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  1. <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:blogger='http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877</id><updated>2024-03-06T06:15:47.359+07:00</updated><category term="Education Tips"/><category term="Education"/><category term="Language"/><category term="Literature"/><category term="Computer"/><category term="Education Online"/><title type='text'>Reading Library and Knowledge Discussion Blog</title><subtitle type='html'>Try to progress reading and writing importance. Find and inform everything needed to explor knowledge.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default?alt=atom'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>19</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-6997133467558961178</id><published>2009-02-25T15:13:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2009-02-25T15:13:06.395+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Computer"/><title type='text'>Mathemtical Function on Microsoft Excel for beginner</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;wlWriterEditableSmartContent&quot; id=&quot;scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:ec4791c3-a213-4a39-be6a-525704e4b211&quot; style=&quot;padding-right: 0px; display: block; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px auto; width: 425px; padding-top: 0px&quot;&gt;&lt;div id=&quot;a3128a71-96d4-4d76-b4db-e8b428fd2acc&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4YlhZWYNy8&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; target=&quot;_new&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAvJ__o_wKgx98yqPVEfvC1GELLHWvChs3w6BNxR5NMJ8W3gXqyJBqBtkSUouEcLEnaKpgRcTljVx-mklrZ8Cxl7GCHKoI8KoljXEhbJq7REYJVn6MFr6605TffgPZfE9oHMKS2xFBhmE/?imgmax=800&quot; style=&quot;border-style: none&quot; galleryimg=&quot;no&quot; onload=&quot;var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById(&#39;a3128a71-96d4-4d76-b4db-e8b428fd2acc&#39;); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = &amp;quot;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;object width=\&amp;quot;425\&amp;quot; height=\&amp;quot;355\&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&amp;lt;param name=\&amp;quot;movie\&amp;quot; value=\&amp;quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/J4YlhZWYNy8&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp;hl=en\&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&amp;lt;\/param&amp;gt;&amp;lt;embed src=\&amp;quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/J4YlhZWYNy8&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp;hl=en\&amp;quot; type=\&amp;quot;application/x-shockwave-flash\&amp;quot; width=\&amp;quot;425\&amp;quot; height=\&amp;quot;355\&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&amp;lt;\/embed&amp;gt;&amp;lt;\/object&amp;gt;&amp;lt;\/div&amp;gt;&amp;quot;;&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Excel is a table program&amp;#160; that has the extraordinary functions. Every accounting process runs well using excel. Although still newbe, I create a fun video tutorial excel, on the add, reduction, and multiplication function. For the other functions i’ll make soon &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class=&quot;wlWriterEditableSmartContent&quot; id=&quot;scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:b3442304-b958-4745-80d5-b3ed117c1724&quot; style=&quot;padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px&quot;&gt;Technorati Tags: &lt;a href=&quot;http://technorati.com/tags/excel+tutorial&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;excel tutorial&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;http://technorati.com/tags/excel+mathematical+function&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;excel mathematical function&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;http://technorati.com/tags/excel+for+beginner&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;excel for beginner&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  </content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/6997133467558961178/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=6997133467558961178&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/6997133467558961178'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/6997133467558961178'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2009/02/mathemtical-function-on-microsoft-excel.html' title='Mathemtical Function on Microsoft Excel for beginner'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-3906916079670309465</id><published>2009-02-12T15:09:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2009-02-12T15:09:46.722+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Language"/><title type='text'>Critical Discourse Analysis Theory for Language Research</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;Following the postgraduate lecture yesterday was very interesting, it gave to me a spirit to complete my Thesis, also get a lot of information from my colleagues. We attended the same seminar for our classmates, Sufiana Annur. This seminar was interesting because they used English-speaking seminars.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Sufianan Annur Thesis Proposal discussed one of the 19th century novel. She analyze the concept of racism of novel using &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Discourse_Analysis&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Critical discourse Analysis&lt;/a&gt; (CDA), its a recent novel critic method and interesting to use as a theoretical research base. In Indonesia, the CDA is still new. Erianto&#39;s book that discusses the CDA, is strong enough to help spreading this theory in Indonesia. This theory was only limited to certain circles such as Students philosophy, art, and students of media publication.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Philosophy&lt;/a&gt; students are actually only those who follow the latest trend in the world theory. Most of those who have face and use CDA theory, is also use some current theories, such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodern&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Postmodern&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-colonial&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Post-colonial&lt;/a&gt;, Semiology Barthes, Content Analysis, and the CDA. Several theories have new figures that complement each other, like M. Foucault, R. Barthes, Derrida, Gadamer, Y. Kristeva, etc.. This theory focus on the concepts of Culture, Arts, and Language &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;On the opportunity to fill this blog, I try to write a simple research using the CDA, Amin&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class=&quot;wlWriterEditableSmartContent&quot; id=&quot;scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:0ba00b6f-882c-4b33-afbf-660ff4a62e80&quot; style=&quot;padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px&quot;&gt;Technorati Tags: &lt;a href=&quot;http://technorati.com/tags/CDA&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;CDA&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;http://technorati.com/tags/Critical+Discourse+Analysis&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;Critical Discourse Analysis&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;http://technorati.com/tags/Novel&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;Novel&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;http://technorati.com/tags/Seni&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;Seni&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;http://technorati.com/tags/Kebudayaan&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;Kebudayaan&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;http://technorati.com/tags/Foucault&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;Foucault&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;http://technorati.com/tags/Barthes&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;Barthes&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;http://technorati.com/tags/Bahasa&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;Bahasa&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;http://technorati.com/tags/Gadamer&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;Gadamer&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;http://technorati.com/tags/Derrida&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;Derrida&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;http://technorati.com/tags/postmodern&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;postmodern&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  </content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/3906916079670309465/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=3906916079670309465&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/3906916079670309465'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/3906916079670309465'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2009/02/critical-discourse-analysis-theory-for.html' title='Critical Discourse Analysis Theory for Language Research'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-6266835071177188858</id><published>2008-08-07T01:28:00.003+07:00</published><updated>2008-08-07T01:44:31.846+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Language"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Literature"/><title type='text'>Language Structure (Modernism Concept)</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2&gt;To get comprehension about postmodern concept&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To recognize farther about postmodern concept, better precede with understanding of about modernisme. By comprehending modernisme, we will be more easy to comprehend postmodernisme later, as previously showed in my post -&lt;a href=&quot;http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-to-critic-belles-letters-with.html&quot;&gt;how to critic bellesletters with postmodern analysis&lt;/a&gt;-, postmodernisme is idea which criticize many modernisme concepts.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Modernisme Conception have been long enough become rationale in so many matters, and have become think concept of commons. In language context, modernisme have got very strong base with structuralisme of Ferdinand Saussure. Language structuralisme makes language can be analyzed with more theoretical and is not mixed with other concepts outside language.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Language Structuralisme relates differention of language element in 3 big elements; Langue, Parole, Langage. Parole is language of indifidul which depend on each specification of indifidual term. Broader Langue than Parole, namely language at a certain social concept which have been arranged and comprehended in social region. While Langage embosom both language concept, namely all kinds of language symptom that happened, either through individually and also social.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Besides 3 divisions which was mentioned, structuralisme define sign concept by dividing it become two shares; signified and signifier. Signified is existing concept in individual brain, while Signifier is something (can word, sign, and also index) used to mark existing concept in individual brain. Both this shares can not be dissociated and each other is related or relevant, with existence of both attachment, hence language system become stable.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(The first step to understand postmodern)</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/6266835071177188858/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=6266835071177188858&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/6266835071177188858'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/6266835071177188858'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/08/language-structure-modernism-concept.html' title='Language Structure (Modernism Concept)'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-6000091644203718992</id><published>2008-07-19T02:56:00.000+07:00</published><updated>2008-07-19T02:58:38.991+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Education Tips"/><title type='text'>Standard Journalist Question in testing reading comprehension for student</title><content type='html'>Improvement of reading quality is one of purpose in education. Students will be able to master their reading material if they are supported with quality of good reader. Reading comprehension is hardly required to assist student improvement in their learning.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Actually, teacher has had separate tips in assessing reading comprehension, but sometimes untapped optimally.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are tips drawn from Alvimann &amp; Morgue article to assist teacher in assessing reading comprehension, that is using questions which is often applied by journalist in interview.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Reading comprehension is easily catched and assessed by giving 5 W &amp; 1 H questions. Yes, questions of standard journalist interview, What, Who, When, Why, Where, and How.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Question of &quot;What&quot; is applicable to open what&#39;s going on the reading materials. Question of “Who” is applied to ask whosoever involving in the reading material. “Where” is applied to know case existence or places in reading material. “When” is applied to know time nuance or time of a case in reading material. “Why” is applicable to ask circumstantial questions, like opening case causality in reading material. And the last, How is applied to express farther reading comprehension based on the text material.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/6000091644203718992/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=6000091644203718992&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/6000091644203718992'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/6000091644203718992'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/07/standard-journalist-question-in-testing.html' title='Standard Journalist Question in testing reading comprehension for student'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-3458409777493493836</id><published>2008-07-16T04:29:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-07-16T04:31:44.637+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Literature"/><title type='text'>How to Critic Belles-Letters with Postmodern Analysis</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href:&quot;http//kafeilmu.blogspot.com&quot;&gt;By Kang Bull&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Art is the product of idea, writer can pour all his idea and desire. On this side, in the process of writing, writer is the king of his inspiration. However, after the production has handed by the reader, all cannot deny the reader involvement in comprehending and interpreting the masterpiece.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Belles-lettres in this decade peep out many new idea. Among others is postmodern, namely form the idea which have based on modernity. However, it critics the modernity itself. The postmodern critic has the unique characteristic and tends to refuse all regularity which exists in modernism. Although postmodernism is basically based on modernism, assuming postmodernism as enlargement from modern principles is not correct matter and too hasty. Principally, this new concept, step by step find its type and have the tendency to critic its grand philosophy; modernism.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Conducting critic to literature by postmodern principle is a continuous new matter which still developed. So that the effort in criticizing belles-lettres is the effort to search postmodern principles in belles-lettres. As other concept, postmodern also have the philosophic spirit of which able to be made as assessment base to a belles-lettres. There are many indicators and philosophical lines to critic belles-lettres on kinds of side. I will list and study it on the next post.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/3458409777493493836/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=3458409777493493836&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/3458409777493493836'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/3458409777493493836'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-to-critic-belles-letters-with.html' title='How to Critic Belles-Letters with Postmodern Analysis'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-2479419128034929470</id><published>2008-07-12T20:51:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-07-12T21:01:22.919+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Language"/><title type='text'>Finding Good Translation Program</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com&quot;&gt;By Kang Bull&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have just looked around to find any translation program on the net. I got many, but the translation programs or tools are too limited. Some give dictionary tool and we take our word there and we get the result, but it is just words or phrases that give me more confuses. Some dictionary tool or translation tool may give phrases translation but without any interpretation or local mean. I think it is useless for working on complex sentences, because of its lack of truth and matching interpretation. Before I am getting saturated, I than search for translation program with human processing interpretation, still on the net.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I fall on a site, Out of the blue! My eyes focus on the words on the site &quot;We respond to 95% of all emails within 1 hour&quot; they said. I am shagging than, how does it work? The site provides translation and interpretation on many languages. As I mean, the site I need must base on human worker to translate than the result become more reliable. Ya, this site has many translator workers that work on the job separately as fast as possible and give more choices on translation result model such as subtitling, DTP, etc. This site (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iaflindia.com&quot;&gt;www.iaflindia.com&lt;/a&gt;) can do the translation jobs in many ways. By just sending an email contains article or application or sistem requirement will to translate, and we get the result without wasting time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you have many translation jobs like me, and need to translate on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iaflindia.com&quot;&gt;Asian language&lt;/a&gt;, you can go to the site to help you, and the benefit is for you, because its site gives you reliable translation fast. One thing I like this site is its providing many Asian language translations, such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iaflindia.com&quot;&gt;India translation&lt;/a&gt;&quot;, &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iaflindia.com&quot;&gt;Arabic translation&lt;/a&gt;&quot;, &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iaflindia.com&quot;&gt;Farsi translation&lt;/a&gt;&quot; or &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iaflindia.com&quot;&gt;Hindi translation&lt;/a&gt;&quot;. You can try this site for your translation job, and may give you more opportunity to do other jobs while waiting your translation result. Good luck!