2008年1月14日星期一
My Wriing Goal (From 8 January to 15 January)
Hello everyone, my writing goal for this time is very clear: to finish one assignment of MEDD courses: globalization and educational policymaking in Mainland China.
2008年1月7日星期一
Report of Super Writers Meeting on 8th Jan. 2008
It was nice to have our fist meeting in new year 2008, and thanks to everyone for contributing our group today: Alam, Catherine, Iris, Issa, Jessica, Jun, and Lucia. It is good to see many of group members are changing or reshaping the writing habit in better way!
The reflection and suggestions from group members are collected as following,
- a good piece of writing come from revision, which may develops your ideas while you write.(Issa)
- Write few paragraph everyday and then develop the ideas (Issa)
- Begin to write thesis in early stage: once you read or write, put the writing into the related parts of thesis (Iris’ supervisor)
- Need to know more about taking note in Endnote (Iris & Jessica)
- Mapping out how to use computer in efficient way (Issa)
- Thinking of framework in the mind at night and do it according to the framework the next day (Alam)
- If you have no idea about research, you’d better go out and talk to people, or collect data early (K.M.Cheng’s opinion from Iris & Alam)
Please be free to make comments!
The reflection and suggestions from group members are collected as following,
- a good piece of writing come from revision, which may develops your ideas while you write.(Issa)
- Write few paragraph everyday and then develop the ideas (Issa)
- Begin to write thesis in early stage: once you read or write, put the writing into the related parts of thesis (Iris’ supervisor)
- Need to know more about taking note in Endnote (Iris & Jessica)
- Mapping out how to use computer in efficient way (Issa)
- Thinking of framework in the mind at night and do it according to the framework the next day (Alam)
- If you have no idea about research, you’d better go out and talk to people, or collect data early (K.M.Cheng’s opinion from Iris & Alam)
Please be free to make comments!
2008年1月6日星期日
A Brief introduction of Iris's Research Topic
Hi, dear all, long time no see you, how rrrrrrrr uuuuuuu ? Looking forward to seeing you guys tomorrow. By tomorrow's meeting, I expect that I will have written a few pages for one of my assignments. Regarding to the suggestion raised by some of you that we should publish the abstract of our research study here so that we can help each other better, I think that this is a great idea. Here is a brief introduction of my research topic:
My research topic is concerning the implementation of formative assessment in the undergraduate EAP (English for academic purposes) classroom in the continuous assessment context in HK(U). According to Black & Wiliam (1998), who initiated the increasingly hot discussion on this topic about ten years ago, formative assessment refers to “all those activities undertaken by teachers, and by the students in assessing themselves, which provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged” (p.2). It is believed that this type of assessment which is indeed a normal pedagogic practice in almost every classroom, if applied appropriately, can be very useful in helping students’ learning. But it is still not very clear that under what conditions and by what means formative assessment can be implemented effectively so that students’ learning can benefit from it. Through the preliminary investigation, I have found that continuous assessment approach is widely employed in the undergraduate EAP courses in HK, which makes the proposed study even more interesting because the literature has quite different opinions about the impact of continuous assessment on formative assessment. Some researchers believe that continuous assessment provides an ideal environment for the implementation of formative assessment; the others, on the contrary, hold that continuous assessment works again formative assessment. Therefore, I’d like to conduct a study investigating a) how formative assessment is implemented in the continuous assessment context in undergraduate EAP classrooms at Hong Kong universities and b) what background factors might influence the effectiveness of formative assessment on the students' academic English learning.
Any suggestions, comments, or questions concerning my research study from you is a great favor for me and very very welcome :)
My research topic is concerning the implementation of formative assessment in the undergraduate EAP (English for academic purposes) classroom in the continuous assessment context in HK(U). According to Black & Wiliam (1998), who initiated the increasingly hot discussion on this topic about ten years ago, formative assessment refers to “all those activities undertaken by teachers, and by the students in assessing themselves, which provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged” (p.2). It is believed that this type of assessment which is indeed a normal pedagogic practice in almost every classroom, if applied appropriately, can be very useful in helping students’ learning. But it is still not very clear that under what conditions and by what means formative assessment can be implemented effectively so that students’ learning can benefit from it. Through the preliminary investigation, I have found that continuous assessment approach is widely employed in the undergraduate EAP courses in HK, which makes the proposed study even more interesting because the literature has quite different opinions about the impact of continuous assessment on formative assessment. Some researchers believe that continuous assessment provides an ideal environment for the implementation of formative assessment; the others, on the contrary, hold that continuous assessment works again formative assessment. Therefore, I’d like to conduct a study investigating a) how formative assessment is implemented in the continuous assessment context in undergraduate EAP classrooms at Hong Kong universities and b) what background factors might influence the effectiveness of formative assessment on the students' academic English learning.
