Vol 11 No 3 - May 2015

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Vol.11 No.3
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VOLUME 11 NUMBER 3 May 2015
Table of Contents
English-Medium Content Courses: Student Approaches and Strategies to Increase Comprehension Levels .......... 1
Darrell Wilkinson
The Realities of Reconstitution: A High Schools Tale ................................................................................................... 17

Todd Cherner
Introducing Productive Pedagogies to Nigerian Mathematics Classroom through Collaborative Action Research
Using a Community of Practice Approach ........................................................................................................................ 41
Dr. Iliya Joseph Bature, James Jonah Jackson, Aramide Kemi, Danladi Remkyes Shol and Nengak Sabo
Blended VS On-Campus Learning: A Study of Exam Results in the Bachelor Degree in Nursing............................ 59
Bjrg F. Oftedal, Kristin H. Urstad, Venche Hvidsten and Brynjar Foss
Dealing with Mixed-language Abilities in an English-Medium University Content Course .................................... 69

Natalie Close
Supporting Cooperative Learning with Technological Tools ......................................................................................... 78

Asst. Prof. Dr. Aye Derya IIK and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gizem SAYGILI
Video Annotation for Effective Feedback and Reflection on Micro-Lessons in a Collaborative Blended Learning
Environment to Promote SelfDirected Learning Skills .................................................................................................... 88
C.P. van der Westhuizen
Application of Contextual Learning to Improve Critical Thinking Ability of Students in Biology Teaching and
Learning Strategies Class .................................................................................................................................................. 109
Hasruddin, Muhammad Yusuf Nasution and Salwa Rezeqi
1
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research

Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 1-16, May 2015
English-Medium Content Courses: Student

Approaches and Strategies to Increase
Comprehension Levels
Darrell Wilkinson
Soka University
Tokyo, Japan
Abstract. Taking English-medium content courses is very challenging

for speakers of English as a foreign language, and various factors
contribute to the difficulty including the rate of speech that the lectures
are delivered at, the technical vocabulary used, and the fact that the
content itself is often difficult to comprehend in the native language let
alone in a foreign language. This research investigates first-year
Japanese university students perceptions of one such course delivered
at a private university in Tokyo. The strategies and approaches that
students use in order to successfully understand and take part in an
English-medium economics course are also examined. Qualitative
research methods including observations, interviews, surveys and
document checking were used to investigate the research questions.
Data analysis showed that students found it difficult to understand the
course content, especially the spoken component of the lectures, but
used a number of strategies and approaches to increase comprehension.
However, the participants showed a preference for the use of pre-
prepared outlines, and pre and post-class peer discussions to better
understand the course content. The results can serve as a guide for
anyone involved in foreign language-medium content course design,
especially teachers who wish to offer specific support to students
enrolled on such courses.
Keywords: content-based instruction; student strategies; English-

medium instruction; language integrated learning
Introduction
In recent years there has been an increasing trend amongst universities
worldwide to offer content courses in a second language (Dale, 2012; Miichi,
2010; Pinner, 2013; Yamano, 2013). This teaching approach was first defined by
Krahnke (1987) as content and language integrated learning (CLIL), which he
describes as the teaching of content in the target language with little or no
explicit effort to separately teach the language itself. (p. 2). This trend has also
gained significant popularity in the Japanese university context recently, with
over 190 Japanese universities offering English-medium content courses in 2008
2015 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

2
(Miichi, 2010). The number of these types of courses further increased as a result
of Japanese Education Ministry initiated programs such as the Global 30 project
implemented in 2009, which resulted in an additional 150 courses being offered
nationwide, and the Top Global University Project from 2014 (Wilkinson, 2015).
The research project discussed in this paper came from an interest born out of a
number of years of involvement with one such course in a private Japanese
university in Tokyo. In the faculty of economics at the above mentioned
university, students enrolled on a specific program receive a great deal of
English skills training in order to not only improve their general English
proficiency, but also to help them successfully take a number of English-medium
economics content (CLIL) courses. All students are expected to come prepared,
actively contribute to the course, and pass tests designed around the content.
Preparation for the courses includes reading the chapters to be covered in the
lecture a number of times, producing outlines of the chapters, and discussing the
content with their peers in adjunct academic English classes. During the lectures,
students are expected to take part in group discussions as well as occasionally
providing answers to the lecturers questions to the whole class. These English-
medium content courses not only offer students an interesting learning
environment, but also provide an effective method of consolidating and
improving both their economics knowledge and English proficiency. In addition,
the program aims to provide learners with the skills needed to study abroad or
work in international contexts (Aloiau, 2008). Based on experience, it seemed
clear that while understanding university-level content in English was very
challenging for the students, they did a very admirable job. Therefore, this paper
aims to shed light on the students perceptions of (a) the English-medium
content courses in general, (b) the materials and activities adopted to improve
comprehension of the lectures, and (c) to discover the strategies that they used to
successfully understand the lectures and complete the course requirements.
Content and Language Integrated Learning: A brief Overview

As this teaching approach has been gaining popularity, especially in recent
years, there are a lot of guidelines available for CLIL teachers regarding
curriculum and materials design, for example, using visual aids, clearly
organizing the content, and providing chances for peer support (Coyle, 2008;
Dale and Tanner, 2012; European Commission, 2012). There is also a growing
body of empirical research in support of CLIL, with many researchers citing
evidence that a CLIL approach is effective in teaching both the content and
target language (Coyle, 2008 and 2006; European Commision, 2012; Johnson &
Swain, 1997; Lasagabaster, 2008; Richards and Rodgers, 2001; Snow, Met and
Genessee, 1989; Yamano, 2013). However, as Marsh (2002) and many of the
authors mentioned above point out, the cognitive burden involved in trying to
understand course content in an second language (L2) can cause significant
challenges to students in CLIL courses. Gaining sufficient levels of
comprehension is seen as major hurdle for learners studying content in an L2,
with issues such as vocabulary, speed of speech, and text difficulty being
common challenges faced by students. Therefore, while there seems to be well
documented benefits of adopting a CLIL approach, it also clear that such an

3
approach is challenging for learners, and they are therefore likely to need
specific skills training and support if they are to be successful.
Skills and Strategies used with CLIL
Although there has been vast amounts of research on listening in a second
language, and some research carried out regarding the difficulties students
experience with L2 medium content lectures, there is still a need for further,
research. With regard to L2 lectures, research to date has largely focussed on the
common features that exist in lectures such as naturally paced, lengthy, and
complex spoken texts (Coulthard & Montgomery, 1981; DeCarrico & Nattinger,
1988; Montgomery, 1977; Murphy & Candlin, 1979; Olsen & Huckin, 1990;
Sinclair & Coulthard, 1975). Some studies have examined what strategies
students use to help increase comprehension and overall success, with note-
taking, vocabulary study, and revision of content materials being common
approaches (Benson, 1989; Flowerdew & Miller, 1992, 1995; OMalley, Chamot
and Kupper, 1989). The authors above have suggested that by structuring
content lectures in a consistent way, and by providing learners with clear visual
materials, lecturers can put learners at ease, and improve comprehension.
However, the skills required in CLIL courses are very different to those needed
in the language classroom, and some characteristics of CLIL courses which
present specific challenges include issues such as the content rich nature,
extended discourse, technical vocabulary, the speed of speech, and the large
student numbers (Coyle, 2008; Dale & Tanner, 2012). Furthermore, while more
and more language teachers are adopting an increasingly student-centred
approach, CLIL courses by nature, are much more teacher-centred or led. In
addition, common features often seen in language classes such as simplification
of language and materials, reduced speech rates, and controlling the length of
texts and spoken passages (Nation & Macalister, 2009; O'Malley, 1989;
Widdowson, 2010) are traditionally not features of content courses. In traditional
teacher-fronted lectures, content information is delivered at more natural speech
rates, and discourse blocks are quite long; often lasting for several minutes at
least. Therefore, the skills and strategy training that students need for success in
taking CLIL courses may be very different than those commonly offered in
language courses.
Gaps in the Literature

As mentioned, much of the research has been aimed at providing content
teaching professionals with guidelines on which instructional materials can be
designed, for example, by choosing texts carefully, simplifying or annotating
texts, utilizing visual materials, structuring classes and content clearly, and
offering cooperative learning activities (Coyle, 2008; Dale and Tanner, 2012;
European Commission, 2012). However, while some of the literature deals with
specific activities or materials used by students in CLIL courses (Davidson, 2005;
Loranc-Paszylk, 2009; Reiss, 2005; Wolf, 2005), there is surprisingly little
qualitative data available on the topic. In addition, how learners perceive the
activities which feature in this study, for example, outlining of content chapters
used in the lectures, and using peers as a resource are not given specific focus.