</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/2479419128034929470/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=2479419128034929470&amp;isPopup=true' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/2479419128034929470'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/2479419128034929470'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/07/finding-good-translation-program.html' title='Finding Good Translation Program'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-7291042196829096644</id><published>2008-07-11T03:28:00.000+07:00</published><updated>2008-07-11T03:30:31.249+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Education Tips"/><title type='text'>Why is education important</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com&quot;&gt;By Kang Bull&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Why is education important ? It may be a question from our daily life, but everybody has their special reason to answer it, so am I. I just mean that importance of education is the efficiency to know our life need. Education is not just so called “school, collage, doctoral or etc. Education is our daily growing life, and we get everything benefit from our environment. So, think that our life is education it self, and it is the real education purpose. I have some reasons why our life is education it self.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Education is a real important thing in human life. Education aims to point and guides man to be adult, at least it is the definition and philosophy of education from WJ. Langveld. A man can Interact with others of course requires morale peripheral and human capability, causing good social interaction. Without education, someone will become awkward and cannot interact carefully with others.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since baby, humans always gets education and knowledge from their environment. Baby can record and imitate what was done by adult, and later will very useful in process of their further life. He can differ which one is his father or his mother, and it just an early sex education for baby on how to know and differ his parent sexuality (I will discuss later on other post about an elementary sex education). To get guidance to appropriate knowledge, they require matching education of environmental requirement and the morale law of the environment. Concordance with the moral environment is the basic need why education is so importance.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With education, one can be grouped on the social strata of his social environment. Education also functions to give knowledge about life efficiency. Someone would easily break his problems --social, finance, family-- if he has efficiency and knowledge required. a Tailor of course has efficiency and knowledge about sewing, he gets money by sewing, his monetary and family need can be fulfilled with tailoring. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is just a few logical idea, why education is so important in life. The last think of education for me is; “Education makes someone can easily get what he wants.” Life, grow, develop, your life by social learning! Don’t let your school become the only one knowledge developer!</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/7291042196829096644/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=7291042196829096644&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/7291042196829096644'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/7291042196829096644'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/07/why-is-education-important.html' title='Why is education important'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-6498774255821017425</id><published>2008-07-11T03:03:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-07-11T07:48:38.594+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Language"/><title type='text'>Contextual Translation tips</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com&quot;&gt;By Kang Bull&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Traveler, Student and Businessman sometimes faces linguistic problem when relating to the foreign language context. If you have a plan to go to aboard, the first question you will think would be the location and its language. How to buy, how to book a room, etc. and basically you have chance to prepare your language before going. As a second language, foreign language needs a good learning technique, and more times. You may take a fast course to get little functional and applied language. Some of you may have a guidance or friend there and you will learn there step by step. Whatever your way to get foreign language learning is up to the target of your need but the time problem on learning foreign language is the basic bearer for who don’t have any time to take course.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How if your time don’t compromise with you? Or you don’t have time to study the language because you have to fill your application now. Facing problem like this, you should think smart and quickly. When you late, your opportunity will lose. I have some tips to brake it. As my experience on this problems, the first I should think is “dictionary”, of course if I have dictionary on the language I mean. To read dictionary, firstly I open the grammar guide in the dictionary, than I choose the word one by one as grammar guide, distinguish noun and verb, and how to place it, and don&#39;t forget about the collocation as its contextual meaning. It can be done easily when you have little bit of knowledge about language and its culture. If you haven’t anything about language you wish to translate, don’t try it or your language formation become funny or become magic spell (mantra). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You will need the third party agent to fill it. Open your laptop or computer and go online, there are many translation programs which can help you as fast as possible. You can go &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iaflindia.com&quot;&gt;http://www.iaflindia.com&lt;/a&gt; and you can put your homework on English &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iaflindia.com&quot;&gt;translator online programs&lt;/a&gt; if you wish to translate to English, word by word or sentences. Even If you want to translate your need in west Asian language, like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iaflindia.com&quot;&gt;India language&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iaflindia.com&quot;&gt;Arabic language&lt;/a&gt;, or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iaflindia.com&quot;&gt;Persian language&lt;/a&gt; having word difficult enough, you can get your result within less than an hour and of course contextual. Just amazing online program!</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/6498774255821017425/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=6498774255821017425&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/6498774255821017425'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/6498774255821017425'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/07/contextual-translation-tips.html' title='Contextual Translation tips'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-4032325783093839575</id><published>2008-06-29T01:17:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-29T01:44:21.073+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Education Tips"/><title type='text'>Fast Reading Skill</title><content type='html'>By &lt;a href=&quot;http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com&quot;&gt;Kang Bull&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://hizbulmaarif.googlepages.com/fast-read.gif&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;&quot; src=&quot;http://hizbulmaarif.googlepages.com/fast-read.gif&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;fast reading skill&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fast reading skill is one of learning elements. If you a teacher, you should have the correct tips on how to make your pupil enjoy their reading materials and give them ability to read fast. Fast reading is very important to the pupil, with it they can get more information and subject capability through their short learning time. On the other hand, Fast reading skil gives more valuable matters in order to get and catch a lot of subject material on school. It has right affective side to student, and brings them more chances to finish their learning on time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;fullpost&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are many ways how to be a fast reader. I may give some tips an explanation on it: When read, don’t busy your self with the order of alphabets on the words. just read the word not the alphabets. It is called block read tip. Word by word, not the alphabet. With this tips you should able to read the sentence without knowing all alphabets of it, ya, just read like reading your short massaging service (SMS). &quot;i lek u bceus u re vyr btufll&quot; can you read the example before? Just with this tips, you must able to read five times than usual. I will shear other tips next time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/4032325783093839575/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=4032325783093839575&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/4032325783093839575'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/4032325783093839575'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/06/fast-reading-skill.html' title='Fast Reading Skill'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-401367472165775883</id><published>2008-06-18T14:28:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-23T04:48:49.974+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Education Tips"/><title type='text'>Teaching Artistically Able Students with Exceptionalities</title><content type='html'>Author: Johnson, Robin&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style:italic;&quot;&gt;Creating differentiated art curricula to accommodate artistically talented students&#39; individual needs may enhance student performance and program outcomes. This Digest discusses (1) individual education plans for artistically able students with exceptionalities, (2) subgroups of students with dual exceptionalities, (3) methods of teaching students with dual exceptionalities, and (4) methods of teaching students with specific disabilities.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS (IEPs). &lt;br /&gt;Since the passage of The Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990, the landscape of art education has changed dramatically. Students with exceptional educational needs (EEN) are mainstreamed with their peers to fulfill the requirement that they be &quot;educated in their least restrictive environment (LRE)&quot; (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997). Although students with EEN are frequently supported in academic subjects by special instructors or instructional assistants, this often is not the case in areas considered less academic, such as art, music, technology, and physical education. These students have adaptations written into their IEPs by teams that include professionals, social workers, and parents, but rarely art teachers. Because of this, IEPs for mainstreamed students with EEN are often inappropriate in an art education context. Art teachers are finding that specialized adaptations for students with EEN beyond those constructed by regular classroom teachers and special education teachers are necessary (Hillert 1997). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;fullpost&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also, art teachers must work with students of all ability levels with little classroom support. In addition to frequently being left out of the IEP development process, they often are unaware of the variety of disabilities affecting their students. To individualize their curricula to accommodate the varying needs, interests, and abilities of special populations in their classes, art teachers need to request copies of any learning modifications that may be called for by a student&#39;s IEP (Yong and McIntyre 1992). There are many ways to describe and categorize characteristics of students with talent in the visual arts (Clark and Zimmerman 1992). An important challenge that many art teachers face is differentiating curricula for students who simultaneously demonstrate artistic talent and exceptionalities in other areas. For these students, artistic expression may be a means of demonstrating their capabilities. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;SUBGROUPS OF STUDENTS WITH DUAL EXCEPTIONALITIES.&lt;br /&gt;Students with dual exceptionalities have both high ability and learning disabilities. Generally, they can be divided into three subgroups. The first subgroup includes students not identified as having an EEN (Beckley 1998). These students may use their abilities to compensate for disabilities that do not surface in a regular classroom. An art teacher often may discover that a student needs to be referred for assessment. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The second subgroup of students has been identified as having an EEN, but the strengths of their academic and art abilities may go unrecognized (Beckley 1998). These students often face problems in the art room that revolve around disabilities and low self-image. Students with dual exceptionalities often blame themselves for their failures and do not recognize their successes. A challenge to all teachers is to emphasize student success and reinforce it in concrete ways (Vaidya 1993). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The third subgroup of students with dual exceptionalities includes those who demonstrate ability, yet have difficulty performing tasks required in school. This becomes evident in art classes when students have difficulty completing work or maintaining a level of quality in their work consistent with their art abilities. Students need assistance in their areas of weakness, but they also need to recognize and develop their gifts (Beckley 1998). In working with all students who have potential or exhibit art talent, it is as important to consider their working processes as well as their final products and outcomes (Clark and Zimmerman 1992). Note that these groups are not discrete and may overlap. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;METHODS OF TEACHING STUDENTS WITH DUAL EXCEPTIONALITIES.&lt;br /&gt;Listed below are several modifications that easily can be incorporated into a curriculum for artistically able students with EEN without disrupting their need for differentiation. The amount of work or size of art projects may be altered: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* Encourage students to complete assignments in small, manageable chunks. Students beginning extensive art projects may need help organizing an individual plan for completing the project. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* If a student easily burns out, recommend that he or she begin with smaller projects and gradually work toward larger ones. In the case of research, for example, students could begin by looking at artists&#39; works for images with which they feel some connection. They could later incorporate information about the artist, the time period during which the art was produced, and media used by the artist, eventually completing a written assignment. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The amount of time given to complete a project may be adjusted: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* Be alert for obsessive behavior. Gifted and talented children often obsess over tasks and have difficulty completing tasks on time (Clark and Zimmerman 1992). If a student has begun work on a large painting and is struggling to finish, have him or her take a day off and try some new materials or begin another project different from the original one. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* Set flexible time schedules. Make art assignments due over the course of several days or even weeks. Provide a range of time during which an assignment may be turned in. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* Encourage steady work habits. Students may keep a log of the work they accomplished in an art period or the teacher may consult with students each day to make sure they are on task. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* Be aware of procrastination. Students with exceptional ability may spend a great deal of time daydreaming (Willard-Holt 1999). If they are thinking about what to do for their next project, take time to discuss their plans and use brainstorming techniques to help them discover some possibilities. They also can look at other artists&#39; works or do thumbnail sketches to help them move their project forward. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Methods used by a teacher to deliver information may be modified: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* Teachers can use multimedia demonstrations that the students can easily access. To increase student independence, teachers can demonstrate complicated techniques such as cutting wood blocks for printmaking. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* Use verbal instructions. For example, when demonstrating how to hand-build pottery, explain the process step by step or ask the student to explain the process to clarify his or her understanding. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* Offer written information along with illustrations. Illustrations of a pottery demonstration accompanied by written directions may be useful for students who have difficulty retaining information. