The Pedagogical,Linguistic, and Content Features of Popular English Language Learning Websites in China: A Framework for Analysis and Design     

Margaret KETTLE  Yifeng YUAN  Allan LUKE  Robyn EWING  Huizhong SHEN 《Frontiers of Education in China》2012,7(4):534

As increasing numbers of Chinese language learners choose to learn English online, there is a need to investigate popular websites and their language learning designs. This paper reports on the first stage of a study that analyzed the pedagogical, linguistic, and content features of 25 Chinese English Language Learning (ELL) websites ranked according to their value and importance to users. The website ranking was undertaken using a system known as PageRank. The aim of the study was to identify the features characterizing popular sites as opposed to those of less popular sites for the purpose of producing a framework for ELL website design in the Chinese context. The study found that a pedagogical focus with developmental instructional materials accommodating diverse proficiency levels was a major contributor to website popularity. Chinese language use for translations and teaching directives and intermediate level English for learning materials were also significant features. Content topics included Anglophone/Western and non-Anglophone/Eastern contexts. Overall, popular websites were distinguished by their mediation of access to and scaffolded support for ELL.  相似文献   

First Do No Harm: Emotional Maltreatment in the Classroom     

Margaret A. King  Gregory R. Janson 《Early Childhood Education Journal》2009,37(1):1-4

Emotional maltreatment of children is occurring in classrooms daily and professionals sometimes are unaware of it. We are bound by a Code of Ethics, which states that we have a responsibility to intervene when children are harmed. Most professionals are unaware of how emotional maltreatment looks in the classroom and what they can do to prevent it. We have addressed what emotional maltreatment look like in the classroom and what teachers and parents can do to help to change this frequently occurring situation. The editorial presents a scenario of a first grade child who is experiencing emotional maltreatment in the classroom and strategies for parents and professionals to use when they observe emotional maltreatment in the classroom.  相似文献   

Rethinking Museum Visitors: Using K‐means Cluster Analysis to Explore a Museum's Audience     

Amanda Krantz  Randi Korn  Margaret Menninger 《Curator: The Museum Journal》2009,52(4):363-374

Abstract Understanding visitors is a necessary and complex undertaking. In this article, we present K‐means cluster analysis as one strategy that is particularly useful in unpacking the complex nature of museum visitors. Three questions organize the article and are as follows: 1) What is K‐means cluster analysis? 2) How is K‐means cluster analysis conducted? 3) Most importantly: What are the applications of K‐means cluster analysis for museum practitioners? To answer these questions, we present five steps that are vital to conducting a K‐means cluster analysis. We also present three cases studies to demonstrate differences among the results of three K‐means cluster analyses and provide practical applications of the findings.  相似文献   

Analysis of the reporting of search strategies in Cochrane systematic reviews          下载免费PDF全文

Adriana Yoshii  Daphne A. Plaut  Kathleen A. McGraw  Margaret J. Anderson    Kay E. Wellik 《Medical Library and Historical Journal》2009,97(1):21-29

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Product attributes and brand equity in the mobile domain: The mediating role of customer experience     

Margaret L. Sheng  Thompson S.H. Teo 《International Journal of Information Management》2012

There are studies showing that utilitarian (perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness) and hedonic (entertainment and aesthetics) attributes of products are two fundamental resources that ensure brand equity in the mobile domain. However, few studies examine the attributes of products and how and why such resources influence mobile brand equity. In this study, a survey was carried out on 262 mobile users in Taiwan to examine the mediating effects of customer experience on the relationship between product attributes on mobile brand equity. Our findings suggest that utilitarian and hedonic attributes of products affect mobile brand equity through customer experience. In other words, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, entertainment, and aesthetics may not be intrinsic value; their value on mobile brand equity is realized through customer experience. However, whereas the effect of perceived ease of use on mobile brand equity is partially mediated, perceived usefulness, entertainment, and aesthetics are fully mediated by customer experience. By showing the differential effects of product attributes on mobile brand equity, this study provides a more refined understanding of the interplay among product attributes, customer experience, and mobile brand equity. The results suggest that by overlooking the mediating role of customer experience, previous research may have provided an overly optimistic view of the value of product attributes in mobile brand equity.  相似文献   

Examining the implementation of the mathematics strand of the Key Stage 3 Strategy: What are the bases of evaluation?     

