scholarly journals Backward Design for LSP: Domain Analysis as a Consistent Research Framework for a Necessarily Decentralized Field

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darcy W. Lear ◽  
Verónica Moraga Guerra
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Real World ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Domain Analysis ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Analysis Framework ◽  
Backward Design ◽  
Needs Assessments ◽  
Conducting Research

This conceptual article examines current approaches to languages for specific purposes (LSP) course design, including the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) backward design model and needs assessments, then explains domain analysis and its history before proceeding with a “how-to” for using domain analysis in backward design for LSP. The authors walk through the process of conducting research using the domain analysis framework that leads to the development of real-world proficiency targets that can be systematically assessed. Once summative proficiency tasks and tests are developed, evidence-centered curricular (re)design can take place. Throughout, the authors will provide illustrative examples from two larger research projects on Spanish for social work and legal Spanish.

scholarly journals WORCS: A workflow for open reproducible code in science

Data Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Caspar J. Van Lissa ◽  
Andreas M. Brandmaier ◽  
Loek Brinkman ◽  
Anna-Lena Lamprecht ◽  
Aaron Peikert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Source Code ◽  
R Package ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Tabular Data ◽  
Step Procedure ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
And Training

Adopting open science principles can be challenging, requiring conceptual education and training in the use of new tools. This paper introduces the Workflow for Open Reproducible Code in Science (WORCS): A step-by-step procedure that researchers can follow to make a research project open and reproducible. This workflow intends to lower the threshold for adoption of open science principles. It is based on established best practices, and can be used either in parallel to, or in absence of, top-down requirements by journals, institutions, and funding bodies. To facilitate widespread adoption, the WORCS principles have been implemented in the R package worcs, which offers an RStudio project template and utility functions for specific workflow steps. This paper introduces the conceptual workflow, discusses how it meets different standards for open science, and addresses the functionality provided by the R implementation, worcs. This paper is primarily targeted towards scholars conducting research projects in R, conducting research that involves academic prose, analysis code, and tabular data. However, the workflow is flexible enough to accommodate other scenarios, and offers a starting point for customized solutions. The source code for the R package and manuscript, and a list of examplesof WORCS projects, are available at https://github.com/cjvanlissa/worcs.

Introducing Language and Society

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodney H. Jones ◽  
Christiana Themistocleous
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Real World ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Gender And Sexuality ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Online Access ◽  
Video And Audio ◽  
Audio Files

This accessible and entertaining textbook introduces students to both traditional and more contemporary approaches to sociolinguistics in a real-world context, addressing current social problems that students are likely to care about, such as racism, inequality, political conflict, belonging, and issues around gender and sexuality. Each chapter includes exercises, case studies and ideas for small-scale research projects, encouraging students to think critically about the different theories and approaches to language and society, and to interrogate their own beliefs about language and communication. The book gives students a grounding in the traditional concepts and techniques upon which sociolinguistics is built, while also introducing new developments from the last decade, such as translanguaging, multimodality, superdiversity, linguistic landscapes and language and digital media. Students will also have online access to more detailed examples, links to video and audio files, and more challenging exercises to strengthen their skills and confidence as sociolinguists.

scholarly journals Editorial

2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sulina Green
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Curriculum Renewal ◽  
Work Education

The articles in this issue of Social Work/Maatskaplike Werk cover topics related to the innovative utilisation of approaches and methodologies for teaching and learning in social work education and for intervention in social work practice. The first two articles examine the incorporation of technology-enhanced teaching and learning in social work education in the digital era. The first article provides insights into the emerging developments of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, especially for curriculum renewal to prepare prospective practitioners to operate in both online and offline environments. The second article describes how an authentic e-learning framework can provide a pedagogically improved method of course design for groupwork education.

scholarly journals Collaborative learning experiences of fourth-year students in a social work module

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 52-68
Author(s):  
Erica Pretorius ◽  
Hanna Nel
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Real World ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Innovative Thinking ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Real World Problems

This article provides insight into a fourth-year social work module, integrating an authentic learning task. This task focused on the development of a funding proposal for a social service organization. It attempted to integrate collaborative learning by scaffolding students’ participation in the world of work, rather than just receiving a qualification. In view of the prevalent conversation around the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Covid-19 pandemic, it is essential that lecturers at higher education institutions embrace collaborative and problem-solving skills for student tasks. Recent evidence suggests that higher education graduates’ learning and their readiness for work in a professional environment require a greater focus on creative and innovative thinking to solve real-world problems. The results from this qualitative investigation revealed that students found working in teams and collaborating with their peers both challenging and rewarding. This process contributed to the holistic development of social workers ready to work in the real-world.