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Additional methods can be used by students to complete assignments: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* Make assignments open-ended so that students have opportunities to use higher level thinking skills. For example, when assigning a personally expressive self-portrait, allow students to choose the media they use to complete the assignment. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* Offer options, if not for materials, then for subject matter or style, such as allowing students to choose a topic for a critique about a specific style of art. For example, if a student chooses to critique abstract art, he or she can do so orally, in writing, or by creating artwork that demonstrates individual reactions to abstract art. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;METHODS OF TEACHING STUDENTS WITH SPECIFIC DISABILITIES.&lt;br /&gt;Below are a few additional suggestions for teaching artistically able students with specific disabilities: &lt;br /&gt; Students with emotional disabilities may respond best to creating artwork that is self-expressive, such as expressionistic or surrealistic images. Teachers should focus on positive experiences, reassure students, and provide them with firm, consistent guidelines and opportunities for interaction with other students. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Students with learning disabilities may need information explained in several ways. Depending on the nature of the specific disability, the student may benefit from oral instruction, written instruction, or demonstration. Students should reiterate art lesson expectations to the teachers to be sure communication is clear. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Students with physical disabilities should be provided materials that allow for maximum independence. The physical environment of the classroom or materials may need to be adapted for their individual needs. Teachers should help students verbalize difficulties they are encountering in order to help them solve art room problems. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Students with hearing impairments should be positioned in the classroom so they can get the teacher&#39;s attention and read classmates&#39; facial expressions. Directions should be provided in writing and through demonstration. These students should be involved in group activities such as collaborative art making, critiques, and historical studies of art. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Students with visual impairments require more assistance in visual arts than many of their peers. In providing an art curriculum for these students, consider using the other senses, providing three-dimensional models, focusing on tactile materials, and involving students in art critiques and discussions. Teachers should show students where materials are located and inform students if the room has been rearranged (Rodriguez 1984). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In conclusion, in every case the goal should be student success. Focusing on students&#39; abilities and minimizing their disabilities enhances their own learning as well as the creative atmosphere of the entire art classroom. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;REFERENCES AND ERIC RESOURCES.&lt;br /&gt;The following list of resources includes references used to prepare this Digest. The items followed by an ED number are available in microfiche, paper, or electronic full text from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). For information about prices, contact EDRS, 7420 Fullerton Road, Suite 110, Springfield, Virginia 22152-2852; World Wide Web &lt;edrs.com&gt;; telephone numbers are (703) 440-1400 and (800) 443-3742. Entries followed by an EJ number, annotated monthly in CURRENT INDEX TO JOURNALS IN EDUCATION (CIJE), are not available through EDRS. However, they can be located in the journal section of larger libraries by using the bibliographic information provided, requested through Interlibrary Loan, or ordered from commercial reprint services. &lt;br /&gt; Beckley, Dawn. GIFTED AND LEARNING DISABLED: TWICE EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS. Storrs, CT: University of Connecticut National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, 1998. ED 424 711. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Clark, Gilbert A., and Enid Zimmerman. TRANSLATIONS: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE 2: 1-6. Reston, VA: National Art Education Association. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Davis, Gary A., and Sylvia B. Rimm. EDUCATION OF THE GIFTED AND TALENTED. Boston Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1994. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;EDUCATION FOR ALL HANDICAPPED CHILDREN ACT OF 1975, P.L. 94-142. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hillert, Mark S. THE PROBLEMATIC NATURE OF ART TEACHERS&#39; EFFORTS TO ADAPT INSTRUCTION FOR SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS. Ph.D. diss., St. Norbert College, 1997. ED 446 405. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1997, P.L. 105-17. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT OF 1990, P.L. 101 476. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rodriguez, Susan. THE SPECIAL ARTIST&#39;S HANDBOOK: ART ACTIVITIES AND ADAPTIVE AIDS FOR HANDICAPPED STUDENTS. Palo Alto, CA: Dale Seymour, 1984. ED 398 156. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Vaidya, Sheila R. &quot;Gifted Children With Learning Disabilities: Theoretical Implications and Instructional Challenge.&quot; EDUCATION 113 (Summer 1993): 568-734. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Waldron, Karen A. and Others. &quot;Learning Disabilities and Giftedness: Identification Based on Self-Concept, Behavior, and Academic Patterns.&quot; JOURNAL OF LEARNING DISABILITIES 20 (Aug Sep 1987): 422 27, 432. EJ 359 435. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Willard-Holt, Colleen. DUAL EXCEPTIONALITIES. ERIC Digest. Reston, VA: ERIC Clearinghouse for Disabilities and Gifted Education, 1999. ED 430 344. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yong, Fung L. and John D. McIntyre. &quot;A Comparative Study of the Learning Style Preferences of Students with Learning Disabilities and Students Who Are Gifted.&quot; JOURNAL OF LEARNING DISABILITIES 25 (February 1992): 124-32. EJ 442 934.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Source: &lt;span style=&quot;font-style:italic;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ericdigests.org/2004-1/able.htm&quot;&gt;ERIC&lt;/a&gt; Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education Bloomington IN&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/401367472165775883/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=401367472165775883&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/401367472165775883'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/401367472165775883'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/06/teaching-artistically-able-students.html' title='Teaching Artistically Able Students with Exceptionalities'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-7812734400096579744</id><published>2008-06-18T14:23:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-23T04:48:49.975+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Education Tips"/><title type='text'>Communicative Language Teaching</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style=&quot;font-style:italic;&quot;&gt;Communicative Language Teaching: An Introduction and Sample Activities&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Author: Galloway, Ann&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This digest will take a look at the communicative approach to the teaching of foreign languages. It is intended as an introduction to the communicative approach for teachers and teachers-in-training who want to provide opportunities in the classroom for their students to engage in real-life communication in the target language. Questions to be dealt with include what the communicative approach is, where it came from, and how teachers&#39; and students&#39; roles differ from the roles they play in other teaching approaches. Examples of exercises that can be used with a communicative approach are described, and sources of appropriate materials are provided.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;fullpost&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;WHERE DOES COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING COME FROM?&lt;br /&gt;Its origins are many, insofar as one teaching methodology tends to influence the next. The communicative approach could be said to be the product of educators and linguists who had grown dissatisfied with the audiolingual and grammar-translation methods of foreign language instruction. They felt that students were not learning enough realistic, whole language. They did not know how to communicate using appropriate social language, gestures, or expressions; in brief, they were at a loss to communicate in the culture of the language studied. Interest in and development of communicative-style teaching mushroomed in the 1970s; authentic language use and classroom exchanges where students engaged in real communication with one another became quite popular.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the intervening years, the communicative approach has been adapted to the elementary, middle, secondary, and post-secondary levels, and the underlying philosophy has spawned different teaching methods known under a variety of names, including notional-functional, teaching for proficiency, proficiency-based instruction, and communicative language teaching.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;WHAT IS COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING?&lt;br /&gt;Communicative language teaching makes use of real-life situations that necessitate communication. The teacher sets up a situation that students are likely to encounter in real life. Unlike the audiolingual method of language teaching, which relies on repetition and drills, the communicative approach can leave students in suspense as to the outcome of a class exercise, which will vary according to their reactions and responses. The real-life simulations change from day to day. Students&#39; motivation to learn comes from their desire to communicate in meaningful ways about meaningful topics.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Margie S. Berns, an expert in the field of communicative language teaching, writes in explaining Firth&#39;s view that &quot;language is interaction; it is interpersonal activity and has a clear relationship with society. In this light, language study has to look at the use (function) of language in context, both its linguistic context (what is uttered before and after a given piece of discourse) and its social, or situational, context (who is speaking, what their social roles are, why they have come together to speak)&quot; (Berns, 1984, p. 5).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF COMMUNICATIVE EXERCISES?&lt;br /&gt;In a communicative classroom for beginners, the teacher might begin by passing out cards, each with a different name printed on it. The teacher then proceeds to model an exchange of introductions in the target language: &quot;Guten Tag. Wie heissen Sie?&quot; Reply: &quot;Ich heisse Wolfie,&quot; for example. Using a combination of the target language and gestures, the teacher conveys the task at hand, and gets the students to introduce themselves and ask their classmates for information. They are responding in German to a question in German. They do not know the answers beforehand, as they are each holding cards with their new identities written on them; hence, there is an authentic exchange of information.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Later during the class, as a reinforcement listening exercise, the students might hear a recorded exchange between two German freshmen meeting each other for the first time at the gymnasium doors. Then the teacher might explain, in English, the differences among German greetings in various social situations. Finally, the teacher will explain some of the grammar points and structures used.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The following exercise is taken from a 1987 workshop on communicative foreign language teaching, given for Delaware language teachers by Karen Willetts and Lynn Thompson of the Center for Applied Linguistics. The exercise, called &quot;Eavesdropping,&quot; is aimed at advanced students.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;Instructions to students.&quot; Listen to a conversation somewhere in a public place and be prepared to answer, in the target language, some general questions about what was said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1. Who was talking?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2. About how old were they?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3. Where were they when you eavesdropped?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4. What were they talking about?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;5. What did they say?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;6. Did they become aware that you were listening to them?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The exercise puts students in a real-world listening situation where they must report information overheard. Most likely they have an opinion of the topic, and a class discussion could follow, in the target language, about their experiences and viewpoints.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Communicative exercises such as this motivate the students by treating topics of their choice, at an appropriately challenging level.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Another exercise taken from the same source is for beginning students of Spanish. In &quot;Listening for the Gist,&quot; students are placed in an everyday situation where they must listen to an authentic text.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;Objective.&quot; Students listen to a passage to get general understanding of the topic or message.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;Directions.&quot; Have students listen to the following announcement to decide what the speaker is promoting.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;Passage.&quot; &quot;Situacion ideal...Servicio de transporte al Aeropuerto Internacional...Cuarenta y dos habitaciones de lujo, con aire acondicionado...Elegante restaurante...de fama internacional.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(The announcement can be read by the teacher or played on tape.) Then ask students to circle the letter of the most appropriate answer on their copy, which consists of the following multiple-choice options:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;a. a taxi service&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;b. a hotel&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;c. an airport&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;d. a restaurant&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(Source: Adapted from Ontario Assessment Instrument Pool, 1980, Item No. 13019)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gunter Gerngross, an English teacher in Austria, gives an example of how he makes his lessons more communicative. He cites a widely used textbook that shows English children having a pet show. &quot;Even when learners act out this scene creatively and enthusiastically, they do not reach the depth of involvement that is almost tangible when they act out a short text that presents a family conflict revolving round the question of whether the children should be allowed to have a pet or not&quot; (Gerngross &amp; Puchta, 1984, p. 92). He continues to say that the communicative approach &quot;puts great emphasis on listening, which implies an active will to try to understand others. [This is] one of the hardest tasks to achieve because the children are used to listening to the teacher but not to their peers. There are no quick, set recipes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That the teacher be a patient listener is the basic requirement&quot; (p. 98).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The observation by Gerngross on the role of the teacher as one of listener rather than speaker brings up several points to be discussed in the next portion of this digest.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HOW DO THE ROLES OF THE TEACHER AND STUDENT CHANGE IN COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING?&lt;br /&gt;Teachers in communicative classrooms will find themselves talking less and listening more--becoming active facilitators of their students&#39; learning (Larsen-Freeman, 1986). The teacher sets up the exercise, but because the students&#39; performance is the goal, the teacher must step back and observe, sometimes acting as referee or monitor. A classroom during a communicative activity is far from quiet, however. The students do most of the speaking, and frequently the scene of a classroom during a communicative exercise is active, with students leaving their seats to complete a task.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Because of the increased responsibility to participate, students may find they gain confidence in using the target language in general. Students are more responsible managers of their own learning (Larsen-Freeman, 1986).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT COMMUNICATIVE TEACHING?&lt;br /&gt;All of the following documents on communicative language teaching are in the ERIC database. They can be read on microfiche at any library housing an ERIC collection or purchased in microfiche or paper copy from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS), 7420 Fullerton Road, Suite 110, Springfield, VA 22153-2852 (1-800-443-3742).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;REFERENCES&lt;br /&gt;Ben-Barka, A. C. [1982]. &quot;In search of a language teaching framework: An adaptation of a communicative approach to functional practice.&quot; (EDRS No. ED 239 507, 26 pages)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Das, B. K. (Ed.) (1984). &quot;Communicative language teaching.&quot; Selected papers from the RELC seminar (Singapore). &quot;Anthology Series 14.&quot; (EDRS No. ED 266 661, 234 pages)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Littlewood, W. T. (1983). &quot;Communicative approach to language teaching methodology (CLCS Occasional Paper No. 7).&quot; Dublin: Dublin University, Trinity College, Centre for Language and Communication Studies. (EDRS No. ED 235 690, 23 pages)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pattison, P. (1987). &quot;The communicative approach and classroom realities.