4
With regard to outlining, this is a widely recommended activity or strategy to

increase comprehension of reading materials, and while there have been some
positive results reported in studies examining the effects of outlining on
listening comprehension, most studies focused on outlining in the L1, and used
teacher-prepared outlines (Tsubaki & Nakayama, n.d.). However, the process
involved in outlining; reading the texts numerous times, looking up unknown
vocabulary, identifying and organizing main points and supporting details, and
then producing an outline which can serve as a guide during the lectures seems
likely to be very beneficial, if not simply as a result of the time-on-task involved.
However, as stated, little empirical research-based support is currently available,
and students perceptions of outlines as a means to gaining higher
comprehension levels of lecture content delivered in an L2 remains unexamined.
Also, while the benefits of peer support have been noted by many, for example,
Adapa (2015); Hattie (2009) and Topping (1996), student perceptions of peer
support in a CLIL specific domain remain unexamined. Therefore, how often
learners seek out peer support, and how they perceive its importance for
successfully taking English-medium content courses is another area for which
more empirical data is needed.
In summary, there is little qualitative data providing insights into (a) how
materials such as those mentioned above are perceived by learners, (b) the extent
to which students use peers for support, or (c) what specific actions students
take to improve their comprehension in CLIL courses.
Aims of the Study

This study aims, through observation, interviews, surveys, and artefact
checking, to identify which types of materials and strategies students find most
beneficial, and why students make the choices they make. While there is some
qualitative data available examining what learners think about CLIL courses (see
Coyle, 2006, for a review of case studies), no studies examining the strategies
that students utilize, or materials that they prefer to use in order to overcome the
challenges of understanding university-level content in a foreign language could
be found. Therefore, this paper aims to offer some relevant and new insights into
Japanese learners experiences and choices regarding content courses delivered
in a foreign target language. It is hoped that the data gathered as part of this
research will help highlight the type of skills training, both language and non-
language related, that students find beneficial, as well as identifying what
materials and strategies students find useful. It is felt that the insights gained
from this research will be of benefit to anyone involved in designing or teaching
CLIL courses, especially at the university level.
Research Questions
1. What aspects of CLIL courses do students perceive as most challenging?
(vocabulary, speed of speech, content complexity etc.)
2. Which materials and strategies do students adopt to overcome these
challenges?

5
3. What are the students views of the effectiveness of these materials in

comprehending the lecture content?
Research Context
The International Program (IP) is offered to economics majors at private
university located in western Tokyo. According to Aloiau (2008), The IP is an
intensive English-medium economics program that provides academic
preparation for undergraduate and graduate study-abroad, and preparation for
students future employment in international contexts. (p. 108). The program
first develops students English and study skills through academic English
language classes offered in the first semester, then continues this in the
subsequent three semesters while students also take economics content classes in
English. In this way, the program aims to systematically build the students
English writing, listening, reading, speaking, note-taking, and other skills which
they need to achieve their short-term and long term goals. These goals include
successfully studying economics in English in their current context, and then
studying abroad for one semester or academic year in their third or fourth years,
followed by working in international contexts (Aloiau, 2008).
In the adjunct English language classes, all students are given substantial
instruction and practice in making materials and using strategies that can help
improve their comprehension levels during the English-medium lectures. As a
result, all students come to the lecture having pre-read the chapter to be covered
a number of times, highlighting key points, and having drafted a detailed
outline of the chapter. These outlines are a mandatory part of the content
courses, and in the early stages students are required to make a number of
drafts. However, in the later stages, the number of required outlines is reduced,
and students are given more freedom in deciding on how many drafts to do. The
outlines, like the chapters themselves, are written in English, and while they are
drafted outside of class, students are given time to discuss them with their peers
in the English language classes. Students have also been instructed on, and given
practice at discussing challenging content with their peers.
Participants
The sample comprised of approximately 120 first-year Japanese university
students majoring in economics, who were also enrolled on the second semester
of the IP. The sample was made up of approximately equal proportions of
female and male students. At the start of the research, students had completed
one and a half semesters of intensive English training, but had taken only half a
semester of English-medium content courses. All students had a minimum
TOEFL ITP score of 440, and can be described as highly motivated.
Data Collection
Observations. The researcher set out to observe the students in a real world
lecture environment. It was felt that observations were needed, because simply
giving students a survey, or carrying out interviews or focus groups alone
would not produce accurate, detailed or holistic information. The observations
took place in the main lecture theatre during the course of the content classes.

6
There was approximately 120 students in each of the lectures observed. Audio
recordings using a smart phone were taken and proved to be an invaluable asset
when analysing the data. As Hatch (2002) and Spradley (1980) both observe, the
level of participation, or participant positionality, is a key factor to think about
when planning observations. In this research context the researcher can be
classified as non-participant observer as he was neither a student nor teacher of
the class.
Interviews. It was felt that the data gathered from interviews would not only
triangulate the observation data, but would add further insights in the students
own words (see appendix 1 for the basic interview questions). Although it
would have been ideal to interview a large number students, only three students
volunteered. The interviews took place in a private office in the same building
where the lectures were held. This location was chosen by the participants who
were given a choice of the researchers office, the library, or an on-campus
meeting room. The participants were used to this setting as they often came to
see their instructors in the same kind of office space and location.
Of the various types of interviews discussed by Hatch (2002) and Spradley

(1979), what has been termed as semi-structured interviews were chosen.
Although the researcher came to the interview with a number of guiding
questions, it was expected that new or extra information would come up which
would require asking unplanned follow up questions, or indeed to even follow a
whole new line of inquiry altogether. This actually turned out to be the case as
all of the participants provided information that had not been considered, and
the interviews went in somewhat unplanned, yet extremely interesting and
informative directions.
Surveys. A survey was administered to a convenience sample made up of the

students enrolled on the researchers EAP course, and consisted of 12 male and 9
female students. The survey (see appendix 2) aimed to add more data and
triangulate the information gained from the interviews.
Artefact Checking. Data was further triangulated by examining student-

produced materials such as outlines, lesson notes, and annotations of course
texts. The materials of all the students enrolled in the EAP class were collected
and analyzed repeatedly over the course of the semester. Students also brought
these materials to the interviews. This data enabled the researcher to see actual
strategies and approaches used, and to correlate this with the observation and
interview data. During the observation, it was possible to observe the students
using their annotated chapters, outlines, and teacher handouts. Then, during the
interviews, as participants referred to their use of such materials, the researcher
was able to have them produce these materials to show what they had just
described.
Data Analysis
Although the data analysis carried out in this study used inductive and
interpretive methods, the methodology probably best fits into what Hatch (2002)
describes as Typological Analysis, and involved dividing the overall data

7
into categories or groups based on predetermined typologies or headings (pp.

