Teaching Goals Research Articles

Examining the implementation of UN sustainable development goals in Brazilian universities

Purpose This study aims to examine how Brazilian universities have implemented the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in institutional practices, curriculum and teaching, management and community outreach programs. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on content analysis of the data sets of Brazilian higher education courses and their link to SDGs. A literature review has also been developed to integrate the knowledge of sustainability practices in Brazilian universities. Dashboards will be used to present the related findings. Findings Brazilian universities’ practices have concentrated their efforts on SDGs, which include responsible consumption and production, sustainable cities and communities and quality education. The literature emphasizes energy efficiency, reflecting its prominence as a subject of study among universities. Originality/value This research highlights the innovative use of data analysis techniques to present the findings. It also provides examples of environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, frameworks and tools that can help sustainability management in this sector.

Teacher vs Artificial Intelligence: a comparison of the quality of feedback provided by a teacher and generative artificial intelligence in assessing students' creative writing

Introduction. Writing foreign-language creative writing assignments is one of the goals of foreign language teaching in higher education. Modern AI tools (ChatGPT 4.0) are able to provide learners with evaluative feedback and recommendations for essay revision. However, the feedback quality from ChatGPT 4 and other AI tools is a subject of discussion in the teaching community. The aim of this paper is to compare the feedback quality provided by ChatGPT 4.0 and teachers in evaluating students' essays. Materials and methods. A bank of English essays (N=350) written by linguistics students (A2-B1 level) was used as the material. The participants of the research were 12 teachers of English at Derzhavin Tambov State University (Russian Federation). For every essay, one teacher and ChatGPT gave evaluative feedback on the following criteria: 1) content of the essay; 2) organisation and structure of the essay; 3) supporting ideas and arguments; 4) language of the essay (lexical aspect of speech, grammatical aspect of speech, syntax); and 5) originality of the idea. The recommendations received from the teacher and ChatGPT 4.0 were evaluated on the basis of norm-referenced testing. The data analysis was carried out using the Student’s t-test. Research results. It was found that ChatGPT matched the teacher in terms of the quality of evaluative feedback for the following criteria: ‘content of the paper’ (t=0.24; p>0.05), ‘organisation and structure’ (t=1; p>0.05), and ‘supporting ideas and arguments’ (t=1.43; p>0.05). Moreover, ChatGPT outperformed the teacher (not a native speaker) for the criteria ‘language of the essay’ (t=1.67; p≤0.05) and ‘originality of the essay’ (t=1.78; p≤0.05), which is explained by the fact that the GPT language model was developed based on large English textual data. This allowed the AI tool to be more accurate in assessing specifically the linguistic correctness of a written expression. Conclusion. The novelty of the study is in the confirmation of the ability of the AI tool ChatGPT 4.0 to provide qualitative feedback in assessing creative writing at the teacher's level or even better. The results of the study support more intensive implementation of ChatGPT 4.0 in the process of teaching foreign language and assessing the development level of students' writing skills.

An Experimental Study on the Effect of AIGC on High School Students’ English Words Memory

Vocabulary memorizing is the foundation of English learning, and improving students’ vocabulary memorizing efficiency occupies an essential place in English learning. However, the current vocabulary teaching activities are stereotyped in design and superficial in practice and fail to achieve the teaching goal of improving students’ vocabulary learning ability. With the development of AI, its function for learning is obvious. Therefore, based on AIGC, this study designs an experiment with 60 students from two parallel classes in grade one of a high school in Pingjiang County as the research object. The author adopts the literature method, investigation method, and experimental method. After referring to lots of related literature at home and abroad and conducting the investigation and analysis of the current situation of English vocabulary learning, the design principles and strategies for this experiment are put forward. At the end of the practice, the English vocabulary test and questionnaire survey were used as research tools to collect experimental data, and the SPSS27.0 software was used for statistics and analysis. The results show that AIGC can stimulate students’ interest in vocabulary memorizing, promote memorizing efficiency, and enhance the ability to use the vocabulary.

