scholarly journals First Year Transition Through a Cultural Lens: Face Strategies of Vietnamese Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-90
Author(s):  
Linda Nguyen ◽  
Andrea Chester ◽  
Anne Herbert ◽  
Alison Lugg

While Vietnamese students continue to enrol in international branch university campuses in Vietnam, little is known about the Vietnamese first year transition into these institutions, especially from a cultural perspective. This article presents the findings of four case studies that explored the face strategies used by Vietnamese undergraduate business students in transition to an international branch campus based in Vietnam. The use of collectivist and individualist face strategies was examined in three phases: at commencement, mid-way and at the end of the first year of studies. The findings suggest that collectivist face strategies might not be employed as often as expected by Vietnamese first year students in this context even though they transition from a Confucian heritage culture. Understanding face strategies can help anticipate challenges of Vietnamese students studying in English-medium environments and inform culturally sensitive practices in teaching and learning.

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-131
Author(s):  
Dayang Suriani

This study is directed to obtain information how peer feedback can improve students’ ability in writing. Specifically, it is directed to investigate whether peer feedback works and can improve students’ writing ability in writing sentences and narrative paragraphs, at the first year students of SMA Negeri 1 Balikpapan. The study was conducted based on the result of preliminary study at the school. It is found that the students’ ability in the language skills especially in writing is still insufficient. In the teaching and learning process the teacher provides fewer portions in writing activities for the students in class. In addition, the strategies used in the teaching and learning process are uninteresting because the students have to do the writing activities in under pressure. To answer the problems, a classroom action research is conducted. The teacher as a researcher works in planning the action, implementing the action, observing, and analyzing and reflecting the action. The subjects of the study are the second year students (X-IPA-1) of 2019/2020 academic year consisting of 40 students. The results shows that peer feedback obviously can improve the students’ ability in writing sentences and narrative paragraphs at the first year students of SMA Negeri 1 Balikpapan. It has been observed that the improvements are caused by the regular writing practice done by the students and the teacher’s response given to their writing. It becomes a sort of on going dialogue.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Līga Beļicka ◽  
◽  
Tatjana Bicjutko

The fast transition to fully online studies due to the pandemic made the universities around the world question many of their accepted notions on teaching foreign languages in general and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) methodology in particular. Putting stress on the synchronous remote teaching and learning has proven to yield a reductionist perspective missing asynchronicity, the dimension which makes reconsider the whole educational process. With its shift from the sole focus on learning terminology to training skills in authentic professional contexts, the task-based approach has long excelled in meeting the diverse needs of students. Thus, the research question is how well task-based teaching (TBT) solves the problems raised with asynchronous learning in a university ESP course. The research of available literature on TBT yielded the framework for constructing an extended task applicable in the advanced medical English. The case study with 120 first-year students of medicine organised around an informational interview with health professionals demonstrated easy adaptability of the task to the asynchronous nature of the educational process. Personal observations by the course instructor, summaries of student-conducted interviews, and student written feedback proved the responsiveness of the method to the learners’ needs and the potential of the approach in terms of motivation. The emphasis on self-directed learning, however, threatens the systematicity of the acquired language skills, as a more controlled teaching environment would not allow “skipping” any learning step. Additionally, TBT does not solve the problem of the voluminous teaching load.


Author(s):  
Katerina Kasimatis ◽  
Andreas Moutsios-Rentzos ◽  
Nikolaos Matzakos ◽  
Varvara Rozou ◽  
Dionisios Kouloumpis

In this mixed methods study, we draw upon a systemic perspective to investigate the way that effective mathematics teaching is constructed in the ASPETE (School of Pedagogical and Technological Education) learning system. We focused on the perspectives of the first-year students (through questionnaires), of the lecturer who taught the course (through interviews), as well as of the research team (through observations). We considered both the pragmatic level (what they actually experienced) and the desired level (what they would prefer to experience). The results of the conducted analyses support the proposed research approach, revealing convergences and divergences in the mapped perspectives, which identify the mathematics teaching effectiveness of the subsystem of the mathematics class in ASPETE as an emergent, systemic phenomenon. The pedagogical implications are discussed, with respect to the planifications of teaching and learning mathematics in the ASPETE learning system.


