 questionnaires were responded to. The research purpose aimed at understanding elders for building a healthy community of cognitive importance levels and their correlation with needs. The statistical analysis results showed elders for building a healthy community of various dimensions of cognition and need may not be the same, cognitive important aspects or themes, but is not necessarily consistent with their needs. In addition, knowledge and needs of the elderly and their background factors, especially education levels and health status. This includes cognitive importance or needs perspective and their education and health relevance of statistical significance. In addition, indicated by open-ended questions to answer, to build community awareness on the importance and need of health, “Life and health” are still issues of concern to elders. More worthy of our attention is that the need on the dimensions, showing the "lifelong learning" cognition and need, including more senior arts and leisure courses and organize community group activities and courses. Keywords: Elders, health community, cognition of importance, needs assessment.

Observational Study of Im/politeness in Hizaji and South East Communities

This study identifies and brings light to how people express themselves and interact during mealtime. Furthermore, this study explains and understands linguistic variations and diversity in communities that differ socially and geographically. The researcher has collected selected spoken data from various scenes of welcoming guests at home during a meal and offering food in Jeddah community, and some other data from South East Asian neighbors who have lived a long time in Saudi Arabia and know a lot about the culture and traditions. The methodology used is a qualitative observational participant research method in which the researcher has intervened in the environment. The researcher has also used contextual analysis that focuses on the role of the group context on the actions and attitudes of individuals. It is found out that through ‘conversational routines’ people understand better and tolerates each other’s words and attitudes. By this, they can have genuine acceptance of their shortcomings. Those actions may include: improving relationships with others, having time to listen, showing empathy with others, being candid, forthright no matter what it takes, being honest and sincere, and being able to develop an empowered and positive attitude. Keywords: Hospitality, im/politeness, impoliteness superstrategies, offer, politeness superstrategies.

Establishing the viability of an institution ethnography inquiry to diagnose university culture

This article proposes an ‘institution ethnography inquiry’ to establish dominant university culture to unravel hidden censures which have led to a divisive, deceptive and uncivil culture that has disrupted the normative flow of common sense. An integrative synthesis and review summaries were adopted to guide the discussion. To discern the type of culture that exists in these universities, two objectives were adopted; (i) analyze emerging university culture and its implications, and (ii) assess the significance of an institutional ethnography inquiry in extricating emerging university culture. Attributes of governance, leadership and personal traits were found to be fundamental pointers to both existing and emerging university culture. As a requisite for the adoption of this inquiry, four (4) theories were identified, reviewed and synthesized. All the theories revealed that the proposed inquiry had potential benefits to expose new-fangled and unique culture that blemished the academia, as well as the intricacies that surround institutional politics, that have infiltrated academia. Hence, an ethnography inquiry should be embraced and promoted as a mode of inquiry for its latency to unravel dysfunctional culture and tackle such contentious topics. Nonetheless, ethnographers must undergo intensive training in ethnography subtleties to gain superior competencies. Keywords: Academia, university culture, institution ethnography inquiry.

The relationship between social media use and mental health among A'Sharqiyah University students

Social media have rapidly become a dominant communication platform worldwide. However, it is thought that people are losing some of their mental health when overusing cyber communication. This descriptive cross-sectional study aimed to reveal the relationship between the use of social media and mental health among A’Sharqiyah University students in the Sultanate of Oman. The sample was 528 students: 76 male and 452 females. The researcher sent the tools via emails to all university students; however, only 528 participated. The results indicated social media use was 48%, while the mental health level was 71%. The results also indicated there were differences in social media use due to gender in favor of males. The study found the degree of social media use was correlated, not necessarily causational, to the level of mental health. The simple linear regression analysis has indicated that social media use contributed to explaining 32% of the variance in mental health. The correlation coefficient was found at -57% which indicated an inverse correlation between social media and mental health. Keywords: Social media, mental health, psychological disorders, university students.

A literature review on math anxiety and learning mathematics: A general overview

Learning mathematics has become a necessity in today's world since success in everyday life requires mathematical knowledge and because mathematics is the basis for science and technology. However, a large number of individuals in the population experience difficulties performing mathematical tasks, which generates feelings of frustration, anxiety and rejection when performing activities that involve mathematical thinking. In this literature review, concepts such as number sense and mathematical thinking, math anxiety, the possible reasons for math anxiety, and options for diagnosis and therapeutic alternatives to address and overcome this problem are analyzed. If these problems are not solved, they could affect the personal development of those affected by them and the society to which they belong. Keywords: Anxiety, educational psychology, school phobia.

Principal’s individualized support and teacher’s self-efficacy: An empirical research

The purpose of this study is to provide evidence whether principals’ individual mentoring and coaching to support teachers could influence teachers’ self-efficacy. Data were collected from 843 Greek primary and secondary school teachers of 110 schools. Teachers were asked to fill in the PLQ to measure principal’s individualized support and TSES to measure teacher’s self-efficacy. CFA was conducted to identify the factor structure of TSES model. Consequently, results shown a first-order two-factor model fits best the data of TSES. TSES subscale, “Efficacy in Instructional Strategies” was excluded from the analysis. Findings of path analysis (Structural Equation Modelling analysis) showed that principal’s individualized support creating a culture of trust and respect could influence efficacy of teachers related only to student engagement. On the other hand, principal’s individualized support to teachers may not affect teacher’s efficacy related to classroom management. Implications and suggestions for future research and policy are discussed.

The effectiveness of the educational qualification diploma program in raising self-confidence among the trained teachers at the College of Arts and Humanities at A’Sharqiyah University in the Sultanate of Oman

The concept of self-confidence has been dealt with by many interested scientists, whether in the psychological, educational, economic, social, or other vital and different fields. Philosophers, writers, educators and of course psychologists all have emphasized the crucial role played by self-confidence in motivation, affect, and social interactions (Bénabou and Tirole, 2002). Self-confidence is the courage to know yourself, believe in yourself, and act on your beliefs. A definition of self-confidence is a positive feeling about oneself and the world that leads to courageous actions born out of a sense of self-respect (Anneli, 2014). The study investigated self-confidence with (70) postgraduate diploma education student-teachers. These trainee-teachers “students” joined the educational qualification diploma in the College of Arts and Humanities at A’Sharqiyah University in Oman after completing their university degree in various institutions. The researchers used the self-confidence scale prepared by Sidney Shrauger 1990 that was modified, revised, and translated into Arabic language by Dr. Adel Abdullah from the Faculty of Education at the University of Zagazig in the Arab Republic of Egypt and researchers themselves reviewed it according to the Omani environment. The results of the current study revealed that the level of self-confidence among trainee-teachers in the educational qualification diploma program was low. Therefore, those in charge of this program decided to conduct individual personal interviews with the trainees (students) to determine their level of self-confidence and to provide the necessary support to raise their self-confidence level.