Sample Lessons Research Articles

Teaching citation to university students

Abstract A frequent comment by academic writing tutors is ‘use more citation’, yet this may not be helpful. University students may have difficulty with citation practices for several reasons. Prior to university, students may be encouraged to develop arguments based on personal opinions. At university, the risks of plagiarism are emphasised. Finally, students may be uncertain about challenging ‘expert’ views and how to assert their own voices critically and in ways that are acceptable in the disciplines and genres they are producing. This paper integrates findings from research that reveals the complexity of citation practices which could be presented as an intricate system network that might be practical for research purposes or for teacher education, but is more complicated than most students need. Three sample lessons are presented to show how research findings have been simplified for teaching students about citation. We are therefore able to compare theory that presents many logical possibilities, with research that presents probabilities and findings from specific contexts, with pedagogical practice in sample lessons that condense and often simplify theory and research in order to influence student writing.

Enriching High School English Lessons with Global Citizenship Education Using Phenomenon-based Learning

This study aimed to develop and validate the Grade 7 English lessons with GCED using phenomenon-based learning (PhenoBL). The local and global phenomena were used in the GCED integration in the lessons. Conducted in a public school in the Philippines during the school year 2019-2020 using the descriptive method and documentary analysis, this study specifically developed a curriculum guide for mainstreaming GCED in Grade 7 English, developed sample phenomenon-based GCED-enriched Grade 7 English lessons, and assessed and analyzed these sample lessons. Data gathering strategies included focus group discussion, a workshop on developing the lessons, collaborative critiquing of the lessons, assessing the lessons by validators, and analysis of the final lessons. A validated researcher-made rubric was used to assess the lessons in terms of appropriateness of GCED integration, relevance to the curriculum, flexibility of GCED integration, and significance of the theme, both the GCED integrated and the phenomenon or phenomena focused in the lesson. Findings indicate that the proposed curriculum guide for the mainstreaming of GCED in Grade 7 English lessons using a phenomenon-based learning approach is highly acceptable while the proposed phenomenon-based GCED-enriched Grade 7 lessons are very good instructional resources for teaching about and for global citizenship. The validators’ feedback improved the phenomenon-based GCED-enriched Grade 7 English lessons. Critical themes and local and global phenomena covered in the lessons are helpful in emphasizing GCED. Recommendations to disseminate and utilize the validated phenomenon-based GCED-enriched lessons and conduct a study to determine the effectiveness of the lessons are forwarded.

The ideas of our bodies: Spinoza’s monism and Vygotsky’s multi-disciplinary sex education (Las ideas del cuerpo: el monismo de Spinoza y la educación sexual multidisciplinar de Vygotsky)

ABSTRACT Spinoza believed that minds were merely ideas, and ‘ideas of ideas’ held by bodies. Vygotsky presented it the other way around: bodies are minds that act on the environment and on themselves. In this paper, we combine these two perspectives to tackle three questions teachers, parents and adolescents themselves often have. First, what role do interests and concepts play? Second, what about emotion? Third, what does love have to do with sex? To answer, we analyse some telling classroom anecdotes, seek a synthesis of Spinoza’s monism with Vygotsky’s materialist version of Soviet ‘sexual enlightenment’ and undertake a linguistic analysis of recent sex education material in South Korea. We also offer a few sample lessons that take an expansive, Spinozian view of health/ethics and a Vygotskyan view of the adolescent transition from mere ideas of bodies to bodies of ideas such as profession, personality and partnership.

Stay in the Dance: Facilitating an Asynchronous Improvisation Experience

The hybrid redesign of a dance improvisation course was inspired by reflection on the essential features of the class experience. Asynchronous online lessons were created to encourage students to move through a structured, cued dance experience and reflect on their learning. This article relates the inquiry process guiding the curriculum development, describes the content and structure of three sample lessons, offers tips for constructing asynchronous dance learning experiences, and reflects on aspects of this curricular structure that will inform future teaching across delivery formats.

