When I was an ESL teaching assistant in Hawai'i, one of the major assignments that I helped with was a Listening/Speaking class video project. This one class of beginning level students were divided into groups and had to plan, write, act, film, and edit short films. They had a blast doing it and their movie sharing night was a big hit with them and all of their friends.
It had always been my intention to do a similar project in the future, but it just never seemed to work into the curriculum. Until this week. This summer I have been teaching a beginning level Listening/Speaking class and we finished with our required tasks last week, so either we could spend a whole week reviewing grammar or listening to sample dialogues (in preparation for their final on Thursday), or we could do something productive.
I proposed the film idea to the class yesterday and they jumped at the opportunity. I was a little concerned about the feasibility of planning, practicing, and filming a movie in 2 days, but I figured we would at least give it a shot. Worst case scenario: we don't make a film, but they get lots of practice reviewing the phrases and tasks for their final exam.
So when I arrived to class this afternoon and found the chalkboard filled with their storyboarding, I was impressed. They managed to find a story that used a wide variety of their L/S tasks while involving all the class members into a naturally progressing and cohesive story. We already film the major scene today, and we will finish it up tomorrow. I'll edit the whole thing over the break, and their movie will become one of the samples for the *ALL NEW* ELC Film Festival Night 2007 (a new activity that we are hoping to try out this fall).
If the project works out, I will suggest the idea to other L/S classes. It's a motivating project and it encourages students to use productive language in near-authentic situations.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Does Guilt Fund Research?
Carbon credits - I first heard about them during a CBC Radio 3 podcast interview with the lead singer of Mother Mother. Host Grant Lawrence asked her if she knew what they were (coming from the environmentalist Islands of the BC Juan de Fuca Strait, you'd think that she would have), but she didn't. I had a good guess in mind, and later in the podcast, Grant explained how they work.
Carbon credits are intangible "vouchers" that business or individuals (such as independent musicians in the case of CBC Radio 3) can buy to help off-set the "carbon footprint" that their actions leave on the environment. In other words, if a rock band is going to drive their van from Ottawa to Victoria on a cross-country tour, and feels bad about the pollution that their travel will cause on the Canadian wilderness, then the band can buy a certain number of carbon credits to help compensate for any adverse effects on the environment.
I listened to that podcast a few weeks ago and hadn't heard anything more about carbon credits until today. This afternoon I was reading news headlines on CBC.ca and I came across Anne of Green Gables Goes Green. The article explained that the producer of a new PEI production of an Anne and Gilbert musical has purchased carbon credits to offset the environmental impact of their production (gasoline travel, stage lighting, or whatever).
The article further explained that the carbon credits were purchased from a Montreal non-profit that aims to reduce greenhouse emissions. And that made me wonder. What is this non-profit? And what do they doing to reduce their carbon footprint? Who died and made them environmental king? If it was the Government of Canada, then I can see some sense of authority, but independent firms selling carbon credits seems a bit like selling real estate on the moon or vending certificates of ownership for distant stars.
And then it gets worse. The lead actress explains her two-hour car commute every day by saying that the play's contribution to the non-profit "makes [her] feel better about [her]self." Um, doesn't she mean that the play's contribution is a responsible or wise decision? Or that it will have a significant impact on reducing pollution or raising public awareness? Nope. Her primary concern appears to be that this donation will make her feel better. Cause that's what the environmentalist movement is about: making people feel warm and fussy inside (and who cares about the human health concerns or long-term climate issues).
Is this where research funding comes from? Guilt? Is that how society advances: someone (i.e., special interest groups) makes us feel bad about something we are/aren't doing; we feel guilt; they inform us (entirely coincidentally) that researchers are currently looking into ways to reverse the negative impact that we have had on the world (and that they desperately need our help cough*money*cough); so we dish out funds in order to ease our conscience while maintaining the same practices as before; and researchers may or may not do anything useful with our donations (i.e., trip to Cancun to study something or other related to tropical resorts)?
It makes me wonder where my research money comes from. Will I be conducting research with guilt funds?
Carbon credits seemed like such a great idea when I first heard about it via Grant Lawrence, but now I'm suspicious and maybe even be already jaded. I'm such a sucker for celebrities.