152-161). These headings came not only from the relevant literature, but also
from contextual knowledge regarding the types of materials students had
available, the types of skills training they had been given, and an understanding
of some of the difficulties they faced based on previous casual conversations.
The basic steps carried out were based on the advice given by Hatch (2002,) and
can be described as follows:
1. Identifying typologies for analysis.
2. Transcribing the data, and then reading it while highlighting entries
relating to my typologies.
3. Looking for patterns, relationships and themes.
4. Rereading the data and coding it.
5. Deciding if patterns are supported by the data.
6. Writing patterns out in simple, sentence-level generalizations.
7. Selecting data excerpts that support my generalizations.
Findings
The interview excerpts and interpretations below do not represent all of the data
or findings gained from this research, but are concerned with some of the major
issues that were discovered relating to the research focus stated earlier.
1. Perceived difficulties
During the interviews and as part of the surveys, I first asked participants how
they felt about the course in general. All participants interviewed stated that the
course was difficult but also useful and enjoyable, something which was
mirrored in the survey responses. I then asked what in particular they found
difficult, and there were two clear commonalties in terms of their responses:
speaking speed, and answering questions. Some excerpts from the interviews
which show the participants reference to this can be seen below. P1, P2 and P3
refer to the participant number and the three periods () represent a break in
the conversation such as pauses over two seconds, or comments not connected
to the area being discussed in this paper.
A. Professors speaking speed. All participants mentioned that they found the
lectures difficult; especially in terms of understanding the professors spoken
content. These findings seem to correlate with much of the literature concerning
the difficulties in CLIL lectures.
P1: Understanding professors speech difficult, is a little bit fast for me, it is
difficult.
I was really surprized because of high speed In beginning I
understand only 40 to 50%.
P2: Her speaking speed is very fast! I sometimes dont understand. maybe
understand 50% at beginning
P3: (teachers name) speaks very quick, , it is hard to hear, , hard to
understand, so quick.
According to the survey results, 80% of the students stated that the speed of
speech in the lecture was very quick and difficult to catch. Based on the

8
observations, the professor did not speak overly fast, and actually actively tried
to slow speech during difficult concepts or content. However, the speech was
delivered at a much more natural speed than many students may experience
with their peers or English teacher, and I also wonder if it is more connected
with the length of discourse blocks rather than solely speed of delivery.
B. Answering questions. Another area of perceived difficulty expressed by two

participants was concerned with answering questions in class.
P1: Professor asks some students questions about lecture or topic it is

difficult for me we must answer Sometimes we must answer
quickly content is difficult ... what to say, sometimes I am not
confident many students in class so I get nervous.
P3: Answering questions to Professor is also very difficult for me. It is so
nervous for me, so sometimes I cannot answer the questions, so, uh,
difficult must think and answer in English quickly.
Before the observation, this was not initially one of my areas of focus as I was
unaware that students had to respond to teacher questions in front of the whole
class. It was also not an initial focus of the interviews, but after the first two
interviews I became interested in this issue and specifically asked the third
interviewee whether she had answered questions during the course. In response,
she stated that she had not been called upon, but was nervous about having to
do so in the future.
Again, the survey data correlates with the interviews; approximately 80% of
students stated that they found it very difficult to answer questions in class.
Many students mentioned the fact that they felt nervous answering questions in
English in front of the many students present in the content course. During the
observations, I was able to see students answering questions, and although they
did seem nervous, they were generally able to provide clear and thoughtful
answers to the questions posed, although the answers were more limited than
one would expect from participants doing the same in their native language.
2. Strategy Use
A. Use of pre-prepared materials. Before beginning this research, I was aware

that the students have a variety of pre-prepared materials to use in the class such
as outlines, highlighted and annotated text chapters, and teacher handouts.
However, to what extent, and how the students use these was unknown. The
specific questions asked included the following:
1. What do you do/use to help make it easier to understand the lectures?

How do you prepare for the lecture?
2. Which materials are most useful and why?
3. When do you use/refer to these materials?
4. Do you add notes/questions to your outlines/chapters etc.? If so, when,
where and why? In what language?

9
Although the participants did mention the use of textbooks and teacher
handouts, there was frequent reference from all participants to the use of
outlines, some of which can be seen below.
P1: I uh, usually look at outline, and try to find the answer, or connect
information there to allow me to give answer.
I make the outline, I uh, write 3 or 4 drafts.
I follow professors speech on outline.
I write questions on outline about points that I dont understand.
I use outlines a lot for group discussions, I uh, I think many students do
same.
P2: I often look at outlines in class.
I use them (outlines) in lecture and in group discussions.
Outlines help to follow lecture outline points and professors talk is
very similar same order.
P3: The outline is good to understand the class.
I follow the class and make notes and questions on outline. This is
good for me.
The fact that participants seem to value outlines highly, while not completely
surprising, is encouraging in my role as a teacher because students devote a
considerable amount of time to the drafting of outlines. Additionally,
participants also commented on how they use these outlines, and common
techniques such as making notes in the margins and writing questions about
areas they do not understand were mentioned. Due to space constraints, not all
of these excerpts have been included here. Again, observation and survey data
supports the interview data as during the observations I was able to see students
writing on their outlines, and just over 70% of students mentioned outlines in an
open question (what materials do you use to help understand the lecture?) on
the survey.
B. Use of peer Support. A surprising finding was the fact that students appear
to strongly appreciate, and actively seek, peer support. The reason this was
surprising was due to the fact that in my experience as an EAP teacher, students
have voiced a dissatisfaction, or lack of perceived value in peer activities such as
peer editing of writing, or oral feedback on presentations, something which has
been noted by authors such as Mangelsdorf (1992). The original questions posed
were What do you do/use to help make it easier to understand the lectures?
and Which materials or activities are most useful and why?. The interview
excerpts below highlight how participants appear to view peer support both in
and out of the classroom.
In class
P1: Group discussion is good. I can ask the question to my friends. They
can help me if they know, uh, understand more than me
Speaking about economics in English with group member help me
understand what (professor) talked about
Everyone have different understand points, or not understand points, so
we can get different ... view points.

10
P2: I like group talking time because I can get answers from other
students.
I can test my ideas if my idea is OK or not, other student tell me.
P3: In group discussion time, we try to find answer together. we talk
about main points
We have chance to discuss what she mention in class so far. we talk
about main points, ask questions each other it is good. Sometimes my
friends understand better than me so I can learn (from them).
It appears that participants value the group discussion time as a valuable way
of gaining better comprehension of what they have just heard. It seems that the
participants understand that each student has differing levels of understanding
about the various points raised in the lecture, and that through discussion they
can improve their understanding by negotiating meaning together. These type
of issues are noted in a detailed meta-analysis carried out by Hattie (2009) and
the work carried out by Mangelsdorf (1992) amongst others. Based on the
observations, students seem to regularly refer to their outlines or notes during
discussions. The average results of a Likert scale survey question show that
overall students rate in-class discussions as very useful (4.2 out of 5).
Out of class
As can be seen from the interview excerpts below, the data seems to indicate that
students highly value and actively seek peer support outside of the class.
P1: Talking with friends in Japanese about content talking about

economics with friends after class help me understand better.
We talk together before and after class, review is good.
P2: I always talk with friends out of class.
When I do this (talk with friends outside of class) I always understand
I prefer talk to other students before talking to professor.
P3: Talk with friends after class is very good I always try to do.
If have time, (I talk with friends) after class every time. can get many
sides many opinions. We have different understand points so (it) is
good. I like talking with friends about class.
I speak to friends first. (before speaking to professor) They help me. It is
best, better for me. After talk with friends I understand, almost all.
As mentioned above, this point was quite surprising to me as it seems to directly

conflict with students feelings toward peer support, especially feedback in their
EAP courses. It can also be seen above that the participants indicated that they
prefer talking with classmates than to the professor, again this is different to my
own experience as an EAP instructor where many students talk to me after class,
or come to my office for advice. Due to the nature of the interaction above
(outside of class), I was unable to observe this in practice, but all students stated
on the survey that they regularly talk with other students in Japanese about the
course content. However, they also indicated that they rarely use English
outside of class to discuss the content, something that is a little disappointing as
their English teacher.

11
3. Which materials or strategies do participants most value?

The excerpts below show some of the participants comments which indicate
that they seem to value outlines and peer support/cooperative learning as the
most useful tools or strategies to help them gain better comprehension and
success in their content course. Again, although the use of textbook, with
annotations, was mentioned as being helpful, there were fewer comments, and it
did not seem to rank so highly. Students also mentioned that they appreciated
being given a printout of the lecture slides, but based on the interviews and
observations, they did not appear to do an awful lot with these. In addition,
none of the participants mentioned any listening strategies that they use to help
gain better comprehension. Again, the observation and survey data previously
mentioned supports the interview data below.
A. Outlines
1: Very useful, uh most useful! After reading textbook, I understand maybe
50%, but after uh making outline, and discussing with classmates, I
understand much better, maybe 70-80%.
one time I was absent for 2 (EAP classes), so I only make one draft of outline,
uh, then in lecture I really, uh, really could not understand so much so I
think outline is very useful.
P2. Outlines are best for me to follow professors lecture points.
With outline, I can understand easily Without outlines, I dont think I
could understand, uh success in class, uh, or test
P3: Outlining is very good. Uh, uh, after reading I understand, but um, not so
well. But after outlining and discussing with classmates I understand better.
I think without outlines, maybe I cannot follow class content. Outlines show
me main points and make me read and think many times and think
about main important points.
Although pleasing from an EAP teacher point of view, these finding are not
hugely surprising. This is because it stands to reason that if students spend
considerable time reading the textbook in order to write multiple outline drafts,
they should gain a good level of comprehension due to the time-on-task and
skills integration principles (Nation and Macalister, 2009; Romero and Barbera,
2001). However, based on the interviews and observations, it seems that outlines
not only help students to gain good comprehension of the content, but also serve
as a point of reference in the class. The outlines provide students with a basic
agenda, or a clear list of the main points that are being discussed in the lecture,
and being able to read, follow and annotate the outlines while listening to the
lecture seems to help the participants significantly.
B. Peer Support (Cooperative Learning )
P1: Without friends I cannot pass friends help me with all outlines and
questions.
P2: It (group discussion) is useful. speaking about economics in English
with group member help me understand what (professor) talked about.
Everyone have different understand points, or not understand points, so
we can get different ... view points.