Learning to Support Students to Reason Through Talk: How Pedagogically (Dis)Content Teaching Assistants Use a Curriculum Guide Integrated With Professional Development

ABSTRACTGiven the potential impact of introductory science laboratories on postsecondary students' science learning, careful thinking is needed about how to support teaching assistants (TAs) to create opportunities for their students to reason about science. Research suggests that teachers are best positioned to improve their teaching practices when they recognize aspects of pedagogical discontentment and also feel they have the appropriate tools and resources to achieve their teaching goals in the future. This comparative case study examines how TAs who are pedagogically discontent or pedagogically content with their practice of supporting students to reason through talk engaged with a curriculum guide integrated with a weekly professional development (PD) program to grow their teaching practice. We found that only the pedagogically discontent TAs developed their use of ambitious talk moves to support more rigorous discussions over one semester. However, we also found that all TAs used the curriculum guide to plan opportunities for students to reason through talk. This research contributes new understandings about the role of pedagogical discontentment for TA learning of student‐centered teaching practices. This research also has implications for designing TA‐facing curriculum guides integrated with a weekly PD cycle to support TAs to develop teaching practices that support students to reason through talk.

Issues and Countermeasures in Chinese FLTRP Primary School Textbooks under the New Curriculum Standard

The New Curriculum Standard (NCS) is the norm and quality requirement of the Chinese national educational curriculum as well as the basis of teaching management, curriculum evaluation, and textbook compilation. In textbook design, the selection of textbook materials should meet the objectives and requirements of the NCS. Since appropriate teaching materials are essential to curriculum standards and effective teaching, we must follow the consistency between textbook materials and curriculum standards to achieve an ideal degree of conformity with the textbook system and teaching objectives and promote the sustainable development of the English curriculum reform. However, the current primary school English textbooks fall short of the NCS, which leads to difficulties in implementing teaching tasks and achieving teaching goals. Given these difficulties, we should analyze the causes from three dimensions: linguistic knowledge, cultural awareness, and learning strategies. In addition, a high recurrence of phonetic knowledge, systematic grammar presentation, diversified learning styles, level grading, and in-depth involvement of cultural factors are keys to the perfect conformity of the NCS and English textbooks.

NGHIÊN CỨU HIỆU QUẢ CỦA PHƯƠNG PHÁP TƯƠNG TÁC TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KĨ NĂNG NÓI TIẾNG TRUNG QUỐC GIAI ĐOẠN CƠ SỞ TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC HÙNG VƯƠNG

The ultimate goal of foreign language teaching and learning is communicative competence. Speaking holds a particularly vital position in the communication process. For language-specialized students at the foundation level, developing speaking skills is of utmost importance. Among these, interactive methods employed in communicative tasks have a positive impact on the language acquisition process in general and speaking skills in particular. From the perspective of applied linguistics, this study employs scientific experimentation to demonstrate the constructive influence of interactive methods on enhancing vocabulary usage, grammatical structures, accurate language forms, attention engagement, retelling, and precise responses of students towards teaching Chinese speaking skills at the foundation level. The research also suggests the application of interactive methods in the development of Chinese speaking skills at the foundation level at Hung Vuong University.

SECONDARY SCHOOL PHYSICAL SCIENCE TEACHERS’ BELIEFS ON THE PURPOSES AND GOALS OF SCIENCE TEACHING: THE PRESENCE OF CULTURAL MYTHS

Understanding why teachers teach the way they do is important especially in a time of curriculum reforms. Hence, the aim of this research is to unpack the secondary school physical science teachers’ beliefs on the purposes and goals of science teaching (PGST) and to check the alignment of their beliefs on PGST with constructivism. A convergent parallel mixed method design was employed. Scale and checklist were used to collect data on the teachers’ beliefs. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews was used to explore the teachers’ implementation of the science curriculum. Results revealed that while teachers agree with the basic tenet of constructivism, their beliefs on the PGST were traditional. Difficulties of implementing their constructivist ideas on teaching and learning reinforced the cultural myths. Length of teaching experience and actual classroom teaching hours were seen as significant factors in the development of beliefs, whereas familiarity of curriculum intentions correlate negatively with the development of constructivist beliefs. Keywords: constructivist physical science education, purposes and goals of science teaching, teachers' beliefs, cultural myths in physical science education

Exploration of Implementation Pathways for Ideological and Political Education in Mechanical Design Courses within the Context of Vocational Education

With the continuous development of vocational education, mechanical design courses have increasingly integrated ideological and political education (IPE) to achieve the goal of comprehensive education. However, effectively incorporating IPE into mechanical design courses still faces numerous challenges. This paper aims to explore the implementation paths of IPE in mechanical design courses within the context of vocational education by analyzing existing teaching goals and the current application of IPE in vocational education, identifying both advantages and shortcomings in the implementation of IPE in courses. Furthermore, based on the theoretical framework of IPE, the paper discusses its application in vocational education and the specific value it brings to mechanical design courses. Finally, strategies for integrating IPE content, innovative teaching methods and approaches, as well as innovative pathways for teacher roles and team building are proposed, providing theoretical support and practical guidance for the effective implementation of IPE in mechanical design courses.