Carbon credits are intangible "vouchers" that business or individuals (such as independent musicians in the case of CBC Radio 3) can buy to help off-set the "carbon footprint" that their actions leave on the environment. In other words, if a rock band is going to drive their van from Ottawa to Victoria on a cross-country tour, and feels bad about the pollution that their travel will cause on the Canadian wilderness, then the band can buy a certain number of carbon credits to help compensate for any adverse effects on the environment.
I listened to that podcast a few weeks ago and hadn't heard anything more about carbon credits until today. This afternoon I was reading news headlines on CBC.ca and I came across Anne of Green Gables Goes Green. The article explained that the producer of a new PEI production of an Anne and Gilbert musical has purchased carbon credits to offset the environmental impact of their production (gasoline travel, stage lighting, or whatever).
The article further explained that the carbon credits were purchased from a Montreal non-profit that aims to reduce greenhouse emissions. And that made me wonder. What is this non-profit? And what do they doing to reduce their carbon footprint? Who died and made them environmental king? If it was the Government of Canada, then I can see some sense of authority, but independent firms selling carbon credits seems a bit like selling real estate on the moon or vending certificates of ownership for distant stars.
And then it gets worse. The lead actress explains her two-hour car commute every day by saying that the play's contribution to the non-profit "makes [her] feel better about [her]self." Um, doesn't she mean that the play's contribution is a responsible or wise decision? Or that it will have a significant impact on reducing pollution or raising public awareness? Nope. Her primary concern appears to be that this donation will make her feel better. Cause that's what the environmentalist movement is about: making people feel warm and fussy inside (and who cares about the human health concerns or long-term climate issues).
Is this where research funding comes from? Guilt? Is that how society advances: someone (i.e., special interest groups) makes us feel bad about something we are/aren't doing; we feel guilt; they inform us (entirely coincidentally) that researchers are currently looking into ways to reverse the negative impact that we have had on the world (and that they desperately need our help cough*money*cough); so we dish out funds in order to ease our conscience while maintaining the same practices as before; and researchers may or may not do anything useful with our donations (i.e., trip to Cancun to study something or other related to tropical resorts)?
It makes me wonder where my research money comes from. Will I be conducting research with guilt funds?
Carbon credits seemed like such a great idea when I first heard about it via Grant Lawrence, but now I'm suspicious and maybe even be already jaded. I'm such a sucker for celebrities.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
OPI practice round
Earlier this summer I participated in ACTFL oral proficiency interview training (see early June posts for more information). I am now in the process of applying for certification and am thus working on completing interviews for my practice round.
There are several interesting things that I have learned from participating in this process:
There are several interesting things that I have learned from participating in this process:
- This is a wide range of ability within one course level. In a given day, I can meet with three or four students from the same class/teacher. Although they were all placed in the same level (based on test scores from writing, reading, listening, speaking, and grammar), their range of speaking ability is remarkable. Some seem to peak beyond what our Center teaches for speaking skills, whereas those students' classmates can barely get out a coherent sentence on a simple topic. I suppose that is the nature of level placement based on a holistic decision based on all test scores.
- Just because students "know" grammar, does not mean that they use it. Level 4 students, for example, learn complex grammar patterns and can easily understand verb use in all major time frames. Yet many Level 4 students frequently make errors in any time from but the present, and even then many make basic subject-verb agreement errors. I wonder why it is that some students can quickly translate what they learn into what they use, and others have very week production skills even after prolonged exposure to the grammar.
- It is a difficult process to learn to be both a test creator and evaluator at the same time. ACTFL OPIs require the interviewer to develop the questions on the spur of the moment based on the flow of the conversation (and following basic structural patterns to cover a variety of topics and levels of difficulty). However, the dynamic nature of the interview does lend to its authenticity. It is a valuable learning experience for someone who is interesting in language assessment.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Book Review: Academic Writing for Graduate Students
I have several ESL writing related books that I am in the process of reading. I figured that I would use this space to keep track of them and record my impressions of them. So here's the first:
Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Tasks and Skills (Second Edition). By John M. Swales and Christine B. Feak. Published by University of Michigan Press (2004).
