The Pedagogical Potential of Environmental Dystopia in the ESP Classroom: Using “Cli-Fi” with Science Students

The paper aims at showing how a well-known website ‘TED talks’ is used for creating listening activities in the ESP classroom in order to achieve the main goal which is to develop active listeners. It is needed when one is talking to another person (interactive listening) or when listening to a talk or a lecture (one-way listening). (Christine C. M. Goh 2012) . Listening tasks discussed in the paper are designed for students of social and political sciences. The syllabus of the faculty includes several disciplines such as Psychology, Politics, International Relations, Human Geography, Mass Communications. The paper presents how ‘TED talks’ might be used for creating listening activities using ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ strategies (Harlan Mills and Niklaus Wirth developed the top-down approach for software development field). In addition, the paper shows how the activities are conducted and what are the results of the performance. ESP listening might be considered as different from ESL listening since each discipline, listed above, has its own specific technical and specialized terms. However, methods of working on listening skills are similar and consists of stages which give opportunity to accomplish the task easily. Since Students who get ESP training are supposed to have experience in doing ESL course, they have motivation to be involved in the process and high interest in order to enrich skills for their professional development.

Studying ESP involves more than simply learning a collection of technical linguistic words; it is about learning how to use English in a particular situation while also including the necessary skills and language learning objectives. The current study aimed to examine the rationale for employing the translation method to teach ESP to third-year computer science students at the University of Tlemcen. This study employed a case study approach. A questionnaire was administered to ESP the teachers in the department of Science and Technology, and classroom observations on third-year students of computer science were conducted. The study's findings indicated that students pursuing third-year computer science courses at Tlemcen University experience a range of difficulties while interacting with professional resources. The proposed translation method in ESP may be incorporated and adapted as an effective technique for ESP teachers and students to improve learners’ language skills related to their academic field. Keywords: Content-based approach; ESP Context; ESP courses; ESP Students.

<p>The aim of this paper is to study the impact of introducing an integrative pedagogical approach in the ESP classes on developing the English language vocabulary of Computer Science and Information Technology students in the College of Science, Qassim University. The study suggests a framework for an ESP course-design employing students’ project work based on the analysis of learners’ needs. The researchers made use of the experimental pre-test post-test control group design where the English vocabulary test was used as a pre and post test. The results reported from this study revealed the effectiveness of the suggested project-based ESP course on developing the English vocabulary for the target subjects. Also, the results show that project based instruction enhanced the teaching and learning of ESP and developed new study habits for learners by promoting self-directed, independent, cooperative learning as well as out-of-classroom learning. The study concluded with recommendations related to how projects can be incorporated into ESP classrooms to develop different language skills i.e. speaking, listening, reading, and writing.</p>

In this paper I argue for using the concept of contribution to activity to understand student engagement with science education and its transformational potential in formal settings. Drawing on transformative activist stance, I explain contribution as how individuals take part in and transform collective practices according to their own life agendas and get transformed themselves. As contribution to science education is a concept based on transformation, not adaptation, it can be especially informative when examining how underrepresented students in science can be more engaged in science education and eventually science. Using survey, interview and group conversations, and field observations in an undergraduate physics course, I put forward Zoey’s case to illustrate my argument and show how her contribution to the activities in the course initiated change in the activity among her peers.

Nearly one in five pupils in OECD nations do not possess the fundamental knowledge and abilities necessary to get by in today's communities (OECD, 2019), which is a sign of exclusion. There is an unfairness in that students from low socioeconomic origins are twice as likely to be low performers, suggesting that social or personal factors prevent them from fulfilling their educational potential. This study intends to investigate the achievement of the 21st Century Biology Skills Test (21CBST) and to compare it to students’ level of socio-economic status. The result (TIMSS) (2015) revealed that Indonesian students failed to achieve minimum standards in Science and Mathematics, with 33.3% achievement in science and 35% in mathematics for content domain and 33,3% in the cognitive domain. Comprising 37 multiple choice items, the 21st Century Biology Skills Test (21C-BST) includes representatives from five domains which are; i) Digital Age Literacy, ii) Inventive Thinking, iii) Effective Communication, iv) High Productivity, and v) Religion, Health and Civic. The respondents comprised 210 form students who took biology subject in school. The study revealed that students from high socio-economic status scored higher than their counterparts from low socioeconomic status. This paper concludes with some practical suggestions for improving students’ 21st-century skills, particularly within the context of biology teaching and learning.