&quot; (EDRS No. ED 288 407, 17 pages)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Riley, P. (1982). &quot;Topics in communicative methodology: Including a preliminary and selective bibliography on the communicative approach.&quot; (EDRS No. ED 231 213, 31 pages)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Savignon, S. J., &amp; Berns, M. S. (Eds.). (1983). &quot;Communicative language teaching: Where are we going? Studies in Language Learning,&quot; 4(2). (EDRS No. ED 278 226, 210 pages)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sheils, J. (1986). &quot;Implications of the communicative approach for the role of the teacher.&quot; (EDRS No. ED 268 831, 7 pages)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Swain, M., &amp; Canale, M. (1982). &quot;The role of grammar in a communicative approach to second language teaching and testing.&quot; (EDRS No. ED 221 026, 8 pages) (not available separately; available from EDRS as part of ED 221 023, 138 pages)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Willems, G., &amp; Riley, P. (Eds.). (1984). &quot;Communicative foreign language teaching and the training of foreign language teachers.&quot; (EDRS No. ED 273 102, 219 pages)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Readers may also wish to consult the following journal articles for additional information on communicative language teaching.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Clark, J. L. (1987). Classroom assessment in a communicative approach. &quot;British Journal of Language Teaching,&quot; 25(1), 9-19.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dolle, D., &amp; Willems, G. M. (1984). The communicative approach to foreign language teaching: The teacher&#39;s case. &quot;European Journal of Teacher Education,&quot; 7(2), 145-54.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Morrow, K., &amp; Schocker, M. (1987). Using texts in a communicative approach. &quot;ELT Journal,&quot; 41(4), 248-56.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oxford, R. L., et al. (1989). Language learning strategies, the communicative approach, and their classroom implications. &quot;Foreign Language Annals,&quot; 22(1), 29-39.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pica, T. P. (1988). Communicative language teaching: An aid to second language acquisition? Some insights from classroom research. &quot;English Quarterly,&quot; 21(2), 70-80.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rosenthal, A. S., &amp; Sloane, R. A. (1987). A communicative approach to foreign language instruction: The UMBC project. &quot;Foreign Language Annals,&quot; 20(3), 245-53.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Swan, M. (1985). A critical look at the communicative approach (1). &quot;ELT Journal,&quot; 39(1), 2-12.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Swan, M. (1985). A critical look at the communicative approach (2). &quot;ELT Journal,&quot; 39(2), 76-87.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Terrell, T. D. (1991). The role of grammar instruction in a communicative approach. &quot;Modern Language Journal,&quot; 75(1), 52-63.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;REFERENCES AND RESOURCES&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Berns, M. S. (1984). Functional approaches to language and language teaching: Another look. In S. Savignon &amp; M. S. Berns (Eds.), &quot;Initiatives in communicative language teaching. A book of readings&quot; (pp. 3-21). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gerngross, G., &amp; Puchta, H. (1984). Beyond notions and functions: Language teaching or the art of letting go. In S. Savignon &amp; M. S. Berns (Eds.), &quot;Initiatives in communicative language teaching. A book of readings&quot; (pp. 89-107). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Larsen-Freeman, D. (1986). &quot;Techniques and principles in language teaching.&quot; Oxford: Oxford University Press.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Littlewood, W. (1981). &quot;Language teaching. An introduction.&quot; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Savignon, S., &amp; Berns, M. S. (Eds.). (1984). &quot;Initiatives in communicative language teaching.&quot; Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.&lt;br /&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ericdigests.org/1993/sample.htm&quot;&gt;ERIC&lt;/a&gt; Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics Washington DC&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/7812734400096579744/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=7812734400096579744&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/7812734400096579744'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/7812734400096579744'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/06/communicative-language-teaching.html' title='Communicative Language Teaching'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-751801095604616333</id><published>2008-06-06T00:09:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-06T00:13:25.505+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Education"/><title type='text'>Developing Social Competence for All Students</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style=&quot;font-style:italic;&quot;&gt;Author: Vincent, Claudia G. - Horner, Robert H. - Sugai, George&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Schools are under pressure to create safe, orderly and effective learning environments where students acquire social as well as academic skills that will allow them to succeed in school and beyond. This pressure has emerged from real disciplinary challenges combined with wariness of school violence sensationalized in the media (Lewis &amp; Sugai, 1999; Sugai et al., 2000; Walker, Nishioka, Zeller, Bullis, &amp; Sprague, 2001; Walker &amp; Shinn, 2002). At the same time, teachers, parents, and administrators report more and more time consumed by disciplinary measures intended to correct students&#39; antisocial behaviors (Skiba &amp; Peterson, 2000). Traditional punishment and exclusion may provide a short-lived reprieve from disciplinary problems, but research has shown that in the long term, punishment and exclusion are ineffective and can lead to renewed incidents of disruption and escalating behaviors (Mayer, 1999).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;fullpost&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Over the last two decades, school populations have become increasingly diverse. Children sharing the same classroom come from a broad range of cultures, languages, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Schools face the challenge of creating environments that are sensitive to a myriad of individual backgrounds and support all students&#39; social and academic success. They can no longer afford to focus exclusively on delivering academic curricula; they are also responsible for establishing and maintaining socio-cultural microcosms that teach children to negotiate the diverse values and social norms of a pluralistic society. This digest describes the challenges of social skills instruction and provides three strategies to improve all students&#39; social competence. Social skills are crucial for mutually productive interactions and durable interpersonal relationships. Children benefit not only socially, but also academically, when appropriate behaviors increase their access to instructional time. We emphasize the importance of teaching individual social skills within the context of establishing a school-wide culture of social competence.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The success of teachers and administrators in helping students develop social competence depends on their ability to (a) develop a school-wide culture of social competence, (b) infuse the curriculum with situation-specific social skills lessons that target key behaviors, and (c) match the level and intensity of instruction to students&#39; social skills deficits (Gresham, 1998; Sugai &amp; Lewis, in press).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DEVELOPING A SCHOOL-WIDE CULTURE OF SOCIAL COMPETENCE&lt;br /&gt;Schools are complex environments comprising heterogeneous populations and activities. Students, teachers, staff, administrators, and parents often have differing expectations of how a school should function. To establish a school climate acceptable to all, a team representing all members of the school community should be formed and asked to define school-wide behavioral expectations (Lewis &amp; Sugai, 1999). School-wide behavioral expectations typically (a) address the most frequently observed problem behaviors across all school settings, (b) are condensed into three to five short and easy to remember statements, (c) are age appropriate, and (d) are positively stated (e.g., &quot;be respectful&quot; instead of &quot;don&#39;t tease&quot;) (Sugai &amp; Lewis, in press). Visibly posted throughout the building, school-wide behavioral expectations are intended to publicize the social values shared by all members of the school community and the behaviors representing those values. For instance, a middle school in Oregon developed the following school-wide behavioral expectations: (1) Be Respectful, (2) Be Responsible, (3) Follow Directions, (4) Hands and Feet to Self, and (5) Be There-Be Ready (Taylor-Greene et al., 1997).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Formulating and posting school-wide behavioral expectations alone does not automatically result in improved student behavior. All students need to be taught directly and actively how to perform the behaviors representing the school&#39;s social values (Horner, Sugai, Lewis-Palmer &amp; Todd, 2001, Lewis &amp; Sugai, 1999; Sugai &amp; Lewis, in press). A one-day training could be conducted at the beginning of the academic year or at intervals throughout the year to illustrate the school&#39;s behavioral expectations through concrete examples in various school settings (Taylor-Greene et al., 1997). For instance, being respectful can mean waiting one&#39;s turn in line in the cafeteria or raising one&#39;s hand to get the teacher&#39;s attention in the classroom.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To encourage students to practice the taught behaviors, students&#39; performance of appropriate behaviors should be reinforced through routine acknowledgments and monitored through ongoing data collection (Taylor-Greene et al., 1997). In comparison to students who receive teacher attention only in the form of reprimands for rule violations, students who know that their socially appropriate behaviors are appreciated by teachers and staff are more likely to repeat those behaviors and encourage their peers to behave appropriately (Sugai &amp; Lewis, in press). Once a behavioral skill becomes functional for a student (i.e., is positively recognized by teachers and peers) the skill is likely to become part of the student&#39;s general behavioral repertoire.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;SOCIAL SKILLS LESSONS TARGETING KEY BEHAVIORS IN SPECIFIC SITUATIONS&lt;br /&gt;To support the development of a school-wide culture of competence, social skills instruction must be an integral part of the school&#39;s curriculum and daily operations (Sugai &amp; Lewis, in press). During any given school day, students encounter a variety of settings, for example, the school bus, hallway, classroom, cafeteria, playground, and gym. Each setting requires specific skills for successful interactions with others sharing the same space.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With mounting pressure to improve students&#39; academic achievements, classrooms have become the focal point for improving student behavior through social skills instruction, thereby ensuring students&#39; access to academic content (Sugai &amp; Lewis, in press). To create a classroom environment where all students can learn, teachers must teach appropriate social skills giving students access to the academic curriculum. Appropriate behaviors, such as raising one&#39;s hand to signal for help or sitting still during seat-work help to ensure access to the academic content being delivered. Once students acquire the skills necessary for successful classroom interactions, they will be more likely to generalize their acquired skills to other settings and contribute to the school-wide culture of social competence (Horner et al., 2001; Sugai &amp; Lewis, in press).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Teachers need to respond to a student&#39;s inability to perform a social skill exactly as they would to a student&#39;s inability to complete an academic task. If students do not know how to solicit teacher attention appropriately, they need to be actively and systematically instructed to signal for help, for example, by raising their hands. Sit&lt;br /&gt;uation-specific social skills instruction should focus on teaching behaviors perceived as functional by students and others with whom they interact. For instance, getting teacher attention must result from raising one&#39;s hand, and talking out or leaving one&#39;s seat must not result in getting teacher attention. If an inappropriate behavior is made functional for a student by evoking the desired response, teachers inadvertently might encourage the performance of inappropriate behavior. Socially appropriate behaviors in the classroom are likely to decrease the amount of time spent on disciplinary actions and increase students&#39; access to academic content. Situation specific instruction should incorporate a model or description of the appropriate skill, provide students the opportunity to observe and practice the skill, assess the students&#39; ability to perform the skill, provide reinforcement contingent on performing the taught skill, and avoid reinforcing inappropriate behavior (Gresham, 1998; Sugai &amp; Lewis, in press).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;MATCHING THE LEVEL AND INTENSITY OF INSTRUCTION TO STUDENTS&#39; NEEDS&lt;br /&gt;Children enter school with varying degrees of social competence. While some students are fluent in social skills and therefore able to interact appropriately with peers and teachers, others might not have learned to perform socially appropriate behaviors and, therefore, are at risk of low academic achievement and developing antisocial lifestyles (Walker et al., 1996). Although variation exists, general research has shown that approximately 80% of a school&#39;s student population responds to instruction in school-wide behavioral expectations, and approximately 15% of students need additional instruction in the form of targeted situation-specific lessons. Students who are unresponsive to school-wide and targeted instructions comprise about 5% of a school&#39;s population and present the toughest challenge to the daily operations of a school (Horner and Sugai, 2002; Sugai et al., 2000; Walker et al., 1996). Addressing individual students&#39; persistent antisocial behaviors requires a systematic process of determining why a student repeatedly performs the specific behaviors (Sugai et al., 2000).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Functional behavioral assessment offers strategies to identify events and conditions triggering a specific behavior and the functions maintaining the behavior (i.e., get/access or escape/avoid). Direct observations, review of archival data, or interviews with students, their teachers, and/or their parents help to define the circumstances under which the problem behavior occurs. Based on this information, individual behavior support plans focusing on teaching and reinforcing socially appropriate replacement behaviors can be designed and implemented to match individual students&#39; skill deficits (Sugai et al., 2000). To use the technology of functional behavioral assessment effectively and efficiently, schools need to focus on training personnel to conduct functional behavioral assessments and implement the resulting individual behavior support plans.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;REFERENCES&lt;br /&gt;Gresham, F.M. (1998). Social skills training: Should we raze, remodel, or rebuild? Behavioral Disorders, 24, 19-25.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Horner, R.H. &amp; Sugai, G. (2002, April). Overview of Positive Behavior Support. Paper presented at the 2002 Convention of the Council for Exceptional Children, New York.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Horner, R.H., Sugai, G., Lewis-Palmer, T., &amp; Todd, A.W. (2001). Teaching school-wide behavioral expectations. Report on Emotional and Behavioral Disorders in Youth, 1(4), 77-79, 93-96.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Lewis, T., &amp; Sugai, G. (1999). Effective behavior support: A systems approach to proactive schoolwide management. Focus on Exceptional Children, 31(6), 1-24.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mayer, G.R. (1999). Constructive discipline for school personnel. Education and Treatment of Children, 22(1), 36-54.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Skiba, R.J. &amp; Peterson, R.L. (2000). School discipline at a crossroads: From zero tolerance to early response. Exceptional Children, 66(3), 335-356.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sugai, G., Horner, R.H., Dunlap, G., Hieneman, M., Lewis, T.J., Nelson, C.M., Scott, T., Liaupsin, C., Sailor, W., Turnbull, A.P., Turnbull, H.R., III, Wickham, D., Reuf, M., &amp; Wilcox, B. (2000). Applying positive behavioral support and functional behavioral assessment in schools. Journal of Positive Behavioral Interventions, 2, 131-143.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sugai, G., &amp; Lewis, T. (in press). Social skills instruction in the classroom. In E.J. Kame&#39;enui &amp; C. Darch (Eds.). Instructional classroom management. (2nd ed.). White Plains, NY: Longman.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Taylor-Greene, S., Brown, D., Nelson, L., Longton, J., Gassman, T., Cohen, J., Swartz, J., Horner, R.H., Sugai, G., &amp; Hall, S. (1997). School-wide behavioral support: Starting the year off right. Journal of Behavioral Education, 7, 99-112.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Walker, H.M., Horner, R.H., Sugai, G., Bullis, M., Sprague, J.R., Bricker, D., &amp; Kaufman, M.J. (1996). Integrated approaches to preventing antisocial behavior patterns among school-age children and youth. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 4, 193-256.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Walker, H.M., Nishioka, V.M., Zeller, R., Bullis, M., &amp; Sprague, J.R. (2001). School-based screening, identification, and service-delivery issues. Report on Emotional &amp; Behavioral Disorders in Youth, 1(3), 51-52, 67-70.