12
I can ask the question to my friends. They can help me if they know, uh,
understand more than me.
When I do this (talk with friends outside of class) I always understand.
P2: (talking with friends) is very useful We have chance to discuss what
she mention in class so far. we talk about main points, ask questions
each other it is good. Sometimes my friends understand better than
me so I can learn (from them).
If have time, (I talk with friends) after class every time. can get many
sides many opinions. We have different understand points so (it) is
good. I like talking with friends about class.
I speak to friends first. (before speaking to professor) They help me. It is
best, better for me. After talk with friends I understand, almost all.
Then, I also ask friends about these points, uh, things I do not
understand, I can ask them.
Again, although the participants mentioned the benefit of textbooks, outlines,

and teacher handouts, when asked which activities, materials or strategies were
most helpful, cooperative learning or peer support was repeatedly referred to in
a positive light in both the interviews and surveys.
Discussion
The data collected so far, although limited in terms of sample size, has
highlighted a number of areas of interest, and has provided significant insights
into the challenges students face during English-medium content lectures within
the limited context discussed in this paper.
First, the findings that learners perceive the speed of the spoken lecture content
as one of the largest challenges is in line with previous literature concerning
both listening in a foreign language in general (Ghada, 2012; Griffiths, 1991;
McBride, 2011; Nation & Macalister, 2009), and in CLIL courses specifically
(Benson, 1989; Flowerdew & Miller, 1992; Reiss, 2005; Tsubaki & Nakayama,
n.d.). Even though it was clear from the observations that the professor had
purposely slowed down her rate of speech significantly, all of the participants
interviewed, and 80% of those who submitted the surveys, mentioned listening
as a major challenge.
Second, in this context, while small group discussions were incorporated into
the content courses, the students were sometimes required to answer questions
posed by the professor in front of the whole class. The students mentioned that
they felt pressured to answer quickly, presumably as they felt everyone is
waiting for them, and they intimated that talking in front of a large group was
very nerve racking. This highlights some of the challenges that may be posed by
the differences between content classes and language classes. While content
classes often contain a relatively large number of learners, and are relatively
teacher-centred (Flowerdew & Miller, 1992; Met, 1999) language classes usually
contain far fewer students and are more student-centred, with many activities
being based around pair or small group work (Nation & Macalister, 2009).

13
In terms of which strategies and materials students find most useful to help
them, students repeatedly cited the perceived effectiveness of self-created
outlines. The use of outlines was identified many times in the space of the
interviews, and open ended survey responses also highlighted the positive view
of outlines as a tool for gaining a better understanding English-medium content.
In addition, students use of outlines was observed during the observations, and
after examining the participants actual outlines, it was evident that they were
using them effectively during the classes. Tsubaki & Nakayama (n.d) reported
positive quantitative listening comprehension gains in a CLIL course as a result
of outline usage, and the qualitative data provided in the current study offers
further support for outlines as an effective method of increasing comprehension
in CLIL environments. It appears that the cyclical nature of the drafting process,
the skills integration (reading, writing, speaking and listening), and the
considerable time-on-task are important factors (Romero and Barbera, 2001;
Loranc-Paszylk, 2009; Nation and Macalister, 2009). While outlines were clearly
perceived positively, it also appears that the participants see the benefit of
having multiple sources of information including textbooks, teacher hand-outs,
and lecture slides as discussed by Dale and Tanner (2012), Flowerdew and Miller
(1992), and Guerrini (2009).
Another point which was raised a number of times by the participants was the
value placed on peer support or collaborative learning. It appears that the
participants very much value their peers as resources, which is to say that they
feel their peers can help them gain much better comprehension levels and a
deeper understanding of the content. Again, this is in line with previous
research discussed by Hattie (2009) and the work carried out by Mangelsdorf
(1992) and Topping (1996).
Limitations and Future Directions

As mentioned, the data collected is very limited, therefore, while this study has
unearthed some interesting data and findings, a much larger number of
observations, interviews and artefact collection and analysis is needed. Future
observations, interviews and surveys, preferably carried out in a variety of
English-medium content course contexts, would offer much more data
regarding how students perceive such courses, and what materials and
strategies they find most useful for success in content courses delivered in a non-
native language. Within the current context, by carrying out a larger
longitudinal study, tracking students as they move through the various courses
over a three to four year period, much more detailed and holistic data could be
collected regarding perceptions and strategy use.
Conclusion
As seen above, some interesting initial findings have been generated concerning
CLIL courses. The participants in this study confirmed that listening to content
lectures in a second language is difficult, especially due to the rate of speech.
They also showed strong preferences and positive attitudes for the use of self-
prepared materials, namely outlines, and seeking out peer support in order to
overcome the challenges they faced during the courses. However, in order to get

14
a more detailed, holistic, and clearer picture of what is going on in this particular
context, more observations, interviews, surveys, and artefact analysis needs to
be carried out. In addition, in order to fill a gap in the literature, more qualitative
research in the field of CLIL is needed to shed more light on students
perceptions and strategy use in a wide array of contexts.
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Appendices
Initial Interview Questions
1. What are you overall impressions/feelings about your lectures?

2. What is the most difficult part of the lectures?
3. What do you do/use to help make it easier? How do you prepare for the lecture?
4. Which materials are most useful and why?
5. Do you add notes/questions to your outlines/chapters etc.? If so, when, where
and why? In what language?
6. How do you feel about the discussions?
7. How do you feel about reporting to your professor (in front of whole class)?
8. Do you use the materials during these times?
9. Do you ever ask questions to the teacher?
10. What other things do you do to help you better understand the lecture content?
Survey Items
1. What are your overall impressions of the class?

2. What do you find most difficult in the lectures?
3. What do you do/use to help make it easier? How do you prepare for the lecture?
4. How do you feel about answering questions in front of the whole lecture class?
5. Which materials or activities are most useful and why?
6. How useful do you find the in-class discussions in helping you better
understand the course content?
Not at all useful Very useful
1 2 3 4 5
7. How often do you discuss the lecture content with other students outside of
class in English?
Never Sometimes Every Week
1 2 3 4 5
8. How often do you discuss the lecture content with other students outside of
class in Japanese?
Never Sometimes Every Week
1 2 3 4 5

17

Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 17-40, May 2015
The Realities of Reconstitution:

A High Schools Tale
Todd Cherner
Coastal Carolina University
Conway, South Carolina, United States
Abstract. During the first decade of the 21 st century, the number of US

schools required to restructure according to the policies of the No Child
Left Behind Act increased annually. In response, educational researchers
worked to identify best practices for school restructuring; however, they
were unable to find a single set of effective strategies. Instead, they
recommended that strong school leadership and sustained school
improvement reforms are used. To illustrate the multitude of challenges
restructuring schools face, this article uses narrative to chronicle Tyson
Douglas High Schools experience. The narrative takes readers through
the schools first year of restructuring and provides them with test score
data for the following two years to show the effectiveness of its
restructuring. Because Tyson Douglas High Schools restructuring did
not increase student achievement significantly, the author concludes by
presenting a research-based alternative strategy for school restructuring.
Keywords: School Restructuring; Education Reform; English Teachers;