THE BACKSTORY
I first learned of this book in March while attending the 2007 TESOL convention in Seattle. I attended a forum on writing assistance for international students. Although I don't teach graduate students, many of my current students have already finished an undergraduate degree and have come to the USA to pursue graduate work. It's my job to help them improve their English so that they will be ready for graduate study at an English-speaking university. So for that reason, I figured that I would give the session a try.
As it was, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The panel included writing teachers from several different English-speaking universities who have large international (non-native English speaking) graduate students. They discussed the challenges and success to writing programs and what ESL teachers can do to facilitate more favourable university policy towards ESL learners, and better writing skills among international graduate students.
While they discussed their experiences, I wrote ferociously. I was immediately hit with the desire to take these suggestions back to our program and our students. Only there was a snag: I don't teach the writing course for international graduate students. Nevertheless, I figured the least I could do was pass on the material and suggestions. That night, at dinner, I sat at a table with my boss and discussed my suggestions for the graduate writing course and asked whether I would be able to discuss my ideas with the current instructor. "We no longer have an instructor for that course. She has retired, and we are looking for a new teacher," he explained. He suggested that I contact the professor overseeing that course, who just happens to be my former boss (I was her research assistant) and my thesis chair.
She wholeheartedly agreed to assign me to the course, and although it means extra work for me this fall, it is an opportunity I do not want to pass up since it will be a valuable experience for me. And although I have never used a textbook for any of the ESL writing courses that I have taught, I figured I would try out the text that was recommended in the TESOL forum. I ordered the text for my class, and the publisher sent me a desk copy that I have been reading over the past couple of week.
I frequently tell my students (and even my professors) that I don't like to read, that I got through an undergraduate degree in English literature without much reading, and that I finished a Master's degree in Teaching English with even less reading, and that I have nearly completed my PhD coursework without so much as reading a single textbook (I skim a lot). But despite all that, I actually read this book (well at least most of it - I'm not much for reading boring examples). But I mention this to say that I honestly did read through this text and I feel fairly good about its potential as a tool for me and the graduate students in the writing course I will teach this fall.
THE REVIEW
Part of what attracted me to Academic Writing for Graduate Students (AWG) was its reputation as a strong language guide. There is a current trend among second language (L2) writing texts to focus on rhetoric and writing process just as first language (L1) texts so. I fully support the need for rhetorical and process instruction (if fact, if this university had a PhD in rhetoric, I would be studying that rather than IP&T); however, L2 learners need more than just the rhetoric and process learning; they also need to learn the language of writing.
Imagine my surprise then, when I received my copy of AWG and read, in the introduction, "The general approach [of this book] is analytical and rhetorical" (p. 2). I was shocked, dismayed, and even felt a little betrayed. Here I had been duped into buying a text that was no different than the other L2 writing texts that I had seen in the past. It was going to ignore all the language needs (grammar, vocabulary, socio-linguistic appropriateness, and more) of my students and only focus on the types of writing that they could learn from a regular graduate research writing course.
I nearly stopped reading right there, but I held on and figured that regardless of my confused expectations, it had to have worth if enough people had recommended it to me. As it turns out, I misinterpreted the introduction. AWG is organized around rhetorical functions (i.e., writing general-to-specific, describing tables, summarizing), but each of those sections is chock full of language mini-lessons that describe how L2 writers can appropriately use English language to accomplish those tasks.
It is a dense text and contains a lot of language information, but its organization lends it to practical use. In fact, there are three aspects of its language focus that I really appreciate.
Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Tasks and Skills (Second Edition). By John M. Swales and Christine B. Feak. Published by University of Michigan Press (2004).
THE BACKSTORY
I first learned of this book in March while attending the 2007 TESOL convention in Seattle. I attended a forum on writing assistance for international students. Although I don't teach graduate students, many of my current students have already finished an undergraduate degree and have come to the USA to pursue graduate work. It's my job to help them improve their English so that they will be ready for graduate study at an English-speaking university. So for that reason, I figured that I would give the session a try.
As it was, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The panel included writing teachers from several different English-speaking universities who have large international (non-native English speaking) graduate students. They discussed the challenges and success to writing programs and what ESL teachers can do to facilitate more favourable university policy towards ESL learners, and better writing skills among international graduate students.