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Walker, H.M., &amp; Shinn, M.R. (2002). Structuring school-based interventions to achieve integrated primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention goals for safe and effective schools. In M.R. Shinn, G. Stoner, &amp; H.M. Walker (Eds.), Interventions for academic and behavior problems: Preventive and remedial approaches. National Association of School Psychologists. Silver Spring, MD. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style:italic;&quot;&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-3/social.htm&quot;&gt;ERIC&lt;/a&gt; Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education Arlington VA. ERIC/OSEP Special Project&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/751801095604616333/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=751801095604616333&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/751801095604616333'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/751801095604616333'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/06/developing-social-competence-for-all.html' title='Developing Social Competence for All Students'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-4799146541922598460</id><published>2008-06-06T00:00:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-06T00:08:50.710+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Education"/><title type='text'>How Do Teachers Communicate?</title><content type='html'>The last decade has seen a rise in the demand for testing teachers, brought on by a real or perceived decline in student performance, as well as concern over the quality and preparation of people entering the profession. An increased sense of urgency was sounded in recent reports calling for national standards for teachers: the Holmes&#39; Group report, Tomorrow&#39;s Teachers (1986); the Carnegie Commission report, A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century (1986); and the National Governors&#39; Association report, Time for Results (1986). In response, many states have adopted formal assessment procedures for teachers, almost all of which claim to evaluate communication abilities. However, the methods of assessment vary from state to state with the result that communication is defined in different ways across the country. Furthermore, the operational definitions found in various state assessment practices often don&#39;t correspond with those developed through research.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;fullpost&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HOW DO STATES EVALUATE COMMUNICATION?&lt;br /&gt;Most states use standardized written examinations and many use performance tests, as well. In 1986, 31 states administered some form of the National Teachers Examination (NTE), while many of the others gave their own written exams. In performance testing, 2 states developed and administered their own standardized speaking tests, 16 required the Listening Section of the NTE Core Battery Exam, 9 used a variety of procedures, and 10 others are developing such tests or considering doing so (McCaleb).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A significant area in which the nine states differ from each other is in the instructions given evaluators concerning their focus and participation in the assessment process. Some states, for example, set the focus on the teacher&#39;s performance only, while others include the teacher&#39;s classroom interaction with students and the teacher&#39;s use of students&#39; ideas in the assessment. The same is true regarding the role given observers. Some states permit assessors to use professional judgment in making final evaluations, while others confine them to recording behaviors for computer analysis, preventing them from knowing how these will combine to pass or fail a teacher (McCaleb).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In performance tests given by the same nine states, 12 categories of communication were defined: oral language usage, fluency, feedback, speech mechanics, subject knowledge, explaining, emphasis, directing, questioning, using students&#39; ideas, interacting with parents, and enthusiasm and nonverbal communication. Not all the states used every category, but in cases where they did use the same ones, different criteria for judging were found--or if the same criteria were used, they may have been assigned different values, giving different degrees of importance to the same set of skills (McCaleb). The danger in these varied and sometimes superficial approaches to communication assessment is that judgments could be based on an incomplete or fragmented picture of a teacher&#39;s communication skills (Feezel).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HOW SHOULD COMMUNICATION BE EVALUATED?&lt;br /&gt;State assessments should be designed and implemented according to a valid and coherent conception of the complex process of classroom communication. Assessors need to focus on the many aspects of communication instead of stressing the informing function of explaining and questioning. Other forms of communication skills need to be assessed, particularly interactive ones such as those required in one-on-one conferences and interviews, organizing small group tasks, and leading class discussions. At present, assessment practices emphasize two distinct roles and sets of skills: the teacher-as-speaker (in performance testing) and the teacher-as-listener (through standardized testing). Interactive communication is not adequately assessed, despite the fact that communication is a transactional process, i.e., teachers respond to feedback and alter their explanations since student perceptions require clarification (Brown).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Assessment practices need to take into account additional aspects of a classroom teacher&#39;s role, including those that involve persuading or influencing students&#39; behavior and ideas; stimulating self-expression and imagination through creative activities; teaching social rituals such as taking turns and raising hands in class; asking questions, responding to answers, and leading class discussions (Feezel). Evaluations should also include such factors as a teacher&#39;s ability to communicate with parents, peers, administrators, and professional leaders. Several states currently have plans to assess teacher-parent communication (Brown).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In addition, assessment officials need to address such issues as validity, reliability, bias and feasibility in the area of oral communication. To be valid, assessments must be based on conceptual clarity and have common objectives for classroom communication. To be reliable, there must be (1) consistent findings among observers monitoring the same individuals, or more training may be indicated to ensure adherence to a common set of standards; (2) adequate monitoring before oral proficiency is determined; (3) equivalence of topics and tasks for rating purposes. To be free of bias, care must be taken to ensure assessments do not favor certain patterns of oral communication. To be feasible, the proposed purchase of any new resource must be subject to a cost-benefit analysis of the time, money, and equipment that would be entailed versus the extent to which the resource would improve assessment of a teacher&#39;s classroom performance (Brown).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Furthermore, a distinction must be made in the skill levels that assessments focus on, i.e., facilities (speech mechanics such as clear speech and correct grammar) and critical skills (functions such as explaining, questioning, and giving directions). Putting the focus on critical skills has the advantage of emphasizing the larger goal of instruction while still permitting assessment of instrumental behaviors, but preventing them from becoming ends in themselves (Brown).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DO STATE ASSESSMENTS REFLECT CURRENT RESEARCH?&lt;br /&gt;There are a number of concerns in this area. One is that behavioral checklists do not accurately reflect the complex data obtained from teaching research, presenting the possibility that the complexity of teaching will be obscured and false conclusions drawn about what makes teachers effective. Another is that research findings are being used in teacher assessment instruments without appropriate regard for context, such as grade level, type of student, and objective, i.e., the educational purposes the instruction may be designed to serve. A third is that findings are currently used in teacher assessment instruments without regard for the curricular area being measured, viz., basic skills as opposed to conceptual/aesthetic understandings. A fourth is that the research base may be misused or findings diluted in a simplistic effort to fit an assessment purpose. These shortcomings impose a serious limitation on current assessment instruments (Book and Duffy).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HOW USEFUL IS THE ATTEMPT TO ASSESS COMMUNICATION SKILLS?&lt;br /&gt;The effort to assess communication skills is commendable but the current process carries risks and drawbacks. In particular, it creates the impression that teachers can guarantee successful teaching by simply following certain research-identified behaviors. The phrase, &quot;research says,&quot; is often used in an authoritative fashion in professional conference presentations, training sessions for assessment observers, and briefing sessions for teachers, without benefit of research qualifications or critical reviews (Clift).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Secondly, it may limit communications skills considered desirable to those currently assessed, with the result that only those educational purposes readily observed by current instrumentation will be regarded as legitimate (Clift).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Third, the current process may lead to valuing form over content. A teacher who shows superior vocal ability but is dependent on textbook explanations, for example, may be rated above another who is able to explain a difficult concept independently but does not do so in a manner conveying enthusiasm or nonverbal communication as specified by some states. South Carolina, for example, describes this as &quot;intense or dramatic expression in gestures, movements, vocal inflections, or facial changes&quot; (McCaleb, p. 21) (Clift).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fourth, it results in observation instruments that focus more on teacher behaviors than on student actions because the attempts to link teacher behavior to student achievement (process-product research) make teachers responsible for student learning. Research on learning and memory, however, suggests that students themselves must play an active role in the instruction process. In focusing on instructors&#39; verbal abilities, current assessment practices cast teachers into the role of actors or actresses, overlooking the role that is more appropriate for them, that of classroom directors. It also overlooks the teacher&#39;s responsibility for developing students&#39; communication skills as well as students&#39; part in their own instruction (Clift).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fifth, it handicaps teachers assessed by observers who are unfamiliar with their subject but who, nevertheless, must evaluate their ability to communicate it. This might be overcome to some extent if observers could discuss the lesson with teachers before and after a class, giving them (observers) further opportunity to assess interpersonal skills and to understand a teacher&#39;s rationale for presenting the lesson in a certain way (Clift).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is not necessary to abandon completely the way communications skills are presently identified. However, shortcomings in the current system need to be changed, a range of acceptable alternative behaviors identified, and a more flexible system of assessments implemented (Clift).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;REFERENCES&lt;br /&gt;Many of the following references--those identified with an EJ or ED number--have been abstracted and are in the ERIC data base. The journal articles should be available at most research libraries. The documents (citations with an ED numbers) are available on microfiche in ERIC microfiche collections at more than 700 locations. Documents also can be ordered through the ERIC Document Reproduction Service. Call (800) 227-3742 for price and order information. For a list of ERIC collections in your area or for information on submitting documents to ERIC, contact the ERIC Clearinghouse on Teacher Education, One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 610, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-2450.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Allen, R. R., and K. L. Brown. 1976. Developing communication competence in children. Skokie, Ill.: National Textbook.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Book, L. and G. Duffy. 1987. A critique of the research base for assessing communication skills of teachers. How Do Teachers Communicate? A Review and Critique of Assessment Practices. McCaleb, Joseph L., ed. Teacher Education Monograph No. 7. Washington, D.C.: ERIC Clearinghouse on Teacher Education.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Brown, K. L., P. Backlund, J. Gurry, and F. Jandt. 1979. Assessment of basic speaking and listening skills. Boston: Massachusetts Department of Education. ED 178 969.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Clift, R. T. 1987. Is assessing communication an exercise in miscommunication. How Do Teachers Communicate? A Review and Critique of Assessment Practices. McCaleb, J. ed. Teacher Education Monograph No. 7. Washington, D.C.: ERIC Clearinghouse on Teacher Education.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cooper, P. J. 1986. Communication competencies for teachers: A CAT subcommittee report. Chicago, Ill.: Speech Communication Association. ERIC SP 028 649.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Duffy, G., L. Roehler, and G. Rackliffe. 1986. How teachers&#39; instructional talk influences students&#39; understanding of lesson content. Elementary School Journal 87 (no. 1): 3-16.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;McCaleb, J. L. 1984. Selecting a measure of oral communication as a predictor of teaching performance. Journal of Teacher Education 35 (no.5): 33-38.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;McCaleb, J. L., ed. 1987. How do teachers communicate? Washington, D.C.: ERIC Clearinghouse on Teacher Education. ED 282 872.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;McCroskey, J. C. 1977. Quiet children and the classroom teacher. Annandale, Va.: Speech Communication Association/ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Medley, D. M., H. Coker, and R. S. Soar. 1984. Measurement-based evaluation of teacher performance. New York: Longman.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Morine-Dershimer, G. 1985. Talking, listening, and learning in elementary classrooms. New York: Longman.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rubin, R. B. 1983. The communication competency assessment instrument. Falls Church, Va.: Speech Communication Association.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rubin, R. B., and J. D. Feezel. 1986. Elements of teacher communication competence. Communication Education 35: 254-268.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style:italic;&quot;&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-929/teachers.htm&quot;&gt;ERIC&lt;/a&gt; Clearinghouse on Teacher Education Washington DC&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/4799146541922598460/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=4799146541922598460&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/4799146541922598460'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/4799146541922598460'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-do-teachers-communicate.html' title='How Do Teachers Communicate?'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-1650267987451342904</id><published>2008-06-05T23:50:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-23T04:48:49.976+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Education Tips"/><title type='text'>Student Evaluation of Teacher Performance</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style=&quot;font-style:italic;&quot;&gt;Author: Coburn, Louisa&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Student evaluation of teacher performance, or student ratings, is one of the most controversial techniques used to identify teacher effectiveness. Few faculty members question the usefulness of ratings in providing feedback about teaching that can result in improved instruction, but many continue to challenge student rating use in making personnel decisions (Marsh and others 1979).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This Digest offers a rationale for the use of student ratings, describes the research findings concerning the validity and reliability of such ratings, and identifies the major issues involved in designing and administering rating forms and reporting their results.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;fullpost&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT OF STUDENT RATINGS&lt;br /&gt;Aleamoni (1981) offers the following arguments to support the use of student ratings of teacher performance:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;--Students are the main source of information about the learning environment, including teachers&#39; ability to motivate students for continued learning, rapport or degree of communication between instructors and students.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;--Students are the most logical evaluators of the quality, the effectiveness of, and satisfaction with course content, method of instruction, textbooks, homework, and student interest.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;--Student ratings encourage communication between students and their instructor. This communication may lead to the kind of student and instructor involvement in the teaching-learning process that can raise the level of instruction.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;--Student ratings of particular instructors and courses can be used by other students to select courses and instructors, and may increase the chances that excellence in instruction will be recognized and rewarded.