Education Policy; Reconstitution
Introduction
There were 3,558 U.S. schools required to restructure during the 2009-2010
school year because of low student achievement on high stakes accountability
tests (Hassel et al., 2010; US Dept. of Commerce, 2011). Two years later, that
number more than doubled to 7,643 schools required to restructure (US Dept. of
Education, 2012). Were it not for the federal government issuing state waivers
from the Elementary and Secondary Education Acts (ESEA) accountability
system (US Dept. of Education, 2013), that number would have continued to
grow annually (Alexander, 2006; Hess & Gift, 2009).
During the accountability era of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) that
preceded the issuing of accountability waivers from ESEA, a school that posted
low student achievement marks on high stakes accountability tests for five or
more consecutive years was required to restructure, and researchers have spent
a considerable amount of energy working to identify best practices for school

18
restructuring (Center for Comprehensive School Improvement and Reform,

2009). Though time, effort, and money have been used to analyze best practices,
researchers are yet to identify a specific set of strategies that will guarantee a
school successfully restructures (Brady, 2003; Newman & Wehlage, 1995; Scott,
2006). Rather, they have identified that using multiple, sustained reforms to
restructure a school will likely be more effective to improve student achievement
quickly and significantly than employing a single, comprehensive strategy, so
long as there is strong leadership to guide the restructuring (Arkin & Kowal,
2005; Brady, 2003; Hess & Petrilli, 2007; Leithwood & Jantzi, 2005; Steiner, 2005).
However, the education policy proposed in the Blueprint for Education Reform
(BER) and supported by President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education
Arne Duncan through their Race to the Top competitive grant program and
issuing of accountability waivers from ESEA does not reflect these findings (US
Dept. of Education, 2011). Instead, the BER continues to support NCLB-era
school restructuring strategies (Cherner, 2011), and one of these strategies
educational stakeholders oppose is the school turnaround model. In what
follows, I first explain the process of school turnaround and offer critiques of it.
Next, I present a case study of school turnaround to exemplify why it is such a
layered, complicated, and overall ineffective school restructuring strategy. I then
close by offering an alternative school restructuring strategy.
Background: The Process and Critiques of School Turnaround

The concept that a low performing school can be turned around to improve
student performance is not a new idea (Hess, 1991; Newman & Wehlage, 1995),
and Brady (2003) outlined four common steps schools take as part of a
turnaround process. First, a school must be identified as underperforming based
on its student achievement as documented by students high stakes test scores.
Second, decision makers at the state and district levels select the school
turnaround strategy and grant permission to begin reconstitution.
Reconstitution is the term generally used for the school restructuring approach
that features the removal of incumbent administrators and teachers (or large
percentages of them) and [replaces them] with educators who presumably are
more capable of improving school performance (McKeon, 2009, p. 2). As
reconstitution starts, the entire schools staff including teachers,
administrators, and support personnel is given notification that they no longer
have jobs at the school once the school year ends. However, if they would like to
remain working at the school, they are invited to reapply for their jobs. Third,
the schools leadership team is usually replaced, and new school leadership is
recruited. Finally, once in place, the new leadership team begins selecting the
teachers and other staff members they want to return to the school and hires
replacements for those who were not asked to return. At this point, the schools
new leadership team begins implementing other school reforms such as
revising the curriculum, overhauling the schools governance structure, and
providing professional development (PD) to teachers among other possible
reforms with the goal of increasing student achievement. Notable school
turnaround attempts during the last decades of the 20th century that informed
NCLBs school restructuring policies include the experiences of Chicago Public
Schools, New York City Department of Education, and San Francisco Unified

19
District Schools (Kowal & Ayscue, 2005; Mintrop & Papazian, 2003; Rudo, 2001).
However, in each of these instances, there is little consensus about the
effectiveness of using the strategy, and much criticism of it exists.
From a legal standpoint, Spitser (2007) critiqued NCLBs school turnaround

policy because its wording is not exact. The language of NCLB itself leaves a
great deal of room for interpretation for example, while schools may replace
staff relevant to the failure of the school the Act contains no definition of or
standards for defining relevant. (p. 1342). In his argument, Spitser cites the
lack of definitive language in NCLB as problematic because it does not define a
method for evaluating teachers or prescribe a method for administrators to
evaluate a teachers contributions to their schools achievement. Should an
administrative team solely use test scores to evaluate a teachers worth, or
would it be fairer to incorporate classroom observations and consider the
professional service a teacher provides to the school as well? Spitser stated it is
unclear what evidence a school district would be able to muster to show that the
teacher was relevant to the failure of the school (p. 1353). Because of these
ambiguities, NCLB did not provide clear guidelines about how teacher
evaluations should be conducted when a school reconstitutes its staff.
Additionally, hiring released teachers replacements is cumbersome. NCLB

required that schools hire only highly qualified teachers. Highly qualified
essentially means teachers have earned a bachelors degree and passed a
rigorous state test in their field (Steffan, 2004). Therefore, requiring
administrators to hire released teachers replacements is challenging because a
ready supply of highly-qualified teachers waiting to be hired by a school going
through restructuring is seldom available (Bardy, 2003; Spitser, 2007; Rice &
Malen, 2010). Subsequently, administrators struggle to make all their needed
new hires by the start of the academic year (Levin & Quinn, 2003), which results
in them hiring inexperienced teachers who are unprepared to teach in
challenging schools. These teachers spend their first years in the classroom
surviving and not contributing to reforming the school (Mac Iver, et al., 2003).
Next, the use of standardized test scores to evaluate teachers working in low-
performing schools is problematic because of possible cultural biases (Kohn,
2000; Menken, 2008; Visone, 2009). Standardized tests are written from the
perspective of White, middle class Americans who are native English speakers
(Spitser, 2007; Kincheloe, 2003). As such, schools identified for restructuring are
typically urban schools that enroll significantly higher percentages of minority
and low-income students than suburban schools (Center on Education Policy,
2008). These elements combine to disadvantage teachers in lower performing
urban schools because the schools where they teach are predominantly
populated with minority students and non-native English speakers who
traditionally score lower than their peers in suburban schools on high stakes
assessments (Anyon, 2005; National Center for Policy Analysis [NCPA], 2004).
When comparisons between suburban and urban schools are made, teachers in
urban schools are more likely to lose their jobs because of reconstitution.

20
Fourth, because NCLB required schools to achieve adequate test scores for two
years before being released from its restructuring policies, teachers in
restructuring schools are pressured to narrow their curriculum to tested content
(Anagnostopoulos & Rutledge, 2007; Crocco & Costigan, 2007; Mac Iver, et al.,
2003). This instructional practice is not developing 21st century skills students
need to be ready for college or a career (Schoen & Fusarelli, 2007). Instead,
students are largely learning only how to pass high stakes accountability tests.
Therefore, as long as a maximum is put on test scores, it is likely teachers will
continue to narrow their curriculum, and school turnaround reinforces this cycle
(Mintrop & Trujilio, 2005; Zena, 2001).
After being federal law for over a decade, researchers oppose and express severe
caution when employing the turnaround strategy to restructure a school. In their
review of school reconstitution literature, Rice and Malen (2010) stated
evidence to date suggests that school reconstitution is a risky strategy... [and]
calls for restraint in the deployment of this strategy until we have a stronger
theoretical and empirical understanding and justification of this reform (p. 9).
Brady (2003) stated school turnaround can work and has worked in some
instances, but its success rate is limited (p. 29), and Stuit (2010) concluded it is
easier to close a low-performing school than to turn one around (p. 10).
To illustrate the challenges that concern researchers about school turnaround, I

will present a case study of the strategy in action. This case study of Tyson
Douglas High Schools (TD) restructuring experiences will help fill the void
created by a dearth of qualitative narratives about the experiences of school
structuring. Through this case study, I illustrate the multiple reform strategies
and challenges a school faces when using the turnaround strategy to restructure.
Methodology
I used qualitative research methods for this project because it allowed me to use
my participants words, emotions, and perspectives to study their lived
experiences (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005; Marshall & Rossman, 2011). As I analyzed
TDs restructuring, I found that it affected teachers in multiple ways, and it was
important I used their words to describe their experiences. Central to my work,
then, is that humans live storied lives, meaning humans use stories to share
their lived experiences (Bell, 2002; Carr, 1986; Reissman, 2001). For example,
when people are asked how their day was, they are likely to tell a story about
their experience and not just respond with a simple good or okay. In this
way, the stories humans tell become a phenomenon that can be studied, and
stories can be used to deconstruct a persons experience with a specific
phenomenon (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990). In my work, the phenomenon I
studied was teachers experiences with school restructuring as chronicled by my
participants stories.
Data Collection and Analysis