Driven by Coxhead’s question “What vocabulary do ESP learners need?”, this study aims to investigate the quality of vocabulary use by measuring lexical richness (lexical diversity, lexical sophistication and lexical density) of speech production in ESP classroom context. The data was collected from 100 first year university students while performing a speaking task. Drawing on D_tools and AntWordProfiler, we made measures of diversity and sophistication. TagAnt was applied for calculating percentages of lexical density. Furthermore, a scale-based approach was employed for technical identification. The results revealed that vocabulary produced by the students was mainly from GSL1000 word list. Lexical density of the speech was 43.72% and the lexical diversity was moderately rich with a value of D 58.8. This study suggests needs of productive vocabulary in ESP classroom contexts. The results of this study imply that ESP students need a great awareness that they are parts of a particular group. To achieve the goal of learning, they are required possession of disciplinary knowledge and skills of the area they belong.

This paper investigates how action research can be used to develop genre-approaches to teaching using a case study of teaching research article (RA) abstract writing on a course in Japan for science and technology students. This study involved two pedagogies placed within genre-awareness approaches, with moves being taught at different stages for each classroom. In addition to the teacher’s observations and a questionnaire to evaluate students’ perceptions, written drafts from both groups were analysed at two stages. Our analysis reveals that earlier intervention in teaching moves helped students to better construct their abstracts and that language-based activities played a role in improving students’ abstract writing without moves-based instruction. Moreover, the exercise of conducting this study in an action research framework highlighted the advantages of using a cyclic framework which allows for timely intervention based on teacher observation and critical evaluation of the teaching and learning context as the task progresses.

The iPad is a very popular touchscreen tablet computer, which was introduced approximately two, two and a half years ago. It runs the MAC operating system making it suitable for different general and special uses. The paper focuses on the fact how the use of iPads can help education, make teaching and learning more efficient. In addition to the technical, infrastructural parameters, which are essential as much as the userâ??s experience and it usability are concerned, the paper provides a few concrete applications as well. Today, the use of iPads is general either in everyday life, or in public education or tertiary education. The author analysis his experiences from the viewpoint of students, but also mentions applications useful for teachers. Students can use iPads with the appropriate applications in any stage of the learning process, e.g. using notes, course materials, schedules and assignments, cooperation, group assignments by collaboration. The paper also describes such solutions or respectively suggestions by means of which the monitoring of shared content and data can be realized by the teacher. A few professional applications (e.g. used by students of medicine, engineering and natural sciences) are also listed.

The iPad is a very popular touchscreen tablet computer, which was introduced approximately two, two and a half years ago. It runs the MAC operating system making it suitable for different general and special uses. The paper focuses on the fact how the use of iPads can help education, make teaching and learning more efficient. In addition to the technical, infrastructural parameters, which are essential as much as the user's experience and it usability are concerned, the paper provides a few concrete applications as well. Today, the use of iPads is general either in everyday life, or in public education or tertiary education. The author analysis his experiences from the viewpoint of students, but also mentions applications useful for teachers. Students can use iPads with the appropriate applications in any stage of the learning process, e.g. using notes, course materials, schedules and assignments, cooperation, group assignments by collaboration. The paper also describes such solutions or respectively suggestions by means of which the monitoring of shared content and data can be realized by the teacher. A few professional applications (e.g. used by students of medicine, engineering and natural sciences) are also listed.