Author(s):  
Monica D. T. Rysavy ◽  
Russell Michalak ◽  
Kevin Hunt

This chapter describes how the researchers at a small private Master's level college examined how different delivery modes—face-to-face (F2F), hybrid, and online instruction—may impact first-year students' perceptions of their information literacy (IL) skills compared to their test-assessed information literacy skills using the students perception of information literacy-questionnaire (SPIL-Q) and information literacy assessment (ILA) instruments. These instruments were developed and deployed to international graduate business students in two previous studies: Michalak and Rysavy and Michalak, Rysavy, and Wessel. The students (n=161) in this study were enrolled in a first-year English composition course in the Spring 2017 semester. This iteration achieved an overall response rate of 87.04% (n=141). Overall, results demonstrated the greatest achievement were demonstrated by students in hybrid course sections.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melany Hebles ◽  
Concepción Yaniz-Álvarez-de-Eulate ◽  
Mauricio Jara

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of a classroom application of the cooperative learning (CL) methodology on nine dimensions of business students’ teamwork competence (TC).Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a quasi-experimental pre-post design with a previous cohort as control group (first-year students from the year prior to treatment application), applying treatment to a sample of 228 first-year students in a School of Economics and Business at a Chilean University (114 as treatment and 114 as control).FindingsThe authors’ results show that CL had a positive, significant influence on five dimensions of TC: collective efficacy, planning, goal setting, problem solving and conflict management.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper upholds the importance and effectiveness of CL in developing TC. However, the evidence suggests that the effectiveness of the CL methodology was limited to development and improvement of less complex dimensions of TC. More complex dimensions require a longer period of time to be developed.Practical implicationsThis research is an important contribution to the design and implementation of appropriate methodologies for developing a widely needed area of competence in the workplace, considering its multidimensional nature, whether in academia or business.Originality/valueThis is the first study to seek empirical evidence that would link the CL methodology with TC. In addition, it fills a gap in the literature on the development of TC in its multiple dimensions. It particularly addresses the training of business professionals.


2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 256-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wichard Zwaal ◽  
Hans Otting

The major issue addressed in this study is the alignment between the institutional conception of education and the students’ conceptions of education, decomposed into three parts: conceptions of knowledge, conceptions of teaching and learning, and conceptions of assessment. Subjects in this study were 324 students enrolled in a four-year hospitality management programme. Three instruments were administered to measure students’ conceptions of education. Results indicate that the three sets of conceptions seem to fit in the traditional-constructivist dichotomy with students showing a congruent pattern in the three sets of conceptions. Finally, first-year students hold more traditional conceptions of education than senior students. The implication for educational innovations is that serious attention should be paid to the development of students’ conceptions of education.


Author(s):  
Eva Kralova

Natural sciences and their applications (medical biophysics, medical chemistry and medical biology) represent an inevitable part of medical curriculum. They are often negatively evaluated and a lack of motivation to their study is observed. The attitudes of medical students towards natural sciences are influenced by their negative experiences from the previous study. Nevertheless, knowledge from the natural sciences represents the necessary basis for better understanding of the basic principles of the medical diagnostic and therapeutic methods. Therefore, the indispensable role of natural science teachers is to achieve positive attitudes and motivate students to study them. Our research project is focused on the identification and subsequent application of motivating approaches in natural sciences teaching. Pedagogical investigation using anonymous questionnaires was done with the aim to specify respondents’ (first year students of Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Medicine) motivation and attitudes towards teaching and learning natural sciences before starting medicine study and after the first semester of medicine study. Keywords: University medical education, student’s motivation, natural sciences.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-80
Author(s):  
Yu Aimee Zhang ◽  