O48 Urban, Low-Income Teens’ Opinions on Game-Based Classroom Nutrition and Physical Activity Lessons

<h3>Background</h3> A novel concept for educating teens is "game-based learning (GBL)" or "gamification." GBL is an educational approach evoking motivation and engagement while learning through playing games. International studies have reported successful gamification outcomes, including favorable changes in fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity levels, overall well-being, nutrition knowledge, and peer influence. <h3>Objective</h3> The purpose of this study was to obtain opinions from urban, low-income, high school-aged teens' regarding their acceptance of gamified nutrition lessons, as well as to identify what knowledge they retained when this methodology was employed. <h3>Study Design, Setting, Participants</h3> This was a descriptive study using a purposive, convenience sample of high school-aged participants who were recruited from a cohort that had attended 6 sample lessons at the John F Kennedy High School in Passaic City, and the YMCA in Newark, New Jersey. Data were collected through semi-structured, face-to-face group interviews. <h3>Measurable Outcome/Analysis</h3> Two independent coders performed a thematic analysis of interview transcripts. Findings were discussed until both researchers came to a consensus on the final themes. <h3>Results</h3> A total of 25 teens (12 females) participated in 4 focus groups. Participants reported improved knowledge and perceptions of healthy eating and behavior changes they had made regarding their choices at fast-food restaurants, their intake of energy-dense snacks, their reduced intake of sugar-sweetened beverage intake, and overall healthier choices. Teens reported positive attitudes towards gamified classroom activities. They said the lessons were, "fun," "interactive," and "creative." They were particularly fond of the activities that involved music or sound effects, prizes, and the use of technology. <h3>Conclusion</h3> These preliminary results suggest that GBL nutrition lessons can lead to an increase in knowledge and improvements in the dietary behaviors of low-income, urban teens over the short-term. Additional research is needed with additional teens and to assess this approach's long-term impacts.

Using Context Clues in Sentences by Cambridge IGCSE Students to Understand the Nonliteral Meanings of Words

Purpose: The main objective of the study is to help Cambridge IGCSE students to develop their acquisition abilities as well as linguistic knowledge of figurative language to figure out the context-dependent meaning.&#x0D; Approach/Methodology/Design: This is a type of qualitative study on how Cambridge IGCSE students can develop their analytical thinking skills to understand figurative language through using context clues theory in order to figure out the meanings of idioms and expressions used by authors.&#x0D; Findings: A lot of progress in the use of figurative language was noticed. At the end of the course, students’ megacognitive skills highly improved and turned the students optimistic, after being frustrated at the beginning, to achieve the IGCSE Exams confidently. The study points out the necessity of teaching this type of language since students may encounter it in the Cambridge IGCSE Exams. It also focuses remarkably on the difference between literal and nonliteral language, and since these two are related to semantics and pragmatics, the scope of the study extended to cover the difference between the two.&#x0D; Practical Implications: Through TBD, periodicals help college students develop their listening and writing skills, raise awareness on problematic language areas, and avoid biases in analyzing texts. &#x0D; Originality/value: Through designing some sample lessons, the study tries to assist teachers to get immensely engaged in teaching different aspects of figurative language and how to approach teaching it.

Confronting Bias With Children’s Literature: A Preservice Teacher’s Journey to Developing a Critical Lens for Reading the Word and the World

AbstractGrounded in the work of critical literacy, the authors describe one preservice teacher’s journey as she develops her own critical lens while selecting children’s literature and designing instruction to engage second graders in critical conversations. She helps students unpack their biases and reflects on her own assumptions while becoming more critically conscious herself. Thinking within and beyond the texts, the students began to critically read the word and the world as they saw the power in their voices and actions. The authors also describe three sample lessons that can be adapted for other classrooms.