While they discussed their experiences, I wrote ferociously. I was immediately hit with the desire to take these suggestions back to our program and our students. Only there was a snag: I don't teach the writing course for international graduate students. Nevertheless, I figured the least I could do was pass on the material and suggestions. That night, at dinner, I sat at a table with my boss and discussed my suggestions for the graduate writing course and asked whether I would be able to discuss my ideas with the current instructor. "We no longer have an instructor for that course. She has retired, and we are looking for a new teacher," he explained. He suggested that I contact the professor overseeing that course, who just happens to be my former boss (I was her research assistant) and my thesis chair.
She wholeheartedly agreed to assign me to the course, and although it means extra work for me this fall, it is an opportunity I do not want to pass up since it will be a valuable experience for me. And although I have never used a textbook for any of the ESL writing courses that I have taught, I figured I would try out the text that was recommended in the TESOL forum. I ordered the text for my class, and the publisher sent me a desk copy that I have been reading over the past couple of week.
I frequently tell my students (and even my professors) that I don't like to read, that I got through an undergraduate degree in English literature without much reading, and that I finished a Master's degree in Teaching English with even less reading, and that I have nearly completed my PhD coursework without so much as reading a single textbook (I skim a lot). But despite all that, I actually read this book (well at least most of it - I'm not much for reading boring examples). But I mention this to say that I honestly did read through this text and I feel fairly good about its potential as a tool for me and the graduate students in the writing course I will teach this fall.
THE REVIEW
Part of what attracted me to Academic Writing for Graduate Students (AWG) was its reputation as a strong language guide. There is a current trend among second language (L2) writing texts to focus on rhetoric and writing process just as first language (L1) texts so. I fully support the need for rhetorical and process instruction (if fact, if this university had a PhD in rhetoric, I would be studying that rather than IP&T); however, L2 learners need more than just the rhetoric and process learning; they also need to learn the language of writing.
Imagine my surprise then, when I received my copy of AWG and read, in the introduction, "The general approach [of this book] is analytical and rhetorical" (p. 2). I was shocked, dismayed, and even felt a little betrayed. Here I had been duped into buying a text that was no different than the other L2 writing texts that I had seen in the past. It was going to ignore all the language needs (grammar, vocabulary, socio-linguistic appropriateness, and more) of my students and only focus on the types of writing that they could learn from a regular graduate research writing course.
I nearly stopped reading right there, but I held on and figured that regardless of my confused expectations, it had to have worth if enough people had recommended it to me. As it turns out, I misinterpreted the introduction. AWG is organized around rhetorical functions (i.e., writing general-to-specific, describing tables, summarizing), but each of those sections is chock full of language mini-lessons that describe how L2 writers can appropriately use English language to accomplish those tasks.
It is a dense text and contains a lot of language information, but its organization lends it to practical use. In fact, there are three aspects of its language focus that I really appreciate.
- Much of its language discussion is supported by corpus research. This means that rather than state that many research papers use one grammatical form, or a particular vocabulary phrase, based on the authors personal anecdotes or impressions, instead this text cites research studies that have studied those very language questions. Corpus research is a hot new thing in applied linguistics, but for good reason. Rather than guess when we make claims about what kinds of words and structures we should teach language learners, corpus linguistics allows us to compile information from numerous real situations in order to help inform our recommendations and choices. It is an approach that L2, as well as L1, writers should greatly appreciate.
- When the authors of this text discuss language use, they recognize that different disciplines have different standards and trends. They acknowledge the room for diversity, and in many cases, they do their best to cite corpus research in a variety of fields and compare them. Because I will be teaching students from a variety of graduate programs (and I am only familiar with writing from the Humanities and Education fields), I need a source that can help me to guide students from other fields.
- Every time a new structural or vocabulary language topic is raised, the authors encourage writers to consult actual texts from their fields and discover how experts in their major use language to accomplish the particular task (or even if that particular task is relevant to that field of study). As a new graduate student, that is how I learned to write - by reading. Again, I joke about how I never read a book through graduate school, but I read numerous research articles. I paid attention to organization, patterns, vocabulary, structures and language. I still continue to do this, especially since I am now studying in the field of educational psychology and not just applied linguistics. I beleive in this method, and I am happy to see that the authors of this text agree; it will make it much easier for me to convince the students to adopt this approach.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Write Back
I started back to work this week. I'm teaching a double-block writing course and also taking over a entry-level Listening/Speaking class. Although the L/S class is mostly about learning English language survival phrases and vocabulary, I am actually enjoying the Level 4 writing course.