Hamsa Venkat  Margaret Brown 《British Educational Research Journal》2009,35(1):5-24

This article presents findings from a comparative case study examining the implementation of the mathematics strand of the Key Stage 3 Strategy in two contrasting schools—one using setting and whole‐class teaching, the other incorporating mixed‐ability grouping and individualised learning. A number of ‘outcomes’ of implementation are considered, including teachers' and students' experiences, changes in pedagogic practice and students' attainment. Whilst both schools achieved highly in relation to similar schools, higher attainment gains between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 in the school using setting/whole‐class teaching were associated with increasing student disaffection and dependence on teachers. In contrast, the attainment gains at the school using individualised learning were associated with increasing enthusiasm and independence. The mixed picture of outcomes and their complex interconnections suggest that evaluations of implementation resting on attainment‐based outcomes are problematic in terms of longer‐term aims of increasing the proportions of students choosing to study mathematics and developing the skills of independent learning.  相似文献   

Childhood emotional maltreatment and later psychological distress among college students: The mediating role of maladaptive schemas     

Margaret O’Dougherty Wright  Emily Crawford  Darren Del Castillo 《Child abuse & neglect》2009,33(1):59-68

ObjectiveTheoretically, exposure to experiences of emotional abuse (EA) and emotional neglect (EN) in childhood may threaten the security of attachment relationships and result in maladaptive models of self and self-in-relation to others. The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which EA and EN treatment by parents contributed uniquely to young adult maladaptive long-term outcome with respect to symptoms of anxiety, depression, and dissociation. The extent to which the relationships between EA and EN and later symptoms were mediated by specific internalized maladaptive interpersonal schemas was also explored.MethodsQuestionnaires completed by 301 college men and women (52% female) assessed perceptions of experiences of childhood abuse and neglect, exposure to parental alcoholism, current symptoms of psychological distress, and endorsement of maladaptive interpersonal schemas.ResultsHierarchical regression analyses revealed that perceptions of childhood EA and EN each continued to exert an influence on later symptoms after controlling for gender, income, parental alcoholism, and other child abuse experiences. Both EA and EN were associated with later symptoms of anxiety and depression and were mediated by schemas of vulnerability to harm, shame, and self-sacrifice. Only EN was related to later symptoms of dissociation; this relationship was mediated by the schemas of shame and vulnerability to harm.ConclusionThe findings are discussed from an attachment perspective, focusing on how early interactions with parents contribute to the development of internal working models of self and self-in-relation to others that influence later cognitive schemas and psychological adjustment.Practice implicationsAlthough emotional abuse and emotional neglect are the least studied of all forms of child maltreatment, they may be the most prevalent. The current findings suggest that how college students have evaluated and internalized these experiences may be even more important than the events themselves in determining the extent to which these experiences exert a long-term impact. For this reason, early intervention might be particularly important in helping to modify internal working models of the self as worthless, others as abusive, or the world as threatening and dangerous as a result of past abuse experiences. This study underscores the need for counselors to actively elicit and explore experiences of emotional abuse and neglect in clients, in addition to inquiring about other abuse experiences and types of family dysfunction.The results of this study also support existing data suggesting that internalized representational models of self and others are a key mechanism underlying the relationship between emotional maltreatment and later psychopathology. Young's schema questionnaire proved to be quite sensitive in detecting specific maladaptive schemas that mediated later difficulties with depression, anxiety, and dissociation. Targeting these negative schemas in therapy may help to ameliorate such symptoms. The therapeutic relationship provides a particularly effective context for developing more positive models of self and others, as well as providing a context to explore core relationship themes across different relationship contexts (e.g., intimate partner, parent, friend, and work relationships). In particular, if the assessment of the client reveals that dissociative symptoms are present, counselors can acknowledge the adaptive function that this strategy once served, while also addressing potential limitations to over-reliance on this coping strategy.  相似文献   

Participatory evaluation: implications for improving electronic learning and teaching approaches     

Robyn Benson  Gayani Samarawickrema  Margaret O’Connell 《Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education》2009,34(6):709-720

This paper examines the participatory approach used by a group of academic support staff in evaluating an academic professional development resource designed to support e‐learning and teaching. The resource, titled Designing Electronic Learning and Teaching Approaches (DELTA), showcases examples of electronic learning and teaching approaches developed at Monash University, Australia. The evaluation included individual and collective reflection, dialogue and action, drawing on the features of participatory action research. This paper explores the value of this critically reflective, participatory approach for evaluation to improve the use of new learning technologies, demonstrating how it provided a clear decision‐making framework for iterative improvement of the DELTA site by identifying consensus items for action and recording other items for later consideration, while also contributing to team members’ own professional development.  相似文献   

From Evidence to Action: A Seamless Process in Formative Assessment?   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Margaret Heritage  Jinok Kim  Terry Vendlinski  Joan Herman 《Educational Measurement》2009,28(3):24-31

Based on the results of a generalizability study of measures of teacher knowledge for teaching mathematics developed at the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing at the University of California, Los Angeles, this article provides evidence that teachers are better at drawing reasonable inferences about student levels of understanding from assessment information than they are at deciding the next instructional steps. We discuss the implications of the results for effective formative assessment and end with considerations of how teachers can be supported to know what to teach next.  相似文献   

Janusian Leadership: Two Profiles of Power in a Community of Practice     

Lisa D. Weaver  Meghan J. Pifer  Carol L. Colbeck 《Innovative Higher Education》2009,34(5):307-320

This article investigates how informal positions of power emerge within a community of practice and how positions of power influence communication and understanding about key issues. Findings from a study of one community of practice reveal Janusian leadership within the group and the effects of emergent, informal power roles on group goals, adding to theoretical knowledge about small groups, academic peer groups, and communities of practice.  相似文献