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;FACULTY CONCERNS AND RESEARCH FINDINGS&lt;br /&gt;Faculty are concerned about the use of student ratings in both formative and summative evaluations for the following reasons: 1) students lack the maturity and expertise to make judgments about course content or instructor style; 2) students&#39; ratings are measures of popularity rather than of ability; 3) the rating forms themselves are both unreliable and invalid; and 4) other variables (such as grades received from the instructor, class size, or whether the course was required or elected) affect student ratings.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Research that addresses each of these issues is summarized below.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Student Immaturity&lt;br /&gt;According to Peterson and Kauchak (1982), &quot;researchers found that student ratings of teachers are consistent among students and reliable from one year to the next.&quot; Aleamoni (1981) cites research that indicates that &quot;the correlation between student ratings of the same instructors and courses ranged from .70 to .87.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Student Ratings as Measures of Popularity&lt;br /&gt;Citing his own research, Aleamoni (1981) found that udents frankly praised instuctors for their warm, friendly, humorous manner in the classroom, but if their courses were not well-organized or their methods of stimulating students to learn were poor, the students equally frankly criticized them in those areas.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Researchers cited by Peterson and Kauchak (1982) found that &quot;students can successfully differentiate between teaching effectiveness and other affective dimensions such as attitude, interest, and friendliness of the teacher.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Student Rating Forms&lt;br /&gt;Research evidence supports the view that carefully constructed evaluation instruments with well-developed procedures for their administration can yield high internal consistency reliabilities. Most of the research evidence supporting the validity of rating forms in which student ratings were compared to other methods of evaluation (colleague ratings, student learning measures, and expert judges&#39; ratings) indicates the existence of high to moderate positive correlations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Grades&lt;br /&gt;According to Aleamoni (1981), &quot;correlational studies have reported widely inconsistent grade-rating relationships. Some 22 studies have reported zero relationships while another 28 studies have reported significant positive relationships. In most instances, however, these relationships were relatively weak.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Class Size&lt;br /&gt;Research is also divided on this issue. The belief that instructors of larger classes receive lower ratings is supported by the results of some studies and refuted by others.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Required Versus Elected Courses&lt;br /&gt;Most of the reported research seems to support the belief that students who are required to take a course rate it lower than students who elect to take the same course.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DESIGNING THE RATING FORMS&lt;br /&gt;Rating forms can be adopted from other institutions, or constructed by students, faculty, administrators, or committees. Experts in questionnaire design should be involved in the development of student rating forms to avoid producing a finished questionnaire that reflects a bias toward any one aspect of instructional effectiveness.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is most important to decide the purpose of the form. Formative evaluation requires information that can be used by the instructor to modify and improve instruction. Summative evaluation requires information that can be used by a third party for decisions about promotion, tenure, or merit pay. Each kind of evaluation requires that decisions be made about the content, level of inference, and type of item response.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;ADMINISTERING THE RATING FORMS&lt;br /&gt;The method of administering and gathering student responses can determine the quality of the resulting data. If possible, the responsibility should be given to instructional development or testing personnel.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Regardless of who does the actual administration, a standard set of instructions and a designated time limit for filling out the questionnaire are essential. Informal administration can lead to bias in the ratings, low return of the forms, or less than candid responses on the part of students.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;REPORTING THE RESULTS&lt;br /&gt;If the results of student ratings are not reported in a timely manner, their usefulness can be compromised. Decisions must be made about whether to return the actual form or summaries of the data to the instructor. If the actual forms are returned, then the instructors should be given a method of tabulating and summarizing their own results so that they can avoid concentrating on negative or positive feedback alone.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One of the most important decisions to be made is who will see or use the results. Faculty have the right to know how the results will be reported and should be given the option of releasing copies of the results if the evaluation is not mandatory. To avoid subjective interpretations by third parties, it is recommended that students&#39; actual written comments not be reported to the student body or the administration.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Results of the ratings can be reported in student newspapers or student published books. Reporting the results in this way is most effective if it is done in a positive manner with only the most highly rated instructors or courses listed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Finally, Aleamoni (1981) is careful to point out that the way student ratings are used is of utmost importance. All who use the ratings must be careful to avoid placing inappropriate emphasis on selected student responses. Ideally, student ratings are but one component of a comprehensive instructional evaluation system.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;FOR MORE INFORMATION&lt;br /&gt;Aleamoni, Lawrence M. &quot;Student Ratings of Instruction.&quot; In HANDBOOK OF TEACHER EVALUATION, edited by Jason Millman. Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE Publications, 1981.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Benton, Sidney E. RATING COLLEGE TEACHING: CRITERION VALIDITY STUDIES OF STUDENT EVALUATION-OF-INSTRUCTION INSTRUMENTS. AAHE-ERIC/Higher Education Research Report No. 1. Washington, D.C.: American Association for Higher Education, 1982. ED 221 147.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Marsh, Herbert W., and others. &quot;Validity of Student Evaluations of Instructional Effectiveness: A Comparison of Faculty Self-Evaluations and Evaluations by their Students.&quot; JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 71 (April 1979):149-160.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Peterson, Ken, and D. Kauchak. TEACHER EVALUATION: PERSPECTIVES, PRACTICES, AND PROMISES. Salt Lake City, UT: Utah University, Center for Educational Practice, 1982. ED 233 996.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style:italic;&quot;&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-927/student.htm&quot;&gt;ERICdigest.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/1650267987451342904/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=1650267987451342904&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/1650267987451342904'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/1650267987451342904'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/06/student-evaluation-of-teacher.html' title='Student Evaluation of Teacher Performance'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-4805082142278423657</id><published>2008-06-04T04:32:00.003+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-23T04:49:51.888+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Education Online"/><title type='text'>World Wide Web Resources for Teaching</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight:bold;&quot;&gt;World Wide Web Resources for Teaching and Learning Economics.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style:italic;&quot;&gt;Author: VanFossen, Phillip J.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We live in an information-rich society, one in which, via various forms of technology, information on almost any topic can be obtained nearly instantaneously. The proliferation of such information technology has begun to make its way into the nation&#39;s schools in the form of, among other things, instructional resources such as videodiscs, CD-ROMs and other computer-driven materials, and the nearly ubiquitous World Wide Web (WWW). Indeed, in 1996, 64% of schools nationwide had WWW access (Coley et al., 1997).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;fullpost&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Technological resources abound for teachers of all subject areas and all grade levels, but for many reasons, such instructional technology seems to lend itself to the social studies at least as well as for any other subject area (Braun et al., 1998). Certainly this is true in the realm of economic education (Boldt et al., 1994). Leu, et al. (1997), however, found that many teachers who tried to employ the WWW in their teaching lacked the skills needed to efficiently use the resource. As a result, these teachers and their students often wasted time endlessly &quot;surfing&quot; the WWW for content-specific sites. In an attempt to aid the economic educator in using the WWW more efficiently and effectively in classroom instruction, this ERIC Digest provides an overview of WWW sites that can be used to improve instruction in K-12 economic education. This review will follow the major categories of WWW usage outlined by Leu et al., (1997) and others in this field: (1) The World Wide Web as a teacher resource, (2) The World Wide Web as a student resource, and (3) interactive World Wide Web-based lessons.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS&lt;br /&gt;Teachers who use the WWW as an instructional resource are interested in acquiring knowledge of economic concepts and principles (e.g., supply and demand, marginal cost, etc.) and in identifying instructional plans that might be used to teach these various economics concepts. The following WWW sites are excellent examples:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON ECONOMIC EDUCATION (NCEE) WEBSITE&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;http://nationalcouncil.org&gt; provides descriptions of the NationalCouncil and its two outreach programs, EconomicsAmerica andEconomicsInternational. Readers can access an on-line version of the NCEEcurriculum catalog and order materials. In addition, each of the 20&quot;Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics&quot; (Meszaros 1997) can beprinted or downloaded from a link at this site. These &quot;Standards&quot; includestudent performance benchmarks that outline what economic content shouldbe covered at various grade levels.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* EcEdWeb &lt;http://ecedweb.unomaha.edu&gt;, developed by the University of Nebraska at Omaha&#39;s (UNO) Center for Economic Education, is the most comprehensive economic education site on the WWW. EcEdWeb provides support for economics teachers across all grade levels in its &quot;Economics Resources for K-12 Teachers&quot; section. Here teachers can access curriculum materials, including lesson plans for teaching various economics concepts, suggestions for integrating the WWW into teaching, and useful Internet and WWW sites for developing both teacher and student background in economics. Perhaps the most useful aspect of EcEdWeb for economic educators is the link to the homepage for &quot;Economics is Elementary,&quot; a course offered by the UNO Center for Economic Education. Here teachers can find the course reading list, links to other economics lessons and Web sites, and a variety of Web-based ideas for incorporating economics into the elementary grades.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* CyberTeach &lt;http://www.economicsamerica.org/econedlink/cyberteach/index.html&gt; provides an overview of using the WWW to teach economics. Readers can access a guide that makes it easy for teachers to access web sites that inform and enliven any economics curriculum. These sites include information on basic web skills, provide examples of lessons that teach economic concepts, and give step-by-step instructions on how to construct economics lessons using the Internet.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* CyberEconomics &lt;http://ingrimayne.saintjoe.edu/econ/&gt; is a multi-media site designed to provide an interactive supplement to a course on the principles of economics. The author of CyberEconomics has developed a complete, hypertext-based course in introductory microeconomic and macroeconomic concepts. Classroom teachers searching for answers to their economic content questions should begin their search here.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;INFORMATIONAL RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS&lt;br /&gt;When students use the WWW to acquire knowledge and gather information, they can &quot;expand their understanding of important concepts and communicate these ideas more effectively&quot; (Leu, et al. 1997, 14). Indeed, one of the most powerful aspects of the WWW is its ability to provide access to the most up-to-date information available. Carr (1994) indicated that the use of current information about economics found in newspapers and magazines could enhance all students&#39; understanding and appreciation of economics. Several of the following student resource sites provide access to, in some cases, up-to-the minute economic information.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* USA Today&#39;s Economy Track &lt;http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/econ0001.htm&gt; provides students with practical articles and statistics on all aspects of the United States&#39; economic conditions. Many of the charts and graphs can be downloaded and used to develop data analysis lessons.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* Orley Amos&#39; Pedestrian&#39;s Guide to the Economy &lt;http://amos.bus.okstate.edu/guide/&gt; was written and is maintained by a professor of economics at Oklahoma State University. Using simple, easy to understand terms, Professor Amos explains even very difficult economic concepts clearly. The text is hyper-linked to an on-line glossary of economic terms and the topics of the case studies discussed (education, professional sports, etc.) are all relevant to students&#39; lives. An interesting feature of this site is the &quot;self-test&quot; on a variety of economic topics that readers can take, submit for corrections, and receive feedback on.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* EconomicsMinute &lt;http://www.economicsamerica.org/econedlink/minute/index.html&gt; helps students explore the economics behind the news of the week. EconomicsMinute provides links to newspapers and news channels, classroom discussion questions, and suggested classroom activities, all of which can enhance current events discussions in any subject area.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;INTERACTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES&lt;br /&gt;The final category of WWW usage involves students going beyond simply using the WWW as an information resource and actually participating in on-line instructional activities. Perhaps the best model of this type of activity is the WebQuest (Dodge 1995). These interactive modules require students to complete a specific, content-oriented task for which all necessary resources are embedded in the on-line lesson using hypertext. Several of the examples listed below employ a modified WebQuest design.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* NetNewsLine &lt;http://www.economicsamerica.org/econedlink/newsline/index.html&gt; is a recent addition to the NCEE Website and is co-sponsored by MCI. NetNewsLine features truly interactive Web-based lessons developed around timely topics in economics (e.g., the &quot;economics&quot; of professional sports). Students are given a variety of tasks--including conducting research and creating reports--all of which must be completed using WWW-based resources.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* SMG2000 &lt;http://www.smg2000.org/&gt; is an on-line simulation of the popular Securities Industry Association&#39;s Stock Market Game (Wood et al., 1992). SMG2000 is a new version of The Stock Market Game. Students are given a hypothetical account of $100,000 and enter their transactions using the Internet. Students can access their portfolios the following business day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* Escape from Knab &lt;http://www.escapefromknab.com/index.html&gt; is an on-line simulation in which students venture to planet Knab (&quot;a strange and slimy place&quot;) and, in order to survive, must make a number of successful decisions after weighing various consequences. Because students must engage in cost-benefit analysis and allocate scarce resources, this simulation provides several economics-based teaching opportunities.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;CONCLUSION&lt;br /&gt;The WWW is a powerful resource for all economic educators and their students. This ERIC Digest has provided an overview of several WWW-based resources for teaching and learning K-12 economics. While this list is necessarily truncated, the sites presented here can be considered among the best and are certainly an excellent place for the neophyte user to begin.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;REFERENCES AND ERIC RESOURCES&lt;br /&gt;Boldt, David J. &quot;The Internet: A Curriculum Warehouse for Social Studies Teachers.&quot; SOCIAL STUDIES 86 (May/June 1995): 105-112. EJ 510 826.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Boldt, David J., Leland Gustafson, and Jack Johnson. &quot;The Internet: A Resource in the Teaching of Economics and Beyond.&quot; BUSINESS EDUCATION FORUM 49 (October, 1994): 23-26. EJ 490 455.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Braun, Joseph, Phyllis Fernlund, and Charles White. TECHNOLOGY TOOLS IN THE SOCIAL STUDIES CLASSROOM. Wilsonville, OR: Franklin, Beedle and Associates, 1998.