Purpose – A picture is worth a thousand words. Multimedia teaching materials have been widely adopted by teachers in Physics, Biotechnology, Psychology, Religion, Analytical Science, and Economics nowadays. To assist with engaging students in their economic study, increase learning efficiency and understanding, solve misconception problems, encourage in class discussion, and increase final performance for students (especially for international students and RA students), some animations and cartoons are developed to explain basic economic concepts for both macroeconomic and microeconomic concepts, issues and events. Methodology – Two surveys were first conducted to collect first year and international students’ requirement and suggestions. Cartoons and animations were then designed and developed to solve the major misconception and misunderstanding problems facing first year students or international students in their economic studies. Qualitative interviews were conducted to collect feedbacks for the cartoons developed for this project from economic lecturers, tutors, students and other teachers and students without economic backgrounds. Learning efficiencies from animations and text materials are also compared by the length of learning time in this paper. Findings – Surveys in this study support the view that different students have different preferred learning methods. However, practice case studies are the preferred learning method for both first year university students and international students. The animated cartoons developed in this research received strong positive feedbacks from peer colleagues in Economics, teachers from other faculties, tutors in Economics, first year students, international students and RA students with dyslexic problems. Utilisation of these resources can improve learning efficiency, help students in their understanding and long-term memory of the subject, engage students in their studies, and increase interest in undertaking economic studies amongst all other students. Value – The results of this study could be used in any Economics subject, as well as for self-study by Economics students and others. As part of the Teaching and Learning Project, these materials are capable of being further used in mobile applications to assist in engaging students in their learning.


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-89
Author(s):  
Amir Arjomandi ◽  
Juergen Heinz Seufert ◽  
Martin O’Brien ◽  
L. Celeste Rossetto

The quantitative evaluation of student engagement has been difficult to achieve. This study uses Kahu’s (2013) conceptual framework to investigate the effectiveness of active teaching strategies and how they influence Business students’ engagement in a blended learning environment. First, we quantify the influence of various in-class active teaching activities and out-of-class support tools upon student engagement. The link between engagement and student outcomes in terms of academic results and personal and professional skills development is then captured in our empirical modelling. Results are compared between first year and senior students to understand significant differences in their engagement and experience. Our findings suggest that first year students display a higher propensity to utilize in-class learning activities and out-of-class support tools. This in turn, establishes a strong link with their engagement patterns. However, there is a weaker link between first year student engagement and outcomes compared to senior students. Overall, this study reinforces the usefulness of Kahu’s framework to guide curricula developments that cater for learners’ different needs.


Author(s):  
Kristel Ruutmets ◽  
◽  
Evi Saluveer ◽  
Mari Niitra

According to the Estonian National Curriculum for Basic Schools (2011), students should value their cultural heritage. Therefore, schools should do everything to develop students’ cultural awareness and knowledge. Despite the importance of the topic the curriculum does not specify how and where it should be taught and does not say which material to use. One possibility to address the problem is to use authentic materials and tasks. The latter offer numerous ways to learn about one’s cultural history, and help to create a bridge between the classroom and real life. Authentic materials are not specifically created for pedagogic purposes while authentic tasks require students to learn, practise and evaluate material the same way as they would do in real life. The focus of the use authentic materials has so far been mostly on foreign language teaching and learning. However, they have a huge potential in acquiring cultural knowledge as they offer both current and historical information. The aim of the study was to find out future primary school teachers’ opinions about the authentic materials and tasks used during the course “The Child in Estonian Cultural History”. 25 first-year students who attended the course participated in the study. The data was collected from the students’ written reflection and analysed qualitatively. The results revealed that the students understood the relevance of authentic materials and tasks in acquiring and appreciating one’s cultural history. They believed that authentic materials and tasks enrich the teaching and learning process, and help to make connections to their everyday life. It also became evident that the students needed better instructions of how to find appropriate authentic materials and exploit them effectively in their future teaching career.


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