Enduring impacts of collaborative workplace music mentoring for early childhood generalist teachers, music mentors and students

ABSTRACT This study documents the enduring impacts of a workplace music mentoring programme for generalist classroom teachers in early childhood school settings in Australia. The study draws on follow-up interviews with mentors, teachers and principals from five of 11 participating schools one year after the programme. This study identifies participant perceptions of enduring outcomes, enduring effective mentoring, and effective mentor qualities. Two researchers undertook thematic analysis independently and conducted iterative discussions to refine the emerging themes. Enduring outcomes for mentors, teachers and students included: (1) music mentoring as collaborative self-development; (2) identification and realisation of individual and collective goals for music teaching; (3) reflection, feedback and joint planning informing learning; (4) integration of music into daily activities, lesson transitions, school culture; (5) creating a community of music practice in and across schools; and (6) improved classroom climate and enhanced student engagement and positive behaviours. Enduring qualities of effective music teaching included: (7) building teacher confidence and competence for music leadership; (8) observation of expert practice as a learning tool; (9) focused feedback informing lesson planning and implementation; and (10) specialised, collaborative workplace mentoring. Enduring qualities of effective music mentors included sensitivity, responsiveness, situational awareness, flexibility, and subject and pedagogic expertise.

The Integration of Traditional Chinese Culture into the English Grammar Course in Regular Higher Education: A Practical Case Study

In the interconnected global society today, the significance of integrating traditional Chinese culture into English grammar education cannot be overstated, but it is often ignored in the practical teaching and theoretical research. Hence, this study aims to explore this integration in regular higher education to promote ideological and political education and their intercultural competence. Research questions include how traditional Chinese culture is practically integrated into the English grammar course in regular higher education and whether this integration is effectively achieved as well as what suggestions can be proposed for the future English grammar course and research. Considering this, a practical case study in the context of Xianda College of Economics and Humanities, Shanghai International Studies University in China is employed to address these questions. Twenty-nine first-year English majors, both females and males, voluntarily participate as research subjects. The specific research methods mainly involve a two-round questionnaire survey and a one-round interview. One of the conclusion is that traditional Chinese culture can be practically integrated into the English grammar course in regular education by the the strategy of “4-R”, namely “Revise Teaching Goals and Objectives, Refine Teaching Content, Revitalize Teaching Methods and Reform Teaching Evaluation”. This study focuses on adopting Chinese ancient poetry, Chinese opera, Chinese architecture, and Chinese festival customs as the main materials for traditional Chinese culture related to grammar points in this course. Moreover, based on the participants’ feedback from the second-round questionnaire survey and one-round interview, it is effectively carried out and attains the quality goals in the overall teaching syllabus to a large extent. Another conclusion is that some suggestions from students and the teacher are provided for the future English grammar course and relevant research.

Опыт использования проектных заданий при формировании лингвокультурологической компетенции у студентов нелингвистических специальностей на занятиях по иностранному языку

The study aims to describe the experience of using project-based assignments in forming linguocultural competence in non-linguistic students during foreign language classes. The study material consists of final project assignments at the end of sections in the textbook “Zeit für Deutsch” (“Time for German”) by S. A. Volina, G. B. Voronina, and L. M. Karpova. The scientific novelty of the study lies in describing the content and stages of project-based assignments aimed at forming linguocultural competence in non-linguistic students in German language classes, which corresponds with the goals of foreign language teaching in higher education institutions. The results of the study indicate a positive attitude of learners towards project-based assignments in the study of not only foreign languages but also the culture associated with the language. The following advantages of these assignments for learners should be highlighted: 1) application of previously learned vocabulary; 2) assimilation of new lexical units containing cultural semes; 3) motivation to seek new information related to cultural differences; 4) a creative approach to project implementation; 5) a playful nature of social interaction. The use of project-based assignments in foreign language teaching effectively forms linguocultural competence in non-linguistic students, which contributes to the adaptation of speech behavior to the cultural characteristics of the interlocutor, minimizing the likelihood of misunderstanding. This ensures successful and harmonious interaction in the process of cross-language communication.