I say "actually enjoying" because I had always avoided Level 4 writing. Some Level 4 students can get fairly jaded about learning English (especially if they have already been here for a few semesters) and writing is the class that they dislike the most. However, last semester I had to take on a W4 class in order to help train a new teacher, and it went... not awful. But this semester, the group I am teaching is much more motivated, hard-working, and friendly.
I'm also doing my best to make the class more enjoyable AND more learnable (for example, starting off the semester with a survey and interview writing project). In addition, I'm reading about writing and trying to apply the guidelines and principles to my own class. I have begun reading Academic Writing for Graduate Students by Swales and Feak (for a course that I am teaching this fall), and although the concepts of this text are too complex for the students that I am currently teaching, there are a few methodological ideas that will hopefully help me to make this summer's writing course more valuable for my students.
I say "actually enjoying" because I had always avoided Level 4 writing. Some Level 4 students can get fairly jaded about learning English (especially if they have already been here for a few semesters) and writing is the class that they dislike the most. However, last semester I had to take on a W4 class in order to help train a new teacher, and it went... not awful. But this semester, the group I am teaching is much more motivated, hard-working, and friendly.
I'm also doing my best to make the class more enjoyable AND more learnable (for example, starting off the semester with a survey and interview writing project). In addition, I'm reading about writing and trying to apply the guidelines and principles to my own class. I have begun reading Academic Writing for Graduate Students by Swales and Feak (for a course that I am teaching this fall), and although the concepts of this text are too complex for the students that I am currently teaching, there are a few methodological ideas that will hopefully help me to make this summer's writing course more valuable for my students.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
620 - Introduction to Learning Theory
Looks like I am back to school again this term, with the remaining course to the PhD work (only project, internship, and dissertation credits will be left).
This last course is about Learning Theory which should help me as I read more of the psychology-based articles in the instructional psychology field. In order to help me better understand the course concepts, I will be posting my assignments here on the blog. If you are not interested in this topic, then just pass over any future posts with the 620 (the course number) prefix.
======================
Assignment 1
1. What is theory?
*This mess should be a table.
Definition Strengths Weaknesses
Abstract thought; speculation allows for evolving or not-yet-sure ideas very general
a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena allows for a set of connected or related ideas limited to defining a “provable” concept
a hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigation does not necessarily require empirical evidence; rather allows for application to psychological or metaphysical concepts limited to a temporary idea that should later be rejected or confirmed
the general or abstract principles of a body of fact, a science, or an art allows for a set of connected ideas that form a discipline or related way of thinking appears to describe a standardized (maybe even canonized) set of ideas
the body of rules, ideas, principles, and techniques that applies to a subject, especially when seen as distinct from actual practice allows for variation between practical matters and proposed rules about the practice may over-emphasize the distinction between practice and theory
2. What is learning?
*This mess should also be a table.
Definition Strengths Weaknesses
the acquisition of knowledge or skill Describe learning as a active gain of something acquisition is a vague term
a relatively permanent change in, or acquisition of, knowledge, understanding, or behavior Provides more than just acquisition, and allows for affective learning Relatively permanent is vague
the goal of education, and the product of experience Adds the idea of experience as part of learning Assumes that all experience is then learning; is this true?
development of memories and behaviors Allows for a broader meaning of learning to include observable and non-observable traits Again, does this mean that all memories and behaviors are learning? What about dreams?
memorization A basic, commonly held definition Not very useful, and may in fact not be the kind of learning that we can use
the gaining of experience Again, is allows for the idea of learning through experience Is that all that learning is, just experience?
modification through exposure Agains allows for the idea of learning as a form of change Are there other kinds of change that do not require exposure (and to what)?
wisdom acquired through instruction or study Places emphasis on learners and teachers; also defines wisdom (knowledge plus judgment and use) Limits learning to situations of instruction and study
3. Explanatory and Interpretive Theories
http://www.uvm.edu/~egeczi/dissertationblog/?p=34
This link is a blog post that discusses how interpretive and explanatory approaches relate.
http://www.hku.hk/philodep/ch/L&L1.htm
This link explains how interpretation and explanation relate to ancient Chinese philosophy.
http://www.iep.utm.edu/m/moraldev.htm
This link explains the difference between the two theory types as they relate to moral development and the work of moral philosophers.
http://www.mathcs.duq.edu/~packer/IR/IntMeth4.html
This link attempts to contrast and relate interpretive and explanatory theories using charts.
