Utility Of Teaching Research Articles

Antecedents and consequences of social media utilization in college teaching: a proposed model with mixed‐methods investigation

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the antecedents and consequences of social media utilization in teaching by college faculty.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on literature review, the author's observations, and qualitative and quantitative information reported by 249 full‐time and part‐time faculty members.FindingsThere are four antecedent factors for social media utilization in teaching: faculty personal social media involvement and personal readiness; external pressures from peers, supervisors, students and their employment; expected benefits; and perceived risks. Two factors are important to assess the consequences of social media utilization in teaching: perceived student satisfaction and student learning outcomes.Research limitations/implicationsData were obtained from only one university. This paper includes only simple statistical analysis, although structural equation analysis is more appropriate for testing the model.Practical implicationsThe established social media utilization model suggests that the key to solving problems related to social media utilization in teaching is to address faculty's concerns and convince them about the benefits of social media utilization with examples and sound outcomes.Originality/valueThis study draws on both past publications and first‐hand research; it establishes a social media utilization model about the antecedents and consequences of social media utilization in teaching, and has both qualitative and quantitative data to support the model.

Learning as conceptual change: Factors mediating the development of preservice elementary teachers' views of nature of science

AbstractThis study assessed, and identified factors in participants' learning ecologies that mediated, the effectiveness of an explicit reflective instructional approach that satisfied conditions for learning as conceptual change on preservice elementary teachers' views of nature of science (NOS). Participants were 28 undergraduate students enrolled in an elementary science methods course. A purposively selected focus group of six participants who showed differential growth in terms of their NOS views were closely followed throughout the study. The Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire‐Form B (VNOS–B) in conjunction with individual interviews was used to assess participants' views prior to and at the conclusion of the study. Other data sources included weekly reflection papers, exit interviews, and an instructor's log. Initially, the greater majority of participants held naïve views of NOS. Substantial and favorable changes in these views were evident as a result of the intervention. An examination of the development of the focus group participants' NOS views indicated that the effectiveness of the intervention was mediated by motivational, cognitive, and worldview factors. These were related to internalizing the importance and utility of teaching and learning about NOS, exhibiting a deep processing approach to learning, and viewing science and religion as two distinct rather than opposing enterprises. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 88:785–810, 2004

The Use of Tense-Aspect Morphology in Spanish Oral Narratives: Exploring the Perceptions of Advanced Learners

In a study of the use of verbal morphology in oral narratives by advanced learners of Spanish, eight participants recounted two oral narratives, one a segment of a silent film and the other a personal experience. The learners then commented, in an immediate retrospective protocol, on their use of perfective and imperfective morphology. The reported reasons for their selection of aspectual morphology can be grouped into four categories: (1) the nature of the narrative task, (2) lexical aspect, (3) the role of the narrator in constructing discourse, and (4) the impact of instruction. Some of the reasons for tense-aspect morphological selections have implications for research methodology in future studies on the acquisition and use of tense-aspect morphology, while others invite reflection on teaching practices and on the role and utility of teaching and learning grammatical rules.

Transferability of multicultural education from training to practice

This study discovered strong transferability of multicultural perservice training content to utilization in teaching. Generally, and across demographic subgroups, multicultural experiences reflected the highest degree of transferability, suggesting that this may be the most effective and meaningful teaching-learning modality with multicultural material. Understandings and skills transferred next highest; and these transfers were more pronounced among older, experienced white teachers with graduate degrees. Attitudes transferred least, and this transfer was strong among relatively young and inexperienced minority teachers who had undergraduate degrees.