Research on the Talent Cultivation Model of Accounting Professionals in Higher Vocational Colleges under the OBE Concept

The OBE philosophy is to set the student's learning outcomes as the teaching goal, advocate the OBE philosophy, combine the needs of enterprises in hiring personnel, formulate training plans, establish curriculum systems, design and implement teaching processes, and determine graduation requirements. In order to promote the development of accounting and finance majors in vocational colleges and provide support and suggestions for the reform of vocational education as a whole, we study and explore how to expand the reform ideas of accounting and finance major curriculum systems in vocational colleges under the guidance of the OBE philosophy, and how to carry out the talent cultivation model of accounting and finance majors in vocational colleges.

Rights Quest: A Game for Child Rights Awareness

The interactive video game "A Way Home!" is a serious game for promoting pro-social change by raising awareness of children's rights, as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child treaty. All countries except the United States have ratified this treaty. Through a collaborative effort, faculty and students developed this game using an open-source platform to create an immersive first-person video game experience to disseminate crucial knowledge about children's rights and the need for ratification. Game design guides players through real-world comparative scenarios depicting environments that support or do not support those fundamental rights. Through engaging gameplay and storytelling, iterative development processes facilitated the game's effectiveness in conveying complex concepts, such as the distinction between rights and responsibilities. The significance of children's fundamental rights, such as access to food, a safe, clean home, the right to speech, and freedom of expression, as enshrined in the CRC, are emphasized by juxtaposing different environments and depicting the consequences of choices. Grounded upon the Diffusion of Innovations theory (Rogers 2010), the first step to adopting cultural change is education. Using gameplay elements, including rewards for positive choices and learner guidance instructions, "A Way Home!" rights quest motivates players to explore and understand the principles of children's rights. The player wins the game when they achieve the goal of being heard in a court of law. By combining education with entertainment, the game aims to inspire empathy and foster understanding, with the ultimate goal of teaching about the need for ratification of the CRC Treaty in the U.S. and empowering players to take action and advocate for children's rights. This paper depicts the methodology involving participants (n=17) from one southeastern university in the States to capture qualitative and quantitative feedback through a perception survey to evaluate the first demo model. Results support advancing data collection for the next version developed using virtual reality (V.R.) headsets to further immerse the learners in the experience.

Trends in Chemistry Education Research on Student Transformation in the Philippines: A Meta-analytic Review

Creating innovative methodologies and interventions in chemistry education is essential to promote positive student transformation outcomes. Although chemistry educators are key in utilizing its potential in the classroom, very little is known about its efficacy in teaching and learning. This study aims to determine the current research trends in chemistry education. It examines the effect of chemistry education research findings included in the meta-analysis on using varied teaching methodologies on student transformation outcomes. A systematic review and meta-analysis of a pool of studies related to chemistry instruction in the Philippines and through on site or online browsing were conducted. Results show that the country's pedagogical trend in chemistry education centers mainly on cooperative and inquiry-based learning, which aligns with and supports the framework and goals of 21st-century teaching. Results suggested that chemistry teachers can consider employing one of the various pedagogies and methods that effectively improve students' cognitive and affective outcomes. Heterogeneity test warrants that significant differences exist between the grouped features. The effect size data are directly influenced by the significance of the test derived from each study. Studies with significant results tend to have a larger effect size and significantly affect the study variables.

A comprehensive undergraduate experiment: preparation and chromatographic evaluation of a core-shell stationary phase based on a covalent organic framework

Continuously promoting new curriculum standards is a key aim of the Ministry of Education of China. With this in mind, this paper introduces a comprehensive teaching experiment for undergraduate instrumental analysis courses that aims to improve students' material-preparation and instrumental-analysis skills through practice. Herein, a covalent organic framework-based core-shell stationary phase material (SiO2@COFTTA-DHTA) is prepared via a one-pot method and characterized in detail, after which its chromatographic properties are evaluated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The experimental process includes material synthesis and characterization, as well as studying the chromatographic-retention behavior and chromatographic-separation performance of the material. By the combining theoretical science and experimental teaching, this experiment not only deepens students' understanding of the properties of functional materials and their applications, but also improves their experimental-design and critical-thinking skills. This experiment not only cultivates students' interests in scientific research, but also exercises their experimental, operational, innovative-thinking, and practical abilities, while concurrently enhancing their sense of social responsibility and historical mission, thereby delivering the all-round educational goals of experimental teaching.