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:C1iKYNkRgdIJ:www.uio.no/studier/emner/matnat/ifi/INF5220/h05/undervisningsmateriale/Slides/InterpretiveGrounded27102005.ppt+explanatory+interpretive+theory&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=21&gl=us
This pdf file is a series of ppt slides that introduce interpretative theory and briefly discusses how it differs from explanatory models.
4. Nomological-deductive theories is a way of explanation that relies on initial premises and universal laws to predict or hypothesize outcomes. For example, in order to predict the earth’s location in the future, physicists take its current location, gravitational and other physical laws, and then make theorize its future location. This can be helpful when attempting to understand future outcomes.
However, this kind of theory can have some problems. First, it ignores minor variations that are not central to the outcome, and, as such, the prediction is only approximate and not exact. Second, this mode of theorizing requires that the phenomena be something that acts under predictable, consistent laws. If the object of study is highly volatile or influenced by a number of factors cannot be predicted, controlled, or accounted for, then this mode of theorizing cannot reliably be used.
(reference: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/evolphil/predict.html)
5. Das Verstehen means “the understanding” or “the deep appreciation” (Dilthey). It is used in social science, especially in phenomenology and hermeneutics, to explain how an outsider enters and then understands a foreign culture. Critics of this concept claim that no foreigner can truly understand an outside culture, and that attempts to do so invariably taint the subject culture with the norms or expectations of the foreigner’s culture. There was very little detailed information about this movement available through internet search engines, even when a variety of keyword searches were performed.
(reference: http://www.answers.com/topic/verstehen)
6.
Notion: an individual's conception or impression of something known, experienced, or imagined (from Merriam-Webster online dictionary)
Theory: an unproved assumption (from Merriam-Webster online dictionary)
Model: a description or analogy used to help visualize something that cannot be directly observed (from Merriam-Webster online dictionary)
Law: a statement of an order or relation of phenomena that so far as is known is invariable under the given conditions (from Merriam-Webster online dictionary)
7. Criteria for evaluating a theory
a. universally (or almost universally) applicable to its context
b. simple enough to be learned or taught
c. complex enough to account for its context
d. does not conflict with existing, well-grounded theories
e. extends and supports existing, well-grounded theories
f. leaves room for future revision and extension
This last course is about Learning Theory which should help me as I read more of the psychology-based articles in the instructional psychology field. In order to help me better understand the course concepts, I will be posting my assignments here on the blog. If you are not interested in this topic, then just pass over any future posts with the 620 (the course number) prefix.
======================
Assignment 1
1. What is theory?
*This mess should be a table.
Definition Strengths Weaknesses
Abstract thought; speculation allows for evolving or not-yet-sure ideas very general
a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena allows for a set of connected or related ideas limited to defining a “provable” concept
a hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigation does not necessarily require empirical evidence; rather allows for application to psychological or metaphysical concepts limited to a temporary idea that should later be rejected or confirmed
the general or abstract principles of a body of fact, a science, or an art allows for a set of connected ideas that form a discipline or related way of thinking appears to describe a standardized (maybe even canonized) set of ideas
the body of rules, ideas, principles, and techniques that applies to a subject, especially when seen as distinct from actual practice allows for variation between practical matters and proposed rules about the practice may over-emphasize the distinction between practice and theory
2. What is learning?
*This mess should also be a table.