The Key to Learning: Engaging Undergraduate Students in Authentic Social Work Research

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 47-62
Author(s):  
Carol Hostetter ◽  
Sabrina Williamson Sullenberger ◽  
Leila Wood
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Research Knowledge ◽  
Millennial Students ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
Student Grades

Social work educators highlight the value of research skills, and students often resist. Millennial students seek social connection and relevance in their educational experiences. The results of a study designed to investigate whether engaging students in authentic research increases their research knowledge and skills are reported. Forty-eight undergraduate social work students in a research method class conducted a study of adolescents’ views on poverty. In addition, students worked in teams to conduct quantitative surveys on a poverty-related topic of their choice. Three types of data were collected to evaluate the research question: student grades, a midterm evaluation of the team aspect, and an end-of-course reflection. Students’ grades were high, their perceptions of the course at midterm were predominantly positive, and their final reflection showed that the large majority (86%) thought the course design helped them improve their research knowledge and skills.

Conducting Research in Difficult, Dangerous, and/or Vulnerable Contexts: Messy Narratives From the Field

2021 ◽  
pp. 089331892110587
Author(s):  
Brittany L. Peterson ◽  
Oana B. Albu ◽  
Kirsten Foot ◽  
Darvelle Hutchins ◽  
Jack Qiu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Communication ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Governmental Agencies ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Conducting Research

Organizational communication scholars have historically conducted research in large for-profit businesses, governmental agencies, and a few high-profile nonprofits/NGOs—all of which are relatively easy to access and presumably “safe” to study. It is largely unsurprising, then, that limited scholarship addresses the challenges associated with conducting research in less standard contexts that are often perceived to be difficult, dangerous, and/or vulnerable (DDV). In this forum, we offer lived stories—unfiltered messy narratives—to demystify three core ethical challenges inherent in conducting research of this nature and share how we (imperfectly) navigated them. In addition, we offer practical strategies for conducting research in DDV contexts. Taken together, our overall collective aim is to successfully prepare future scholars to conduct research projects in DDV contexts.

Applying Andragogy to Backward Design to Support Adult Learners

2021 ◽  
pp. 210-227
Author(s):  
Melissa L. McCartney ◽  
Mary A. Tkatchov
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Learning Theory ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Adult Learning Theory ◽  
Design Model ◽  
Backward Design ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
Essential Questions

Andragogy, also known as adult learning theory, and backward design are not new concepts in higher education, but often the two are not layered together cohesively, or the misconceptions about adult learning theory and backward design stymie the design process. The purpose of this chapter is to present a course design model for faculty, administrators, and design team professionals to apply andragogy to backward design in a layered approach to better support adult learners. This chapter explores the application of backward design and andragogy in higher education with these essential questions: How are andragogy and backward design applied in higher education course design? How can considerations of andragogy strengthen the backward design model? What misconceptions about backward design and adult learning theory underly current practices?

Making It Count: Using Real-World Projects for Course Assignments

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 314-324
Author(s):  
Jason Wollschleger
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Real World ◽  
Applied Research ◽  
Student Evaluation ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Course Evaluations ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Evaluation Scores ◽  
Previous Scholarship

Previous scholarship has demonstrated the value of high-impact practices of community engagement, inquiry-based pedagogy, and collaborative learning for engagement and learning in sociology courses, especially undergraduate research methods and statistics. This article explores the changes made to an upper-division undergraduate course focused on applied research practices and community-level interventions. After teaching the course once as a lecture-based course with assignments that simulated real projects and receiving poor student evaluation scores, I revised the course by partnering with local nonprofit organizations that were in need of research assistance. I turned the major graded assignments into real-world research projects that would ultimately be presented to the local organization, thus making everything actually count—in the real world. The findings from surveys of students, course evaluations, and assessment of group projects suggest that students found this to improve their experience of the course and to increase their learning and engagement of the material and confidence in their ability to conduct applied research on their own.

Theoretical and practical considerations in the design of an intercultural communication course

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-191
Author(s):  
Teresa Yi-jung Hsieh
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Communication Course ◽  
Teaching Activities ◽  
Backward Design ◽  
Constructive Alignment ◽  
Active And Collaborative Learning

Abstract The aim of this article is to highlight theoretical and practical considerations in design of an intercultural communication course. The first part of the article considers intercultural competence, and uses Bourdieu’s notions of education to frame the design of an intercultural communication course. This is followed by discussion of general principles of intercultural course design; the concepts of backward design and constructive alignment as they relate to an intercultural communication course; and finally, the importance of including active and collaborative learning/teaching activities within course design. The remainder of the article draws on a case study of an existing Australian undergraduate course in intercultural communication to highlight how this course may be redesigned in line with the pedagogical principles discussed in the first part of the article.

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