Olympiads and contests are popular with bachelor students of Software Engineering, Computer Science and other departments educating professionals to be involved software development. But educational role and potential of these activities are under-evaluated and poorly used in the education. In the present paper we address one particular topic that can be introduced using problems from Olympiads and Contests, namely — efficient recursive programming and recursion elimination. Here we understand efficient recursive programming as problem solving with recursive algorithm design. Recursion elimination studies how to construct (functional) equivalent iterative (imperative) program for a given recursive (functional) preferably with use of fix-size static memory. Great computer scientists have contributed to the recursion elimination studies — John McCarthy, Amir Pnueli, Donald Knuth, etc., many fascinating examples have been examined and resulted in recursion elimination techniques known as tail-recursion and as corecursion. We base our study on examples borrowed from the worlds of Mathematical Olympiads and Programming contests. At the same time we use these examples to stress importance of the recursion elimination studies not only for better education but for better and more efficient program specification, verification, optimization and compiler design.

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to offer a systematic review of empirical literature examining doctoral students’ identity development as scholars in the education sciences. We frame our analysis through a constructivist sociocultural perspective to organize our findings and discuss implications for multiple actors and components that constitute the system of doctoral education, with doctoral students as the central actors of the system. Background: Despite increasing interest in the professional identity development of postsecondary students via their experiences in educational programs, relatively little is known about how doctoral students develop their identity as professionals who engage in scholarship. We focus specifically on the experiences of education sciences doctoral students, given their unique experiences (e.g., typically older in age, more professional experiences prior to starting doctoral program) and the potential of education sciences doctoral programs contributing to the diversification of academia and future generations of students and scholars. Methodology: Our systematic literature search process entailed reviewing the titles, abstracts, and methods sections of the first 1,000 records yielded via a Google Scholar search. This process, combined with backwards and forwards citation snowballing, yielded a total of 62 articles, which were read in their entirety. These 62 articles were further reduced to 36 final articles, which were coded according to an inductively created codebook. Based on themes derived from our coding process, we organized our findings according to a framework that illuminates individual identity development in relation to a larger activity system. Contribution: This systematic review presents the current body of scholarship regarding the identity development of education sciences doctoral students via a constructivist sociocultural framework. We contribute to the study of doctoral education and education research more broadly by focusing on an area that has received relatively little attention. A focus on the identity development of doctoral students pursuing the education sciences is warranted given the field’s promise for preparing a diverse group of future educators and education scholars. Furthermore, this analysis broadens the conversation regarding scholarship on this topic as we present doctoral student identity development as occurring at the intersection of student, faculty, program, disciplinary, institutional, and larger sociocultural contexts, rather than as individualized and local endeavors. Findings: Looking across our reviewed articles, identity as scholar emerged as recognition by self and others of possessing and exhibiting adequate levels of competence, confidence, autonomy, and agency with respect to scholarly activities, products, and communities. Students often experience tensions on their journey towards becoming and being scholars, in contending with multiple identities (e.g., student, professional) and due to the perceived mismatch between students’ idealized notion of scholar and what is attainable for them. Tensions may serve as catalysts for development of identity as scholar for students, especially when student agency is supported via formal and less ubiquitous subsidiary experiences of students’ doctoral programs. Recommendations for Practitioners: We recommend that actors within the broader system of doctoral student identity development (e.g., doctoral students, faculty, organizational/institutional leaders) explicitly acknowledge students’ identity development and intentionally incorporate opportunities for reflection and growth as part of the doctoral curriculum, rather than assume that identity development occurs “naturally.” In this paper, we provide specific recommendations for different stakeholders. Recommendation for Researchers: Our literature review focused on studies that examined the identity development of doctoral students in the education sciences. We recommend further discipline-specific research and synthesis of such research to uncover similarities and differences across various disciplines and contexts. Impact on Society: Doctoral students have the potential to become and lead future generations of educators and scholars. Taking a sociocultural and system-level approach regarding the successful identity development of doctoral students is necessary to better support and cultivate a diverse group of future scholars who are well-equipped to lead innovations and solve problems both within and outside academia. Future Research: Possible areas of future research include focusing on the experiences of students who leave their programs prior to completion (and thus not developing their identity as scholars), investigating specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes associated with activities that studies have claimed contribute to identity development, and examining phenomena or traits that are seen as more biologically determined and less modifiable (e.g., attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, and mental health differences) in relation to doctoral students’ identity development. Finally, we recommend that future research should look into the underlying norms and nuances of ontological, epistemological, and methodological roots of programs and disciplines as part of the “story” of developing identity as scholar. Norms, and related philosophical underpinnings of typical doctoral education (and the tasks these translate into) were not explored in the reviewed literature.