Definition Strengths Weaknesses
the acquisition of knowledge or skill Describe learning as a active gain of something acquisition is a vague term
a relatively permanent change in, or acquisition of, knowledge, understanding, or behavior Provides more than just acquisition, and allows for affective learning Relatively permanent is vague
the goal of education, and the product of experience Adds the idea of experience as part of learning Assumes that all experience is then learning; is this true?
development of memories and behaviors Allows for a broader meaning of learning to include observable and non-observable traits Again, does this mean that all memories and behaviors are learning? What about dreams?
memorization A basic, commonly held definition Not very useful, and may in fact not be the kind of learning that we can use
the gaining of experience Again, is allows for the idea of learning through experience Is that all that learning is, just experience?
modification through exposure Agains allows for the idea of learning as a form of change Are there other kinds of change that do not require exposure (and to what)?
wisdom acquired through instruction or study Places emphasis on learners and teachers; also defines wisdom (knowledge plus judgment and use) Limits learning to situations of instruction and study
3. Explanatory and Interpretive Theories
http://www.uvm.edu/~egeczi/dissertationblog/?p=34
This link is a blog post that discusses how interpretive and explanatory approaches relate.
http://www.hku.hk/philodep/ch/L&L1.htm
This link explains how interpretation and explanation relate to ancient Chinese philosophy.
http://www.iep.utm.edu/m/moraldev.htm
This link explains the difference between the two theory types as they relate to moral development and the work of moral philosophers.
http://www.mathcs.duq.edu/~packer/IR/IntMeth4.html
This link attempts to contrast and relate interpretive and explanatory theories using charts.
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:C1iKYNkRgdIJ:www.uio.no/studier/emner/matnat/ifi/INF5220/h05/undervisningsmateriale/Slides/InterpretiveGrounded27102005.ppt+explanatory+interpretive+theory&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=21&gl=us
This pdf file is a series of ppt slides that introduce interpretative theory and briefly discusses how it differs from explanatory models.
4. Nomological-deductive theories is a way of explanation that relies on initial premises and universal laws to predict or hypothesize outcomes. For example, in order to predict the earth’s location in the future, physicists take its current location, gravitational and other physical laws, and then make theorize its future location. This can be helpful when attempting to understand future outcomes.
However, this kind of theory can have some problems. First, it ignores minor variations that are not central to the outcome, and, as such, the prediction is only approximate and not exact. Second, this mode of theorizing requires that the phenomena be something that acts under predictable, consistent laws. If the object of study is highly volatile or influenced by a number of factors cannot be predicted, controlled, or accounted for, then this mode of theorizing cannot reliably be used.
(reference: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/evolphil/predict.html)
5. Das Verstehen means “the understanding” or “the deep appreciation” (Dilthey). It is used in social science, especially in phenomenology and hermeneutics, to explain how an outsider enters and then understands a foreign culture. Critics of this concept claim that no foreigner can truly understand an outside culture, and that attempts to do so invariably taint the subject culture with the norms or expectations of the foreigner’s culture. There was very little detailed information about this movement available through internet search engines, even when a variety of keyword searches were performed.
(reference: http://www.answers.com/topic/verstehen)
6.
Notion: an individual's conception or impression of something known, experienced, or imagined (from Merriam-Webster online dictionary)
Theory: an unproved assumption (from Merriam-Webster online dictionary)
Model: a description or analogy used to help visualize something that cannot be directly observed (from Merriam-Webster online dictionary)
Law: a statement of an order or relation of phenomena that so far as is known is invariable under the given conditions (from Merriam-Webster online dictionary)
7. Criteria for evaluating a theory
a. universally (or almost universally) applicable to its context
b. simple enough to be learned or taught
c. complex enough to account for its context
d. does not conflict with existing, well-grounded theories
e. extends and supports existing, well-grounded theories
f. leaves room for future revision and extension
Thursday, June 7, 2007
ACT FULL
This week I have been attending ACTFL (american council for the teaching of foreign languages) training to become certified to conduct OPIs (oral proficiency interviews). The week-long training is only the start of the process; certification takes nearly a year after the week of training finishes.
It's been an valuable experience for many reasons:
It's been an valuable experience for many reasons:
- I've connected with a few friends from the Arabic department that are doing certification for their department
- I've met with language teachers from across the United States including New England, the Midwest, Great Lakes, and those who are internationals
- I've made connections between this training and my courses this semester such as evaluation and qualitative research
- I'm getting to know four of my coworkers better as we participate in training together
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