Any suggestions, comments, or questions concerning my research study from you is a great favor for me and very very welcome :)
Writing goal
Very much in Holiday mood, but try to finish: 1) a summary of some articles on identity; 2) revise paper; and 3) plan for the coming semester. Issa
Research topic & abstract
Title
In Search of Self: Understanding Teachers’ Professional Learning in the Community of TATEAL
Abstract
This study is concerned with an emerging community in southern China identifiable as Teachers and Teacher Educators in Action Learning (TATEAL), which has been a proactive force in the support of teacher learning and professional development across institutional boundaries for about seven years. Taking a microethnographic perspective to the discourse of the annual activities conducted in the community of TATEAL, this study intends to explore: 1) how teacher learning in TATEAL is discursively constructed in terms of knowledge and belief, social relations, and identity; and 2) what are the enablements and constraints to teacher learning in TATEAL. Narrative and discourse (specifically Foucault’s genealogical approach) are both used to understand teachers’ lived experiences from individual, collaborative and cultural perspectives in TATEAL, as well as to investigate the relations between discourse, power and knowledge of teacher learning in such context.
Issa
In Search of Self: Understanding Teachers’ Professional Learning in the Community of TATEAL
Abstract
This study is concerned with an emerging community in southern China identifiable as Teachers and Teacher Educators in Action Learning (TATEAL), which has been a proactive force in the support of teacher learning and professional development across institutional boundaries for about seven years. Taking a microethnographic perspective to the discourse of the annual activities conducted in the community of TATEAL, this study intends to explore: 1) how teacher learning in TATEAL is discursively constructed in terms of knowledge and belief, social relations, and identity; and 2) what are the enablements and constraints to teacher learning in TATEAL. Narrative and discourse (specifically Foucault’s genealogical approach) are both used to understand teachers’ lived experiences from individual, collaborative and cultural perspectives in TATEAL, as well as to investigate the relations between discourse, power and knowledge of teacher learning in such context.
Issa
2008年1月3日星期四
Karri's research topic and abstract
Peer- and self-assessment as tools to develop awareness of students’ oral communication strategies
Karri Lam
Abstract
The action research focuses on how peer- and self-assessments can develop the awareness of students’ oral communication strategies in group interactions. Three Hong Kong secondary teachers were involved in the study, two teaching secondary 1 and one teaching secondary 2. Similar processes were used throughout two cycles of the action research.
The research project consisted of a communication strategy worksheet and videos of sample oral discussion to stimulate student identification of suitable and unsuitable communication strategies in group interactions; the development of peer- and self- assessment worksheets for classroom use; and target setting with students focusing on areas such as eye contact, clarity and fluency of speech, and interaction with classmates.
The main means of data collection were classroom videos, student completion of peer- and self-evaluation forms, and focus group interviews with teachers and students. The expected findings may include: increased student awareness of the need to respond actively to other students’ utterances; the need for teacher guidiance in target setting; and increased confidence in students’ spoken English, although it was too soon to identify significant learning gains.
Karri Lam
Abstract
The action research focuses on how peer- and self-assessments can develop the awareness of students’ oral communication strategies in group interactions. Three Hong Kong secondary teachers were involved in the study, two teaching secondary 1 and one teaching secondary 2. Similar processes were used throughout two cycles of the action research.
The research project consisted of a communication strategy worksheet and videos of sample oral discussion to stimulate student identification of suitable and unsuitable communication strategies in group interactions; the development of peer- and self- assessment worksheets for classroom use; and target setting with students focusing on areas such as eye contact, clarity and fluency of speech, and interaction with classmates.
The main means of data collection were classroom videos, student completion of peer- and self-evaluation forms, and focus group interviews with teachers and students. The expected findings may include: increased student awareness of the need to respond actively to other students’ utterances; the need for teacher guidiance in target setting; and increased confidence in students’ spoken English, although it was too soon to identify significant learning gains.
Jun's research topic and abstract
Research Topic: Students’ Perception of Spoken English Interaction at an EMI University in Asia
Research Abstract: English used as a medium of instruction plays an important role in internationalisation of tertiary education. An English-medium of instruction (EMI) tertiary institution, such as the University of Hong Kong, is ‘an international university with a multicultural and multilingual community’. The aim of the present research is to explore the role of spoken English for communication, learning and identity at an EMI university in Asia through case studies. Based on the analysis of a substantial body of qualitative data, it may be possible to a) understand and improve the spoken English interaction for Chinese students in terms of language development and the use of language, and b) equip teaching staff and education policy makers with useful information about, and better skills to deal with, Chinese learners in an EMI context.
Research Abstract: English used as a medium of instruction plays an important role in internationalisation of tertiary education. An English-medium of instruction (EMI) tertiary institution, such as the University of Hong Kong, is ‘an international university with a multicultural and multilingual community’. The aim of the present research is to explore the role of spoken English for communication, learning and identity at an EMI university in Asia through case studies. Based on the analysis of a substantial body of qualitative data, it may be possible to a) understand and improve the spoken English interaction for Chinese students in terms of language development and the use of language, and b) equip teaching staff and education policy makers with useful information about, and better skills to deal with, Chinese learners in an EMI context.
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