To collect and triangulate data, I conducted in depth interviews with five
participants, studied historical documents about TD, and analyzed TDs test

21
scores and student demographics (Coffey & Atkinson, 1996; Glense, 1996,
Merriam, 2009).
Interviews. I conducted interviews with each of my participants that lasted 60-90

minutes each and centered on my participants experiences working at TD while
it restructured. Due to the political nature of my study, it was challenging to
recruit participants to be interviewed. Many teachers I asked to be part of my
study told me that they did not want to make their story public for fear of
potentially losing their job. However, because I had spent considerable time in
TD supervising English interns from a local university who were completing a
teacher licensure program, I was able to use the relationships I built mentoring
pre-service teachers to recruit participants. The participants who agreed to be
interviewed individually included three English teachers who taught at TD
(there were seven in the English department), TDs assistant principal, and a
teacher who was released due to the reconstitution. (The other released teachers
I contacted were either not geographically accessible or they would not allow me
to interview them.) I conducted the interviews with TDs three English teachers
in their classrooms, and I interviewed the assistant principal in her office. The
teacher who was released by TD was interviewed in her home. Because TD was
on the 4x4 block schedule, each teacher taught three 90-minute periods a day,
had a 90-minute planning period plus a 30-minute lunch break. Their average
class roster was between 15-20 students. Understanding who my participants
were at the time of their interview is essential to understanding their experience
with TDs restructuring.
Carmen was the administrator who the county made responsible for planning
and implementing TDs school restructuring. Carmen is a White, middle-aged
woman with over 15 years of experience in public education. Carmen was a high
school English teacher during the 1990s in a high performing Southern high
school before being promoted to assistant principal. For personal reasons,
Carmen moved out of state in 2004 and was hired as an administrator at a school
in the same school district as TD before being transferred to TD in 2006. In her
interview, Carmen disclosed that she was personally recruited by the countys
superintendent and director of curriculum to lead TDs restructuring and
welcomed the professional challenge.
Pat, a White woman in her sixties, had over thirty years of experience in
education, and she came to TD in 2001. Pat holds advanced degrees in
education, but she did not want me to provide a detailed description of her to
protect her identity. Pat taught senior English at TD, and she said I specifically
wanted to work with seniors to prepare them for college level English. I
included Pat because she lost her job due to TDs reconstitution, and she
explained she was still confused about it even three years after it happened.
Floyd, a White male in his forties, was included because he worked at TD before
and during its restructuring. Floyd served a dual role for the school, teaching
junior English half of the day and serving as a Lead Teacher for the other half.
As a Lead Teacher, Floyd was responsible for mentoring early career teachers
and tracking student achievement data. To mentor teachers, Floyd would wait

22
until a teacher approached him for help and he would meet with the teacher
individually to identify his/her strengths and weaknesses in the classroom.
Next, Floyd would observe the teachers instruction for at least two classes
before providing feedback about strategies he thought could increase that
teachers effectiveness in the classroom. To track student data, Floyd made
detailed spreadsheets of students performance on practice assessments modeled
after high stakes accountability tests. Floyd would analyze student performance
and then report to teachers where they should focus their instruction
Marie and Gwen were both White females in their mid-twenties. Both women
had just earned their graduate degree in English education from a large
university in the spring of 2008 and were hired by TD the following summer to
replace teachers who lost their jobs because of TDs reconstitution. Marie taught
junior English classes and Gwen taught sophomore English classes. At the time
of their interviews, Marie and Gwen were close friends and were both
completing their second year teaching at TD.
To guide my interviews, I used a protocol that featured three open-ended

questions to ensure I addressed the same topics with each participant (Glense,
2006). The questions from my interview protocol included:
1. What are you beliefs about school restructuring?

2. How have you been impacted by TDs restructuring?
3. What reforms did TD use to restructure and how effective were those
reforms?
Interviews were digitally recorded and I took extensive notes during them
(Coffey & Atkinson, 1996). After each interview, I transcribed the recording and
emailed it to participants for member checking purposes (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).
Additionally, I included any clarifying questions based on my notes and
interview transcription (Glense, 1996). After each participant reviewed my
transcription and answered any clarifying questions, I began my data analysis
procedures.
To code the data, I used three layers. My first layer involved reading each
transcript to identify in vivo codes, which were significant words and/or
phrases my participants said about their experiences (Coffey & Atkinson, 1996).
Next, I applied my own sociologically constructed codes to label my
understanding of the interviews (Coffey & Atkinson, 1996). Because analyzing
interview data is an interpretive act, my own experiences as a high school
English teacher, as a researcher who studies school restructuring, and as a
mentor of student teachers in TD influenced my conceptualization of my
participants comments (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990). Therefore, when a
participant referenced, for example, having to sit through a PD session, I
thought of my own experiences with PD sessions and how I found myself
enduring them opposed to learning from them. In this way, these connections
and conceptualizations framed how I moved from in vivo codes to sociologically
constructed codes. For my third layer of coding, I grouped the in vivo codes
with the sociologically constructed codes into categories that included (1)
Reconstituting TD, (2) Providing Effective Classroom Instruction, (3) Fallout from

23
School Reconstitution, (4) Adding Rigor to the Curriculum, and (5) Structural
Reorganization. These categories became my narratives themes.
Historical Documents. Because I sought to understand what happened to result in

TD being required to restructure, I needed to put together a historical context of
the school since it was founded in the late 1800s (Miller & Dingwall, 1997). To do
so, I gathered newspaper articles, visited local libraries, searched the internet,
and explored TDs storehouse where it keeps its memorabilia from yesteryear.
Overall, I found hundreds of newspaper articles about TD starting in the 1920s
and continuing through modern day. The topics of the newspaper articles
reported on TDs athletic teams, parent nights, club activities, racial tensions,
school reforms, parent and community involvement, and academic achievement.
The local libraries had indexed reports on TDs academic achievement and
minutes from the school board meetings. Additionally, the libraries had books
that chronicled historical happenings in the local community, which included
information about TD. Using search terms such as history of TD, community
of TD, and legacy of TD, I was able to find three websites that described what
it was like attending TD throughout the 20th century and information about how
TD was founded. One of the websites was created by a TD alumnus, and the
other two websites listed encyclopedic information about TD. Finally,
investigating TDs storehouse where TD houses memorabilia it no longer has
room to display, I was able to touch trophies that TDs past athletic and
academic teams had won, read graduation announcements, and peruse decades
old yearbooks. Visiting the storehouse allowed me to physically interact with
TDs past and I gained a sense of the pride its graduates felt.
Student Demographic and Test Score Data. I used the Tennessee Department of
Educations (2013) website to analyze TDs test score and student demographic
data from 2005-2012. Data provided demographic information about students
who attended TD, student performance on the high stakes math and
reading/writing tests, and graduation rates. Evaluating test score data allowed
me to see trends in student achievement that warranted TD having to
restructure and assess if TDs restructuring resulted in any increases of student
performance on high stakes tests. The student demographic data allowed me to
make comparisons between students who attended TD, its county, and
Tennessee using students race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, English
language proficiency, and special education status.
Ensuring Validity
I used three different data sources interviews, historical documents, and test
score and student demographic data to methodologically triangulate my data
(Guion et al., 2011). Having diverse data sets allowed me multiple lenses to
study TDs restructuring (Chenail, 1997; Denzin, 1978). To build interview
validity, I used member checking (Glense, 2006). After conducting and
transcribing each interview, I sent it along with any clarifying questions back to
the corresponding participant. Once my participant confirmed I correctly
transcribed the interview and answered any clarifying questions I had, I
analyzed the interview data using the previously described process. Once the
interview was analyzed, I then weaved together the data from the interviews,

24
historical documents, test scores, and student demographics to tell the story of
TDs restructuring. To member check at this stage, I emailed the completed
narrative to each participant, and pseudonyms were used in the narrative to add
a layer of confidentially for my participants and to my work. At this point, my
participants confirmed that I accurately represented their experience.
Context of Tyson Douglas High School