Role of Parts of Speech in Utterance Length for Mandarin-Speaking Children Aged 3–6 Years

We investigated the effect of part of speech adoption on the utterance length of Mandarin-speaking children. A total of 209 typically developing Taiwanese children aged 3–6 years participated in the study. They included 90 boys and 119 girls recruited from preschools in Miaoli City, New Taipei City, and Taipei City. We collected children’s language samples in four contexts: conversation (school life), story retelling (“Little Red Riding Hood”), free play, and conversation (daily life). One-on-one conversation with participants comprised the main interaction form. Language samples collected from the participants were transcribed and analyzed; all words in the samples were coded with part of speech tagging. Part of speech factors that could predict utterance length were examined using stepwise regression. The results showed that prepositions and conjunctions had positive effects on utterance length while interjections had a negative effect. Increasing utterance length may be a teaching or clinical intervention goal for some children. Educators and clinicians can consider guiding such children to use prepositions and conjunctions to increase their utterance length.

Exploring History Teachers’ Understanding of the Goals of History Teaching and Historical Thinking Skills in Secondary Schools

The purpose of this study was to explore history teachers’ inclination toward the goals of teaching disciplinary history, active teaching methods, and their experiences with historical thinking skills during their college education and their classroom practices. The qualitative thematic analysis explores how secondary school history teachers’ beliefs and background knowledge about their subject matter influence classroom practices. It focuses on their conceptions of history and historical thinking, teaching goals, teaching methods, and instructional materials. The results revealed that teachers’ educational training and history courses significantly influence their disciplinary knowledge and teaching practices. In the quantitative phase, the findings reveal that the status of teacher experiences and efficacy with all the historical thinking skills indicators, namely, sourcing, contextualization, corroboration and explicit instruction, varies as revealed in the result section. To address this issue, the researchers suggested the need for teachers to update their professional development and incorporate historical thinking skills into classroom activities, fostering engagement and agency, and intensive training for in-service history teachers. In this preliminary phase, we use these exploratory findings and research on teachers’ conceptions of their discipline and practices of historical thinking skills to propose an interventional framework for teaching history.

중등수학교사의 수학적 신념에 따른 수업목표 이해 및 과제 선별

The purpose of this study is to determine how secondary school mathematics teachers interpret the geometry unit lesson objectives in relation to the characteristics of teachers' mathematical beliefs and what main tasks they present during specific classes with the interpreted lesson objectives. For this purpose, a survey was conducted targeting secondary mathematics teachers regarding mathematical beliefs, teaching goals, and task selection. As a result of the study, no evidence was obtained that there was a difference in mathematical beliefs depending on the teaching goals understood by teachers. In general, teachers were found to select class goals that correspond to knowledge and understanding, and only in some units did specific mathematical beliefs appear to influence teachers' interpretation of class goals. Second, there was no significant difference in the level of cognitive demand of tasks teachers wanted to present in class depending on the class goals. However, in certain units, it was found that there was a difference in the ratio of cognitive demand levels. The findings provide important implications for better understanding of teachers' behaviors focusing on cognitive demands of tasks and mathematical beliefs.

Design and Application of “STEM+” 6E Teaching Mode in Information Technology Teaching

The concept of “STEM+” integrates art, humanistic literacy, and social values in the traditional STEM education concept, advocates cross-disciplinary integration, and aims to cultivate compound talents equipped to tackle future challenges. In 2022, the Ministry of Education issued the “Compulsory Education Information Technology Curriculum (2022 Edition),” emphasizing the core literacy of information science and technology and the integration of interdisciplinary disciplines, and encouraging the teaching mode suitable for discipline characteristics. The 6E teaching mode is a student-centered teaching strategy characterized by active exploration and cross-disciplinary integration. This article innovatively designed the “STEM+” 6E teaching mode, which is applied to junior high school information technology teaching, which can better achieve core literacy teaching goals.

The Cultivation Path of Critical Thinking in College English Teaching

In the era of accelerating globalization, the ability of critical thinking has become increasingly important in contemporary society. College English teaching, as an important aspect of higher education, not only focuses on training language skills but also serves as a significant platform for students comprehensive quality training. As education reform in China continues to deepen and develop, the cultivation of critical thinking has gradually become a primary goal in college English teaching. This research aims to explore effective ways to cultivate students critical thinking ability in college English teaching, with the expectation of providing certain theoretical and practical support for enhancing students comprehensive quality and their competitiveness in the global context.