School librarians online: integrated learning beyond the school walls

PurposeThis study aims to explore preservice school librarians’ ability to develop and deliver integrated library lessons under remote teaching and learning conditions. This study will help school library educators identify the preparation required in coursework to effectively implement blended learning practices as well as identify perceived barriers and opportunities for implementing effective remote school library practice.Design/methodology/approachA participatory action research approach was used to explore online teaching strategies in coursework then implement them in K-12 practice.FindingsThe findings include six criteria selected, developed lessons and the analyzed reflections of the preservice candidates. These discussed findings identify trends in developed online inquiry lessons and suggest considerations for school library educators when scaffolding instruction in preparation coursework. Future planning also explores considerations of access and technology instruction prior to practice.Research limitations/implicationsThe COVID-19 crisis presented a unique challenge ideal for exploration by an educator and candidates in a school librarian preparation program. Using a revised assignment to facilitate a deliberate, authentic experience designed to blend theory and practice (Grossman, 2011), the evidence presented in the sample lessons and participant reflections documents that candidates are able to develop online learning and articulate the American Association of School Librarians Learner Competencies through work samples. According to this brief exploration, this preparation program was able to adapt the requirements of the assignment and prepare candidates to develop quality instructional lessons when online teaching pedagogy was embedded along with scaffolded instruction on collaborative teaching and instructional design. The limitation to this study is that the COVID crisis was accepted as the problem in the participatory action research model.Practical implicationsWhen provided instruction on embedded librarianship models and pedagogy practices of online instruction and scaffolded instruction, school library candidates successfully integrated online K-12 instruction. These instructional supports provided the integration of theory and practice necessary for effective preparation. Additional challenges remain to include considerations of access and student motivation which should be addressed in preparation coursework.Originality/valueNever before have we seen all schools closed and instruction moved online without warning. School library preparation programs must look anew at how well they are preparing school librarians for practice across a variety of circumstances. This study looks at the preparation for online instruction K-12 schools were faced with in Spring 2020.

Exploring Central Tendencies

Understanding and analyzing data is a crucial aspect of quantitative literacy in the 21st century, leading scholars and policy makers to push for more rigorous instruction in this area rooted in statistical investigation. In this study, we examine 144 upper-elementary mathematics lessons on data and statistics topics to assess the extent to which instruction in this sample meets reformers’ goals. Analyses of videos and transcripts suggest that sample lessons emphasized the analysis of data through calculations and graph construction. However, they less often featured statistical investigation, with minimal emphasis on question formulation, data collection, and interpretation and with little to no attention paid to the concept of variability. We also note issues with the accuracy of statistics content presented to students. Results suggest focusing improvement efforts on all aspects of statistical investigation and considering ways to build elementary teachers’ content knowledge of statistics.

Union of Nizhny Novgorod Teachers of Religion: Creation and Activity (1902-1918)

The activity of the first in Russia teachers of religion union of secondary educational institutions of Nizhny Novgorod (since 1915 - all Nizhny Novgorod teachers of religion) is considered. The relevance of the study is due to the revival of religious education in the modern school. The novelty of the study is that for the first time a generalized analysis of the work of the union, designed to rally the teachers of the “Law of God”, is presented, to facilitate the exchange of experience in order to increase the educational value of the course in the context of expanding secularization of public consciousness. It is concluded that the union carried out important work on the analysis of spiritual literature, textbooks, curricula, and sample lessons. It is shown that the lack of power and authority of the union deprived it of the opportunity to influence the choice of new teachers of religion and deputies for exams on the course “God’s Law”, limited its importance in solving the problems of religious and moral education of students. The author has come to the conclusion that the union, becoming an example for other cities, played a role in understanding the teaching theory and practice for harmonizing and optimizing the work of teachers of religion. It was established that in 1917-1918 the union took measures to preserve the institution of teaching of religion at school.

Designing Reading Materials For ESP Students Vocational High School Of Medical Science

The study attempted to design reading materials for Medical Science students at one of Vocational High Schools in Serang. To produce satisfactory teaching materials, the researchers conducted the following steps: doing needs analysis, reviewing the principles of materials design and reading in a foreign language, designing course framework, syllabus, the reading materials, and implementing the sample lessons. Researchers employed qualitative methods in gathering the data. The instruments used were questionnaire and interview. The questionnaire was addressed to students, alumni, teachers and institution. The interview was collected from the users. The needs analysis was carried out by distributing questionnaires. The result of needs analysis, became the basis for the researchers to design course framework. The course framework was then developed into a syllabus. Finally the syllabus became the basis for designing reading materials. Reading materials for Vocational High School applied a topical syllabus. Each lesson or unit discusses different topics, greeting and introduction. Introduction about nurse, health, dialogue between nurse and patient, eat healthy food, profile a nurse, tools, disease, nutrition, the healthy diet pyramid. Each lesson also adopted various reading skills or strategies. They were skimming, scanning, and guessing meaning from context. When the materials had been designed, the researchers implemented six out of ten lessons of the coursebook. The results were satisfactory. Most students mentioned that the coursebook was related to their field of study. The majority of the students said that the materials were understandable and interesting. They also said that they were satisfied with the reading materials

Designing Reading Materials For ESP Students Vocational High School of Medical Science