TD is an urban high school located in the southern city of Henley (pseudonym)
that was required to restructure beginning in the 2007-2008 school year.
Originally, TD was two separate schools: Tyson High School and Douglas High
School. Tyson High School served predominantly African-American students
since the late 1800s and was an active member of its local community, and
Douglas High School served predominantly White children since the 1950s and
was founded by the county because of a population boom following World War
II. To be in compliance with federal school integration laws, the two schools
merged in 1968. After the integration, TD served predominantly Black students
because the White students chose to transfer to other county schools, and by the
1980s TD was labeled a low-performing school. The county responded in the
mid-1990s by spending millions of dollars to renovate TDs buildings and
established it as the countys performing arts magnet school for dance, music,
and theatre. However, even with the new buildings and magnet program, TD
did not attract a significant amount of new students and the school continued
posting low student achievement. There are no records to suggest that new
teachers were recruited to TD or that its current teachers received PD to support
them effectively teaching in a magnet school. As such, these renovations seem to
be cosmetic and not programmatic.
In the spring of 2007, NCLB required TD to restructure after not posting

adequate test scores for five consecutive years. Table 1 displays TDs 2006 and
2007 test score data in math and reading/writing and its graduation rates.
Table 1. Comparing TDs 2006 and 2007 Student Achievement Data in Math and
Reading/English Language and Graduation Rates by Student Subgroup against
State Target and Average Scores*
Criteria 2006 2007 2006 2007 2006 2007

Math Math Reading/ Reading / Graduation Graduation
Writing Writing Rate Rate
State 75% 75% 90% 90% 90% 90%
Target
State 83% 85% 91% 91% - -

Average
TD 72% 79% 85% 76% 68.7% 67.8%

Average
African- 71% 77% 84% 76% - -

American

25
White 81% 86% 84% 84% - -
Low SES 71% 75% 84% 74% - -
Special 32% 66% 46% 42% - -

Education
* Data retrieved from Tennessee Department of Education
(http://tn.gov/education/)
The data in Table 1 displays that as an entire school TD did earn the test scores
needed to satisfy NCLBs test score requirements in math but not in
reading/writing in 2007. Moreover, because NCLB required that all student
subgroups demonstrate proficiency on tests, the low test scores in math made by
TDs special education student population prohibited TD from meeting NCLBs
testing requirement. Additionally, written into NCLB is a Safe Harbor clause
that allowed for schools to bypass some of NCLBs testing requirements if
certain criteria are met:
A school that falls short of the [test score requirement] for a subgroup
of students will avoid being identified for improvement under the safe
harbor provision if (a) the percentage of students who score below the
proficient level [on one assessment] has decreased by at least 10% from
the year before, and (b) there is improvement for the subgroup on other
indicators [other indicators includes metrics such as graduation and
attendance rates] (Linn, 2003, p. 17).
TDs students did not earn the scores necessary for the school to qualify for safe
harbor when comparing TDs student achievement data from 2006 to 2007. No
student subgroup experienced the necessary gains on the math or
reading/writing exams to qualify for safe harbor. When comparing TDs student
achievement and graduation rates from 2006 to 2007, student test scores in
reading/writing and graduation rates dropped in every category. Therefore, TD
did not post the student achievement scores required to meet NCLBs testing
requirements or safe harbor provision and subsequently had to restructure.
As compared to its county and state, TD has a significantly larger African-

American and low socioeconomic (SES) student populations and a significantly
smaller White student population than its county and state, and Table 2 displays
the TDs student demographic in the year it was officially required to
restructure.
Table 2. The Demographics of TDs Students for 2007 as Compared to its County
and State*
Student Subgroup TD County State

African-American 90.6% 14.7% 24.8%
Asian/Pacific Islander 0.2% 1.9% 1.6%
Hispanic 0.7% 2.8% 4.6%
White 8.4% 80.3% 68.8%

26
Low SES 90.4% 41.2% 54.7%

*Data retrieved from Tennessee Department of Education
These statistics reflect the migration of White students away from TD that
occurred following the 1968 integration of Tyson High School and Douglas High
School. TDs demographics also reflect that schools with large populations of
minority students are more likely to be required to restructure than schools with
large majority student populations (Anyon, 2005; Center on Education Policy,
2008; NCPA, 2004; US Department of Education, 2012). As such, TD began its
process of school restructuring following the 2006-2007 school year.
The Story of Tyson Douglas High Schools Restructuring

When NCLB required a school to restructure, the school had to select and
implement one of NCLBs outlined strategies. However, education researchers
strongly suggest schools use multiple reforms because there is no one-size-fits-
all silver bullet for school restructuring (Brady, 2003; Newmann & Wehlage,
1995), and TD implemented multiple school restructuring strategies. The
restructuring strategies TD selected included NCLBs school turnaround option
combined with replacing TDs principal and administrative team, providing
teachers with PD, realigning course offerings, and overhauling the schools
structural organization. The following is a story of how TD implemented these
restructuring strategies and how TDs English teachers reacted to them.
Over the summer of 2007, county officials decided TD would implement school
turnaround. The literature about school restructuring strongly supports
changing school leadership to ensure a dynamic and innovative principal and
administrative team are in place to effectively lead the school through the
reconstitution and restructuring processes (Hassel, et al., 2010), and the county
changed TDs leadership during the 2007-2008 school year. To make the
leadership change, the countys superintendent and director of curriculum first
recruited Carmen to be TDs curriculum principal charged with planning and
leading the restructuring effort in the fall of 2007, and the county replaced TDs
then head principal with Principal King in the spring of 2008. During these
leadership changes, Carmen explained TDs teachers had no idea what we are
doing [about restructuring the school]... there was a lot of anxiety, a lot of
anxiety. Carmen commented that the teachers were not informed about the
countys plan to change TDs leadership; rather, the county just made the
changes. Carmen said, On a Friday he [the former principal] was removed and
on the Monday Mr. King was here. However, once TDs leadership was
changed, Carmen and King began working to reconstitute TDs faculty and staff.
Reconstituting TD: The First Layer of School Turnaround

NCLBs description of school turnaround does not give any specific guidelines
or procedures about how to reconstitute a staff. Therefore, Carmen and King
had to develop their own process, which Carmen described.

27
We had to give letters to everyone on the staff... that they were being let
go eventually, but that they had the opportunity to reapply for their job.
There was no guarantee that they would get it, but they could certainly
reapply. So, at that point, it was the first of May, the middle of May, Mr.
King and I started interviewing, and we interviewed 100, approximately
100, people within a three-week period of time. It was just boom, boom,
boom.
According to the teachers, the rush to reconstitute the school, and to interview
the staff, affected their interview experiences. Pat, an English teacher not asked
to return, said it was one of the most bizarre interviews Ive ever had. I showed
up on time, the people who were interviewing [me] were not present... when
they finally showed up, they brought their lunches and they ate lunch while
they talked to me. Floyd, another English teacher who was asked to return,
said, It [the interview process] was strange. Um, you know, just because
everyone knew what was going on, and everyone had their interviews
scheduled, and youd go down, and it, it just had a weird, uh, feeling to it.
According to Pat and Floyd, when the reconstitution process was implemented,
it did not feel respectful or genuine. Rather, it felt awkward and rushed, likely
because of the hurry Carmen and King were under to reconstitute the school. In
fact, Carmen questioned how effective she and King were in evaluating teachers
when she said, I knew nothing of the existing teachers other than test scores.
In no way could Carmen and King acquire a realistic estimation of a teachers
worth based on a quick interview and a glimpse of his or her students test
scores, especially since both Carmen and King had been at TD for less than one
year. However, to help her better assess each candidate she interviewed, Carmen
asked each interviewee to define term rigor as it related to teaching. In response,
Carmen made determinations about the teacher. Carmen said:
To give more work, [or] To give extra homework, most of the people
that gave that response didnt get rehired. Then there was some who
said, It doesnt mean to give more work, it means to go deeper. It means
to create more critical thinking opportunities. You know, people who
clearly knew what rigor was.
From Carmens perspective, teachers conceptualization of rigor was the key

point if they would or would not be rehired. Carmen felt this way because her
belief was that the academic rigor across the entire school had to be raised if
student achievement on the high stakes accountability tests was to increase.
Following the interviews, Carmen and King had the responsibility to inform
teachers if they were rehired or released, and Carmen described that process. I
think, [it was] the second to the last day of school, and they [human resource
personnel from the district] gave them all [TDs faculty and staff who had
reapplied for their job] envelopes, manila envelopes in the [schools] library that
said youve been rehired or youve not been rehired. About how the released
teachers responded to finding out they no longer had a job, Carmen said, some
people were pretty upset. Uh, some people had nasty things to say. Others were
like, Great, I didnt want to come back here anyway. Pat, who was released,