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Carr, Fred M. &quot;Enhancing K-12 Economic Education with Contemporary Information Resources.&quot; CLEARINGHOUSE 67 (July/August 1994): 348-353. EJ 490 768.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Coley, Richard, John Cradler, and Penelope K. Engel. COMPUTERS AND CLASSROOMS: THE STATUS OF TECHNOLOGY IN U.S. SCHOOLS. Policy Information Report. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service, 1997. ED 412 893.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dodge, Bernie. &quot;WebQuests: A Technique for Internet-Based Learning.&quot; DISTANCE EDUCATOR 1 (Summer 1995): 10-13. EJ 518 478.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Leu, Donald, Deborah Diadiun Leu, and Katherine R. Len. TEACHING WITH THE INTERNET: LESSONS FROM THE CLASSROOM. Norwood, MA: Christopher Gordon Publishers, 1997. ED 412 922.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Meszaros, Bonnie. &quot;Economic Standards: A Guide for Curriculum Planners.&quot; SOCIAL EDUCATION 61 (October 1997): 324-27. EJ 557 561.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wood, William C., and Alice M. Agogino. &quot;Engineering Courseware Content Delivery.&quot; JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE 47 (November 1996): 863-869. EJ 539 652.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wood, William C., and others. &quot;The Stock Market Game: Classroom Use and Strategy.&quot; JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC EDUCATION 23 (Summer 1992): 236-246. EJ 458 441.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yoshimura, Miles. &quot;Economics Internet Sites for Reference Librarians.&quot; REFERENCE LIBRARIAN 57 (1997): 127-137. EJ 552 609.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style:italic;&quot;&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ericdigests.org/1999-2/web.htm&quot;&gt;ERIC&lt;/a&gt; Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education Bloomington IN.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/4805082142278423657/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=4805082142278423657&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/4805082142278423657'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/4805082142278423657'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/06/world-wide-web-resources-for-teaching.html' title='World Wide Web Resources for Teaching'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-7931836445807408948</id><published>2008-05-30T05:58:00.007+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-23T04:48:49.978+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Education Tips"/><title type='text'>When Teacher Make a Mistake</title><content type='html'>&lt;em&gt;Review Articel&lt;/em&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Any body may make mistakes. Teacher also make mistakes when teach. What should we do when we make a mistake in teaching? Wendy Petty from EducationWorld.com gives tips to us. She said &lt;br /&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&quot;I&#39;ve watched a math teacher make a careless mistake during a mini-lesson, and no one said anything during the long minutes that the mistake remained on the chalkboard. I&#39;ve wondered, &quot;Do the students not notice? Or do they think it&#39;s disrespectful to correct the teacher?&quot;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;fullpost&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Read the complete articel to get the great ideas to face our mistake. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/mathchat/mathchat011.shtml&quot;&gt;Here ....&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/7931836445807408948/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=7931836445807408948&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/7931836445807408948'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/7931836445807408948'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/05/even-teachers-make-mistakes.html' title='When Teacher Make a Mistake'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-2658971120522283188</id><published>2008-05-30T05:06:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-11T22:36:34.552+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Education Tips"/><title type='text'>Teacher Tips</title><content type='html'>The Tips below come from teachers who gives commentary on Help4teachers.com newslatter, i will update here more ...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;On every assessment that affects student grades, I always put their current grade in the bottom left corner of their paper. This way they get immediate feedback on how this affected their grade and know their status in the course.  Heather Netland, Parkers Prairie High School, MN&lt;li&gt;Use Hip-Hop to teach poetry and figurative language.  Nora Kings, Four Directions Charter School, Minneapolis, MN.&lt;li&gt;Use large, &quot;rich&quot; words to encourage students to ask, &quot;What&#39;s that mean?&quot;.  Jane Bartlett, Parkers Prairie Elem., MN&lt;li&gt;For small group discussions, I give each student 3 paper clips.  Put one cup in the center of the group.  Each time you share an idea, you put one of your paper clips in the cup. When you&#39;re out of clips, you need to hold off any more ideas until others are finished.  Discussion goes til all clips are in the cup then we share our discussions between groups.  (no name) Workshop participant, MN.&lt;li&gt;Each row of desks is named by the days of the week. Students line up for lunch, recess, etc. according to what day it is.  This way everyone gets a chance for the front of the line. ( a big deal for 2nd graders). Colleen Brandt, Rothsay Public, MN.&lt;span=&quot;fullpost&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;Change your phone voice mail daily to announce your homework assignment.  Parents also appreciate knowing even if there isn&#39;t homework.  This works well for absent students too. Cathy Malotka, Saginaw Public Schools, MI.&lt;li&gt;Never throw away those &quot;junk&quot; refrigerator magnets. Just rubber-cement things to them to post material on your magnetic white board. Roger Bachmeir, Long-Prairie Grey Eagle middle, MN.&lt;li&gt;Have students write positive affirmations about each other. Then place a positive affirmation on the student&#39;s desk.  Tamera Peterson, Rothsay Public School, MN.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/2658971120522283188/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=2658971120522283188&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/2658971120522283188'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/2658971120522283188'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/05/discovering-writers-within.html' title='Teacher Tips'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-6729208751112564185</id><published>2008-05-30T04:33:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-05-31T00:53:50.866+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Education"/><title type='text'>Constructivism in Teacher Education</title><content type='html'>&lt;strong&gt;Constructivism in Teacher Education: Considerations for Those Who Would Link Practice to Theory.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;ERIC Digest, Abdal-Haqq, Ismat&lt;/em&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;In recent years, constructivism has received considerable attention in education scholarship, practitioner preparation, and policy formation (MacKinnon &amp; Scarff-Seatter, 1997; Richardson, 1997; Teets &amp; Starnes, 1996). It has been heralded as a more natural, relevant, productive, and empowering framework for instructing both P-12 and teacher education students (Cannella &amp; Reiff, 1994). This Digest identifies major forms of constructivism and considers issues and challenges that surface when implementing constructivist approaches to preservice and inservice teacher education.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WHAT IS CONSTRUCTIVISM?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Constructivism is an epistemology, a learning or meaning-making theory, that offers an explanation of the nature of knowledge and how human beings learn. It maintains that individuals create or construct their own new understandings or knowledge through the interaction of what they already know and believe and the ideas, events, and activities with which they come in contact (Cannella &amp; Reiff, 1994; Richardson, 1997). Knowledge is acquired through involvement with content instead of imitation or repetition (Kroll &amp; LaBoskey, 1996). Learning activities in constructivist settings are characterized by active engagement, inquiry, problem solving, and collaboration with others. Rather than a dispenser of knowledge, the teacher is a guide, facilitator, and co-explorer who encourages learners to question, challenge, and formulate their own ideas, opinions, and conclusions. &quot;Correct&quot; answers and single interpretations are de-emphasized.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;fullpost&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As an approach to teaching, constructivism may be examined as much for what it is NOT as for what it is. It challenges what Oldfather, Bonds, and Bray (1994) characterize as the default mode in education--an empiricist/reductionist approach to teaching and learning. They cite Freire who considers this approach to be a &quot;banking&quot; model--the teacher fills students with deposits of information considered by the teacher to be true knowledge, and the students store these deposits, intact, until needed. Cannella &amp; Reiff (1994) label these traditional models didactic, memory-oriented transmission models. Constructivists generally maintain that when information is acquired through transmission models, it is not always well integrated with prior knowledge and is often accessed and articulated only for formal academic occasions such as exams (Richardson, 1997). Constructivist approaches, in contrast, are regarded as producing greater internalization and deeper understanding than traditional methods. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While there are commonly accepted attributes of constructivism, there are also different interpretations of it. Vadeboncoeur (1997) identifies three significant strands within these interpretations--Piagetian, sociocultural, and emancipatory constructivism--strands differentiated primarily by (1) the subject of study, (2) views about how cognitive forms develop, and (3) &quot;the liberatory power of the pedagogical approaches derived&quot; (p. 22). In general, two broad interpretations can be found among contemporary educators--psychological constructivism, most notably articulated by Piaget, and social constructivism, associated with Vygotsky. Two major issues shape these interpretations: (1) education for individual development versus education for social transformation and (2) the degree of influence that social context has on individual cognitive development (Richardson, 1997; Vadeboncoeur, 1997). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTIVISM&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Psychological or Piagetian constructivists generally regard the purpose of education as educating the individual child in a fashion that supports the child&#39;s interests and needs; consequently, the child is the subject of study, and individual cognitive development is the emphasis. Learning is primarily an individualistic enterprise. This is a child-centered approach that seeks to identify, through scientific study, the natural path of cognitive development (Vadeboncoeur, 1997). This approach assumes that students come to classrooms with ideas, beliefs, and opinions that need to be altered or modified by a teacher who facilitates this alteration by devising tasks and questions that create dilemmas for students. Knowledge construction occurs as a result of working through these dilemmas. Characteristic instructional practices include &quot;discovery learning&quot; and hands-on activities, such as using manipulatives; student tasks that challenge existing concepts and thinking processes; and questioning techniques that probe students&#39; beliefs and encourage examination and testing of those beliefs (Richardson, 1997). &lt;br /&gt;To a large extent, this approach assumes that development is an ingrained, natural, biological process that is pretty much the same for all individuals, regardless of gender, class, race, or the social or cultural context in which learning and living take place (Vadeboncoeur, 1997). Internal development is the focus of the teaching environment, and the social and historical context, as well as issues of power, authority, and the place of formal knowledge in the learning environment are not emphasized (Richardson, 1997). It is essentially a decontextualized approach to learning and teaching. Critics of the psychological constructivist approach deprecate its lack of attention to &quot;the influence of the classroom culture and the broader social context&quot; (Vadeboncoeur, 1997), as well as disregard for power issues, particularly power issues related to knowledge production (Martin, 1994; Richardson, 1997; Vadeboncoeur, 1997). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Social or Vygotskian constructivism emphasizes education for social transformation and reflects a theory of human development that situates the individual within a sociocultural context. Individual development derives from social interactions within which cultural meanings are shared by the group and eventually internalized by the individual (Richardson, 1997). Individuals construct knowledge in transaction with the environment, and in the process both the individual and the environment are changed. The subject of study is the dialectical relationship between the individual and the social and cultural milieu. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Schools are the sociocultural settings where teaching and learning take place and where &quot;cultural tools,&quot; such as reading, writing, mathematics, and certain modes of discourse are utilized (Richardson, 1997). This approach assumes that theory and practice do not develop in a vacuum; they are shaped by dominant cultural assumptions (Martin, 1994; O&#39;Loughlin, 1995). Both formal knowledge, the subject of instruction, and the manner of its presentation are influenced by the historical and cultural environment that generated them. To accomplish the goals of social transformation and reconstruction, the context of education must be deconstructed, and the cultural assumptions, power relationships, and historical influences that undergird it must be exposed, critiqued, and, when necessary, altered (Myers, 1996). Variants of social constructivism include situated constructivism, social reconstructivism, sociocultural constructivism, sociohistorical constructivism, and emancipatory constructivism. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CONSTRUCTIVIST FRAMEWORKS IN TEACHER EDUCATION&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While it may inform and influence practice, constructivism is a theory of learning, not a theory of teaching (Wolffe &amp; McMullen, 1996), and translating theory to practice is both difficult and imprecise (MacKinnon &amp; Scarf-Seatter, 1997). However, education literature documents several large- and small-scale efforts to do so (DeJong &amp; Grooms, 1996; Kaufman, 1996; Richardson, 1997). For example, as part of a statewide education reform initiative, University of Louisville faculty, supported by funding from the Kentucky Department of Education, developed 11 guiding principles and possible indicators of constructivist teaching (Fischetti, Dittmer, &amp; Kyle, 1996). The venerable Foxfire Project devised 11 core practices that reflect the constructivist underpinnings of the Foxfire approach to teaching and professional development, which has evolved over a 30-year period (Teets &amp; Starnes, 1996). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Constructivist teacher education generally reflects two major traditions--the developmental and social reconstructionist traditions (Canella &amp; Reiff, 1994). Programs influenced by the developmental tradition attempt to teach students how to teach in a constructivist, generally Piagetian, manner. They are typically characterized by substantial direct instruction in theory and practice, often without complementary opportunities for inquiry, discovery, or self-examination. This approach can easily become overly prescriptive. If this occurs, the teacher educator models an approach to teaching that is essentially antithetical to the approach students are intended to employ in their future classrooms (Oldfather, Bonds, &amp; Bray, 1994). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Programs influenced by social reconstructionist tradition attempt to help teacher education students deconstruct their own prior knowledge and attitudes, comprehend how these understandings evolved, explore the effects they have on actions and behavior, and consider alternate conceptions and premises that may be more serviceable in teaching. Critical analysis and structured reflection on formal course knowledge and everyday practical experience are incorporated. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Richardson (1997) identifies two factors that appear to affect the approach teachers and teacher educators take in forming constructivist settings--the extent to which the social is acknowledged as a critical factor in learning and individual cognitive development and the specific content, subject matter, or discipline. Some subjects, such as mathematics, are more &quot;bounded&quot; than others by rules, formulae, and procedures. They are more likely to be regarded by teachers as producing problems and tasks to which there are &quot;correct&quot; answers. Individual interpretations and construction of ideas and concepts are less likely to be encouraged by teachers than in subjects such as literature and writing. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CHALLENGES&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The overarching challenge constructivism presents to teachers and teacher educators is the formidable task of translating a learning theory into a theory of teaching (MacKinnon &amp; Scarff-Seatter, 1997), which in turn raises questions about what teachers need to know and be able to do. For teacher educators, among other tasks, this involves balancing the need to acknowledge the different discipline-specific requirements of teaching with the need to model constructivist methods in teacher education courses and practicums. Richardson (1997) also notes the limits of a perspective on teaching that values students&#39; understandings at the expense of &quot;right&quot; answers. Student knowledge becomes idiosyncratic; 30 different students may arrive at 30 different understandings or interpretations of a concept, all of which are not equally appropriate. Inappropriately applied, constructivist approaches may lead to the &quot;abandonment&quot; style of teaching (MacKinnon &amp; Scarff-Seatter, 1997). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Several authors cite the importance of teacher educators&#39; modeling constructivist approaches that engage students in interdisciplinary exploration, collaborative activity, and field-based opportunities for experiential learning, reflection, and self-examination (Kaufman, 1996; Kroll &amp; LaBosky, 1996) if future teachers are to be able to employ these strategies in schools. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To derive culturally relevant and socially just pedagogy and practice from constructivist epistemologies, Martin (1994) and Vadeboncoeur (1997) urge teacher educators to deconstruct and scrutinize cultural assumptions that underlie various interpretations of constructivism to expose how social beliefs have influenced the development of theory and practices. Without such scrutiny, societal inequities and historical forms of oppression may be perpetuated in supposedly constructivist classrooms, and the very constraints on individual development constructivists seek to remove or ameliorate will be reinforced. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A final challenge faced by educators is the pitfall of regarding constructivism as the only viable theoretical framework for teaching and learning. It is one way of thinking about how knowledge and understanding are formed, but it is not the only way. Nor are various interpretations of constructivism necessarily incompatible with one another (MacKinnon &amp; Scarff-Seatter, 1997; Oldfather, Bonds, &amp; Bray, 1994). Prospective teachers should be exposed to varying perspectives and given opportunities to develop the discretion needed to choose most appropriately and the skills to implement their choices. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;REFERENCES&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cannella, G. S., &amp; Reiff, J. C. (1994). Individual constructivist teacher education: Teachers as empowered learners. TEACHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY 21(3), 27-38. EJ 498 429 &lt;br /&gt;DeJong, L., &amp; Groomes, F. (1996). A constructivist teacher education program that incorporates community service to prepare students to work with children living in poverty. ACTION IN TEACHER EDUCATION 18(2), 86-95. EJ 536 849 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fischetti, J., Dittmer, A., &amp; Kyle, D. W. (1996). Shifting paradigms: Emerging issues for educational policy and practice. TEACHER EDUCATOR 31(3), 189-201. EJ 525 345 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kaufman, D. (1996). Constructivist-based experiential learning in teacher education. ACTION IN TEACHER EDUCATION 18(2), 40-49. EJ 536 845 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kroll, L. R., &amp; LaBosky, V. K. (1996). Practicing what we preach: Constructivism in a teacher education program. ACTION IN TEACHER EDUCATION 18(2), 63-72. EJ 536 947 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;MacKinnon, A., &amp; Scarff-Seatter, C. (1997). Constructivism: Contradictions and confusion in teacher education. In V. Richardson (Ed.), CONSTRUCTIVIST TEACHER EDUCATION: BUILDING NEW UNDERSTANDINGS (pp.38-55). Washington, DC: Falmer Press. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Martin, R. J. (1994). Multicultural social reconstructionist education: Design for diversity in teacher education. TEACHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY 21(3), 77-89. EJ 492 141 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Myers, C. B. (1996, April). BEYOND PDSs: SCHOOLS AS PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES. A PROPOSAL BASED ON AN ANALYSIS OF PDS EFFORTS OF THE 1990&#39;S. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York. ED 400 227 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oldfather, P., Bonds, S., &amp; Bray, T. (1994). Drawing the circle: Collaborative mind mapping as a process for developing a constructivist teacher education program. TEACHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY 21(3), 5-13. EJ 492 137 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;O&#39;Loughlin, M. (1995). Daring the imagination: Unlocking voices of dissent and possibility in teaching. THEORY INTO PRACTICE 24(2), 107-116. EJ 512 860 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Richardson, V. (1997). Constructivist teaching and teacher education: Theory and practice. In V. Richardson (Ed.), CONSTRUCTIVIST TEACHER EDUCATION: BUILDING NEW UNDERSTANDINGS (pp. 3-14). Washington, DC: Falmer Press. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Teets, S. T., &amp; Starnes, B. A. (1996). Foxfire: Constructivism for teachers and learners. ACTION IN TEACHER EDUCATION 18(2), 31-39. EJ 536 844 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Vadeboncoeur, J. (1997). Child development and the purpose of education: A historical context for constructivism in teacher education. In V. Richardson (Ed.), CONSTRUCTIVIST TEACHER EDUCATION: BUILDING NEW UNDERSTANDINGS (pp. 15-37). Washington, DC: Falmer Press. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wolffe, R. J., &amp; McMullen, D. W. (1996). The constructivist connection: Linking theory, best practice, and technology. JOURNAL OF COMPUTING IN TEACHER EDUCATION 12(2), 25-28. EJ 526 775&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Republished From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ericdigests.org/1999-3/theory.htm&quot;&gt;Ericdigest.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/6729208751112564185/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=6729208751112564185&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/6729208751112564185'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/6729208751112564185'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/05/stress-busters.html' title='Constructivism in Teacher Education'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239068913217282877.post-1811897747857073291</id><published>2008-05-30T04:17:00.004+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-09T16:54:34.013+07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Education"/><title type='text'>Effective Teaching in Distance Education</title><content type='html'>&lt;em&gt;Author: Mielke, Dan&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;For over 100 years, distance education has served as an alternative method for delivering academic course work to students unable to attend traditional campus-based classes. The format of distance education varies from correspondence-style courses to technologically based courses using the Internet. Distance education offers students considerable benefits, including increased access to learning, lifelong learning opportunities, and convenience of time and place (St. Pierre, 1998). Distance education may be essential for learners who are truly place-bound because of factors such as employment, child-care demands, disability, or remoteness of the location where they live (Rintala, 1998). This digest presents information on the many forms distance education can take and keys to successful teaching with distance education. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WHAT IS DISTANCE EDUCATION?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Distance education is a method of education in which the learner is physically separated from the teacher and the institution sponsoring the instruction. It may be used on its own, or in conjunction with other forms of education, including face-to-face instruction. In any distance education process there must be a teacher, one or more students, and a course or curriculum that the teacher is capable of teaching and the student is trying to learn. The contract between teacher and learner, whether in a traditional classroom or distance education, requires that the student be taught, assessed, given guidance and, where appropriate, prepared for examinations that may or may not be conducted by the institution. This must be accomplished by two-way communication. Learning may be undertaken either individually or in groups; in either case, it is accomplished in the physical absence of the teacher in distance education. Where distance teaching materials are provided to learners, they are structured in ways that facilitate learning at a distance.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;fullpost&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;FORMS OF DISTANCE EDUCATION&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In its original form, teachers using distance education traveled to remote sites and taught a class, or corresponded with students through mail, telephone, or fax machine. Individualized study has been a method of reaching the remote student for some time. Detailed course instructions are sent to the learner who performs the assigned tasks and returns the completed work to the teacher for evaluation and reassignment if necessary. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Technology has raised the quality of individualized distance instruction. The use of various forms of electronic media increases time effectiveness and improves the delivery of information. Video, audio, and computer-based applications may enhance the product received by the independent learner. Electronic delivery can occur using synchronous communication, in which class members participate at the same time, or asynchronous communication where participants are separated by time (Romiszowski, 1993). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Video/audio models of distance education include broadcast television, cable television, satellite, microwave, fiber optics, and audio graphics. The most widely used format is broadcast and cable television (Parrott, 1995). However, developments in satellite and fiber optic systems have produced other successful programs. The interactive capability of many of these networks has produced a distance classroom that is nearly identical to a regular classroom. Teachers and students can interact through both two-way video and one-way video with two-way audio systems. The recent development of Desktop Video Conferencing (DVC) which brings interactive video capability to the desktop computer, further enhances learning opportunities. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The linking of computer technology through the use of the Internet or CD-ROM with television transmission provides a potentially new dimension to distance education. This technique can link university professors to high school teachers, or to physically disabled students, in a distance setting (McLean, 1996). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Another form of interaction is the use of computer conferencing. This method utilizes asynchronous communication in such forms as an e-mail list group, an Internet discussion group, or other types of conferencing software. Asynchronous methods of communication are especially appealing to the learner who has difficulty scheduling specific time- and place-bound course work. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ADAPTABILITY&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Distance education can be used for some aspects of most disciplines. For example, several institutions of higher education already have developed certificate programs, undergraduate programs, and graduate programs in health and physical education that are delivered using distance education methods. Eastern Oregon University, Emporia State University, Kutztown University, LaSalle University, the Medical College of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, and Virginia Tech are among institutions integrating distance technology into their physical education programs. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Traditional programs that are heavily based in skill development and demonstration or require laboratory work can be offered in a distance education framework using interactive video interfaced with computers to facilitate a hands-on learning approach at a distance. Classes that use lecture and laboratory experiences are easily adapted to a distance education situation. Course materials, including animals for dissection, are sent to class participants with video and written instructions and assignments. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING WITH DISTANCE EDUCATION&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Distance education dictates changes in behavior for both the teacher and the learner. The successful student develops persistence and skills in self-directing work. The successful distance education teacher becomes conversant with new technology and develops new instructional styles, moving from creating instruction to managing resources and students and disseminating views (Strain, 1987). Administrative and faculty support for distance education are critical to the success of this instructional method. Administrators should take note that the implementation of a distance education program may allow access to a greater number of students. However, the time and work associated with teaching at a distance exceeds the normal requirements of campus-based instruction. &lt;br /&gt;Students in distance education settings perform as well or better on assignments, class activities, and exams when compared to campus-based students (St. Pierre, 1998). Nevertheless, students must maintain persistence and a clear focus to succeed in a distance learning situation. Self-direction, a passion for learning, and strong individual responsibility are important influences on achievement. There are indications that distance education works best for more mature, motivated, well-organized, and already accomplished learners (Rintala, 1998). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Garrels (1997) describes five critical elements for successful teaching at a distance: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1. Instructor enthusiasm. This requires animation and comfort in front of the camera, or with the technology utilized. Faculty support and interest are critical to the success of distance learning endeavors. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2. Organization. Teaching materials must be prepared in advance; timing, variation, and smooth transitions must be planned. Instructors should allocate from 3 to 5 hours of preparation for each hour of distance instruction. Great attention to detail is required long before the actual classroom activity occurs (Summers, 1997). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3. Strong commitment to student interaction. Whatever the modality used to teach at a distance, the instructor must encourage and facilitate ongoing communication between the students and the instructor. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4. Familiarity with the technology used in the class format. Faculty development is important before beginning any distance activities, and instructors should be trained in video use, computer use, or other forms of instructional technology used. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;5. Critical support personnel. Production staff, graphic designers, and technical staff members will help the instructional setting produce successful teaching at a distance. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CONCLUSION&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The potential use of distance education within all disciplines is tremendous as this application to higher education evolves within our culture. Distance education is not a panacea for the difficulties and barriers encountered in traditional educational settings, but it does provide the potential for greater service to more individuals seeking learning opportunities. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;REFERENCES&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Garrels, M. (1997). Dynamic relationships: Five critical elements for teaching at a distance. Faculty Development Papers. Available online at: Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System (http://www.ihets.org/distance_ed/fdpapers/1997/garrels.htm l). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;McLean, D. D. (1996). Use of computer-based technology in health, physical education, recreation, and dance. ERIC Digest 94-7. Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher Education. ED 390 874 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Parrott, S. (1995). Future learning: Distance education in community colleges. ERIC Digest 95-2. Los Angeles, CA: ERIC Clearinghouse on Community Colleges. ED 385 311 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rintala, J. (1998). Computer technology in higher education: An experiment, not a solution. Quest, 50(4), 366-378. EJ 576 392 Romiszowski, A. (1993). Telecommunications and distance education. ERIC Digest 93-2. Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources. ED 358 841 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;St. Pierre, P. (1998). Distance learning in physical education teacher education. Quest, 50(4), 344-356. EJ 576 391 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Strain, J. (1987). The role of the faculty member in distance education. American Journal of Distance Education, 1 (2). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Summers, M. (1997). From a distance: Or, how I learned to love my &quot;tv&quot; class. Faculty Development Papers. Available online at: Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System (http://www.ihets.org/distance_ed/fdpapers/1997/summers.html). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ericdigests.org/2000-3/distance.htm&quot;&gt;EricDigest.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/feeds/1811897747857073291/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4239068913217282877&amp;postID=1811897747857073291&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/1811897747857073291'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4239068913217282877/posts/default/1811897747857073291'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://kafeilmu.blogspot.com/2008/05/multiple-intelligences-theory-for.html' title='Effective Teaching in Distance Education'/><author><name>Kang Bull</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02093214060012617348</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>

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