The study attempted to design reading materials for Medical Science at one of Vocational High Schools Medical Science in Serang. To produce satisfactory teaching materials, the researchers did the following steps: doing needs analysis, reviewing the principles of materials design and reading in a foreign language, designing course framework, designing syllabus, designing the reading materials, and implementing the sample lessons.&#x0D; The researchers employed qualitative methods in gathering the data. The instruments used were questionnaire and interview. The questionnaire was addressed to students, alumni, teachers and institution. The interview was collected from the companies or users that have ever recruited the graduated students. The needs analysis was carried out by distributing questionnaires. The results were then analyzed.&#x0D; The result of needs analysis, became the basis for the researchers to design course framework. The course framework was then developed into a syllabus. Finally the syllabus became the basis for designing reading materials.&#x0D; The reading materials for Vocational High School Husada Pratama applied a topical syllabus. Each lesson or unit had different topics, greeting and introduction. Introduction about nurse, health, dioalogue conversation nurse and patient, eat healthy food, profile a nurse, tools, disease, nutrition, the healthy diet pyramid. Each lesson also adopted various reading skills or strategies. They were skimming, scanning, and guessing meaning from context.&#x0D; When the materials had been designed, the researchers implemented six out of ten lessons of the coursebook. The results were satisfactory. Most students mentioned that the coursebook was related to their field of study. The majority of the students also said that the materials were understandable and interesting. They also said that they were satisfied with the reading materials.&#x0D; Keywords: Reading materials, ESP, Reading skill

The “Happy Slave” Narrative and Classics Pedagogy: A Verbal and Visual Analysis of Beginning Greek and Latin Textbooks

In Greek and Latin textbooks, verbal and visual discourses function together to construe Greco-Roman systems of enslavement. This article is a survey of the words and images of enslavement in five popular Greek and Latin textbooks and includes sample lessons for educators to apply in their own classroom. Based on the theories and methodologies of multicultural education and systemic functional linguistics, the findings illustrate how the linguistic resources of appraisal (feelings and character) and transitivity (agency and action) function to sanitize and normalize enslavement. The accompanying comparative analysis to 19th-century American discourses on enslavement to demonstrate how the use of these linguistic resources are consistent across time and context. Therefore, although systems of enslavement in the Greco-Roman world were not race-based, the presentation of enslavement in Greek and Latin textbooks today engages in racist discourses that permeate the American education system.

Examining the Representations of NOS in Educational Resources

Researchers have raised concerns about teachers’ ability to embed nature of science (NOS) in their science instruction, a complicated situation that is certainly impacted by the availability of adequate resources to assist K-12 science teachers. In light of the implementation of the ideas from the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards in the USA, this study sought to identify and evaluate resources aimed at guiding NOS instruction. A search of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) database for Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-aligned instructional resources resulted in an analytical sample of eight lessons. All materials accompanying these lessons were analyzed for their representations of 10 NOS aspects. The evaluation of these materials revealed a prevalence of implicit, naive representations in the sample lessons (60.4% of all NOS aspects addressed). Examination of the connections to NOS in these lessons leads to a set of recommendations to improve the quantity and quality of NOS representations in future NGSS-aligned instructional resources. The analytical approach used and the issues raised about the presentation and treatment of NOS in precollege lessons are of interest to the broader science education community.

Considering Gender Complexity in Music Teacher Education

Gender is one of the many social constructs that can influence teaching and learning. As trans(gender) people “come out” at earlier ages, an increasing number of teachers will have openly identifying trans and gender nonconforming students in their classes. Music educators and music teacher educators are often supporters of LGBTQA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, asexual/agender/ally) students; thus, these constituencies should expand their notions of gender away from a simplistic binary category toward a gender-complex approach in which all students—cisgender, trans, genderqueer, and questioning—can thrive. To that end, we provide an overview of vocabulary and teaching pedagogies pertinent to gender issues in music teacher education. In addition, we offer sample lessons and projects that could be incorporated into preservice music teacher preparation.

Teacher applicant hiring and teacher performance: Evidence from DC public schools

Selecting more productive employees among a pool of job applicants can be a cost-effective means of improving organizational performance and may be particularly important in the public sector. We study the relationship among applicant characteristics, hiring outcomes, and job performance for teachers in the Washington DC Public Schools. Applicants' academic background (e.g., undergraduate GPA) is essentially uncorrelated with hiring. Screening measures (written assessments, interviews, and sample lessons) help applicants get jobs by placing them on a list of recommended candidates, but they are only weakly associated with the likelihood of being hired conditional on making the list. Yet both academic background and screening measures strongly predict teacher job performance, suggesting considerable scope for improving schools via the selection process.