This research consists in analyzing the pedagogical potential of three-dimensional teaching models, which were used in lessons of Human Embryology with a class of graduate students in Biological Sciences at Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), RS. Such intervention was conducted after theoretical and microscopy’s classes related to early human embryogenesis. For data collection, an illustrated test with closed and semi-structured questions was applied at three different times: before classes of Human Embryology (pretest), after the theoretical and microscopy’s classes (post-theory test) and after classes with embryological models (post-intervention test). The data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. This analysis showed that the sample performance in post-intervention test was considerably higher than in earlier applications. It is considered therefore that the intervention using models contributed significantly to the process of teaching and learning related to human embryonic development, which contributed to the sample to obtain a better appropriation of that knowledge. In this sense, it is remarkable the importance of building and/or using such resources in initial and continuing teacher training, to allow such tools to be effectively used in different levels of teaching of science.

Environmental Field Days (EFD) are held throughout the country and provide a unique opportunity to involve students in real world science. A study to assess the validity of an observation tool for EFD programs was conducted at the Metro Water Festival with fifth grade students. Items from the observation tool were mapped to students’ evaluation questions to determine the degree to which observed characteristics of the field day are aligned with student perception. The data support the conclusion that the observation tool not only captures the perspective of a trained observer on the educational potential of a field day, but also the perceived experience of the field day audience (the students): Despite the fact that the observation tool was designed to capture an expert perspective on effective pedagogy and educational practice (rather than student satisfaction), 20 out of 26 items correlated between the observer’s and student’s assessment tool.

El presente estudio tuvo como principal objetivo explorar el potencial pedagógico del método del Relato Digital en un contexto nicaragüense. Por tal razón, en éste se presentó el origen de los conceptos relato digital y texto pedagógico. Adicionalmente, se investigó el punto de vista de diesiciete estudiantes de Ciencias de la Educación, de la Facultad Regional Multidisciplinaria de Estelí (UNAN- FAREM- Estelí) sobre el valor pedagógico del relato digital en sus propios centros de trabajo, con sus propios estudiantes. Con el objetivo de presentar el método del relato digital a estudiantes nicaragüenses, se implementó un taller de relato digital en uno de los laboratorios de la facultad. Así mismo, se aplicó un cuestionario para obtener el punto de vista de los participantes sobre esta forma de contar historias como texto pedagógico. Los principales resultados muestran que los estudiantes si ven un potencial real en este método como una herramienta educativa, y también que lo consideran como algo innovador en su quehacer educativo.

This article explores the educational potential of an arts‐informed performance ethnography entitled Across the Tamar, which comprises a series of stories, songs and poems. As a classroom action research project – a ‘teaching experiment’ – we gave three performances to undergraduate and postgraduate sport and health science, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy students at two universities in the United Kingdom. Drawing on data that comprise the written responses of 126 students, we explore the learning processes evident in the students' accounts. Student responses suggest that through privileging personal, embodied and emotive stories, the performance stimulated alternative insights into older women's lives and provoked them to reflect on this new knowledge in the context of their own lives. By considering student responses in relation to narrative theory, we explore how performance ethnography can contribute to learning, critical reflection and transformation among students more familiar with scientific approaches to research and teaching.