Social studies without walls: engaging students in online collaboration across district lines

PurposeIntercultural dialogue and collaboration are critical to social studies education. Yet over the past 30 years, schools in the USA have grown increasingly segregated by race and class. The purpose of this paper is to offer a possible response based in digital technology.Design/methodology/approachThe authors describe a project called Classes Without Walls that links elementary schools in wealthy suburbs with those in impoverished urban centers. Students at the two schools engage in collaborative activities through online video conferencing.FindingsThe authors explore two sample lessons in depth: a virtual town tour and a social demographics scavenger hunt.Originality/valueSuch activities, they argue, can contribute toward cultural understanding and civic dialogue.

A feature analysis of regional classroom teaching in the trend of interactive instruction

ABSTRACTThe overall appeal of ICT in education in China is promoting deep integration of ICT technology with teaching. From a regional point of view, intelligent terminals, such as laptop and tablet, were integrated into classroom, in Beijing, Shanghai and other developed cities. Interactive media equipment (whiteboards, interactive TVs and iPad etc.) have been applied in classroom teaching with deeper and broader ways. However, regarding the pedagogy, it is still a challenge to apply ICT technology for the revolution and further development of classroom instruction properly. In order to evaluate the quality of classroom teaching in an ICT environment and support teachers teaching with ICT technology in daily life practices, this study explored, measured and analyzed the features of classroom instruction in ICT environment, according to the sample lessons from a district in Beijing. Based on our prior research findings on Pad-enhanced teaching pedagogy, the “TPOCME Deep Classroom model” was proposed. 66 sample lessons that applying the TPOCME model was analyzed. The study found that student’s Higher-order Thinking, Classroom Participation and Meaningful learning all have qualitative improvement compared with the traditional classes. The progress concerning the integration of ICT in education and teaching changes the relations between teaching and learning in traditional classes. This study also proved the effectiveness of the proposed model and provided a basis for further development. It was an exploration of promoting ICT-enabled classroom teaching pedagogy in China.

Introducing undergraduate research in Numerical Analysis of Engineering Systems course

Undergraduate research has a significant positive impact on the students’ educational experience but has many implementation challenges in curricular or co-curricular activities. This paper presents an approach for introducing undergraduate research to engineering students in a Numerical Analysis of Engineering Systems course, which is typically a junior-level undergraduate course in most engineering departments. A course project was designed to allow the participating students to work in teams, read an assigned research paper that presents an exact solution of a problem related to smart materials and structures, locate the main equations, and write a computer code that uses these equations to regenerate the published results. Each team of students gave a presentation on the assigned paper, the main equations, the code developed to regenerate the results and graphs, with interpretations and conclusions. The project is contributing to the course outcomes and learning objectives as well as multiple ABET student outcomes. Final survey showed the effectiveness of the proposed project in introducing students to undergraduate research, and giving them the chance to understand the technical and mathematical language used in research papers, and experience working on new challenging problems. The approach does not need involvement of multiple faculty members, or large funds and resources. The theme of the assigned research papers is dependent on the instructor’s field of research. The approach can be easily extended to other courses that teach computational methods and tools. The paper presents sample student projects and lessons learned in implementing the proposed approach.

Exploring and Listening to Chinese Classical Ensembles in General Music

Music diversity is valued in theory, but the extent to which it is efficiently presented in music class remains limited. Within this article, I aim to bridge this gap by introducing four genres of Chinese classical ensembles—Qin and Xiao duets, Jiang Nan bamboo and silk ensembles, Cantonese ensembles, and contemporary Chinese orchestras—into the general music classroom. The explanations of original cultural contexts, representative repertoire, and cultural elements embedded in each ensemble can be incorporated in a classroom as part of an exploration of classical music from China. No Chinese instruments are required in the class, since it would focus on listening and related music activities. Drawing on attentive and engaged listening, sample lessons demonstrate the use of these Chinese classic ensembles at all levels to relate the National Core Arts Standards to encourage students to perform, create, respond to, and connect with the music.