28
said the whole process and news was simply demoralizing. In fact, Carmen
concurred with Pat and expressed remorse about how the teachers were
informed. If I knew then what I know now, I would have never allowed that
kind of process to happen in a building I was in. I felt like it was very
impersonal, very, um, it didnt sit well with me. Overall, Carmen reported that
she and King released 40% of TDs staff, and she said the reason they did not
release everyone was because no one is going to know the nuances of this
school, the culture of this school. In this instance, Carmen paid respect to the
history of TD and its culture, but her decision to retain 60% of TDs original staff
caused her and TDs new staff problems. In retrospect, Carmen said, If I knew
then what I know now, I would have reversed that. I would have kept 40% and
hired 60% new.
During the summer of 2007, Carmen and King recruited replacements for the
released teachers. Gwen, an English teacher who was hired at this time, said,
They didnt tell me a lot about that [TD being restructured]. They told me they
were hiring a lot of new teachers and that they were more interested in hiring
the new teachers because they knew they could shape them to become what they
needed. According to Gwen, Carmen and King withheld important details
about TD and its restructuring process. The only details Gwen reported
receiving was that Carmen and King were interested in new teachers because
the new teachers would come into TD without any experience, which would
allow Carmen and King to form them into any type of teacher they wanted, and
Carmen corroborated that in her interview by explaining new teachers would
give TD what she wanted, a fresh start.
Providing Effective Classroom Instruction: Training TDs Teachers

Following the summer, King and Carmen opened the first year of TDs
restructuring by having its teachers attend 10 days of mandatory PD. This PD
required TDs teachers report back to school 10 days before teachers in any other
school in TDs county reported back. The reason King and Carmen could make
this PD mandatory was because the reconstitution required all of TDs teacher to
sign new contracts containing an extended time clause that added 15 more
working days to their school calendar. (Teachers were monetarily compensated
for their additional work.) This entire time was reserved for PD. During the
2007-2008 school year, teachers spent 10 of those days in PD sessions before the
year began, and they spent five additional days in PD sessions during the school
year. Carmen explained that the county outsourced the PD to an educational
management organization (EMO). Teachers did not provide input about the
PDs topics, but the PD focused on instructional techniques aligned to the work
of Marzanos (2004) Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies for
Increasing Student Achievement. Carmen said it was a huge relief to have the
EMO responsible for the PD because there needed to be a tremendous amount
of PD done here. Plus, Carmen explained that she and King still had to learn
the culture of the school and did not have the time to facilitate the PD, and
Floyd made very positive comments about the PD.
It [the PD] made me even more excited and from that standpoint I left...
really fired up because they were teaching the whole staff new

29
strategies... [including] gallery walks, gosh, all of Marzanos strategies, I

mean, we just started tearing them up. They modeled for us at PD and
then we talked about how we can apply it to our classroom.
However, Floyds excitement was not reflected by the newly hired teachers.
Gwen said the PD facilitator just had a few methods that were just how to get
kids engaged, or how to encourage kids to think about what they are learning, to
communicate or share what they are learning... he acted like think-pair-share
was the newest and hottest thing. Marie, another new English teacher, said:
It [the PD] really was, a flashback to grad school, so everything that the
other teachers were learning for the very first time, I had just finished in
graduate school. So, I, I was trying to walk on eggshells and not seem
bored because I was trying to not give the impression that I was not
above this or anything.
Even though Gwen and Marie had a negative impression of the PD, Floyd said
I saw immediately a difference in the students because [when] they came into
class, first of all, they would know how to do the strategies already because they
had done them in three or four classes, so they knew the process and the
protocol. However, as the school year progressed, teachers stopped using what
they learned in the PD sessions. After having spoken highly about the quality of
the PD and the effect it was having on TDs students, Floyd lamented that a
walk-through initiative begun by TDs administrators to ensure teachers were
using the strategies taught in the PD session was not sustained. About the walk-
through initiative, Floyd said:
They just walked through [our classrooms] and looked at what strategies
we were doing. We were hanging our lesson plans on the door, we had
to put which Marzano strategies we were going to use those days, and
they would come and look and check, and I mean, it was amazing. I was
like yes, this is the change, this is it ... um, but, there was just enormous
backslide after the first few months.
One reason for the backslide may have been the pressure Carmen and King
were under to improve TDs student performance. Although Carmen said no
specific deadline was put on them, they were expected to really transform this
school quickly, and that required them to attend multiple meetings with the
superintendent, plan how the school would be reorganized into small learning
communities (SLCs), and monitor students assessment scores. As such, these
tasks took time away from TDs administrators being able to monitor teachers.
Additionally, they had the obstacle of mending together a staff that had been
torn apart by the reconstitution. Moreover, this division was a challenge that TD
never conquered during its first year of restructuring, and it affected TDs new
teachers and school reforms.
A Divided Staff: Fallout from School Reconstitution

As all of TDs teachers returned for the open of the 2007-2008 school year, my
participants reported there was an obvious staff divide. Gwen said, There was
certainly an old staff-new staff kind of thing... it was kind of apparent that we all

30
[the newly hired teachers] had something to prove I guess. You know, we were
supposed to come in and save the school, and that we are supposed to save it
from them [the teachers who survived the reconstitution]. The idea that the
new teachers were hired to save the school likely developed from the
perspective that the old staffs incompetence resulted in TD having to
restructure, and it was the new staffs responsibility to ensure that did not
happen again. Marie said about the staff divide, Its older [teachers] against
younger [teachers]. Its new to the building against been in the building a long
time... I mean, its a very clear, clear divide. To further explain, Marie made a
verbal comparison of TDs Old and New teachers in her interview as
represented in Table 3.
Table 3. A Comparison of Old and New TD
Characteristic TDs Old Teachers TDs New Teachers

Motto We get by and no one They are going to do whatever
bothers us is thrown at them, and they are
going to try to make the school
successful however they can
Race African-American The majority of us are White
Age 45-50 Younger, under 35 for the most

part
Teaching Most have over 10 years Relatively new to teaching, with

Experience experience five or less years experience
Education Do not have masters Everyone that was hired after

degrees and have not the reconstruction had to have a
been through a masters degree
[traditional] teacher
education program
Route to Certified through an Came in through a traditional

Certification alternative license college of education teacher
program program
Emphasis Athletics Academics
According to Carmen, having a divided staff resulted in Old TD teachers being

very resistant to implementing school reforms, including her decision to
collapse the tracks.
Adding Rigor to the Curriculum: Reforming the Academic Tracks

Collapsing the Tracks is a term Carmen used to mean TD went from offering
fundamental, regular, college-placement (CP), and honors courses to only
offering CP classes. Carmen explained that it was not because the kids in the

31
lower-tiered tracks were less intelligent; they were just unmotivated because
they just had never been expected to do anything. So we eliminated all
fundamental classes. By collapsing the tracks, it was an attempt to increase
TDs academic rigor. No longer could a student attend classes with low
expectations. Rather, the idea behind collapsing the tracks was that students
would be required to take classes with higher expectations that would better
prepare them for academic success, college, and the workforce. However, new
and old teachers responded negatively to this change.
Collapsing the tracks affected teachers differently based on their experience. For
example, Floyd explained that once teachers get promoted because of
seniority, they get rewarded by teaching mostly juniors and seniors. Because
TD was struggling with student dropout rates, the quality of students increased
as they got to 11th and 12th grade because the students who were not
academically successful typically dropped out of TD by this time. Floyd saw this
practice as unfair because it hurt TDs newly hired teachers, who mostly taught
younger students,
In regards to the challenges that resulted from collapsing the tracks, Gwen said
she was told she could meet all their [her students] needs through
differentiation. Whatever that meant... To differentiate instruction was
something Ive always heard about, and, you know, loosely attempted in my
internship... [but] no one tells you or prepares for how to differentiate for every
student in your classroom. Marie added:
I was really, really, really shocked by the fact that I was teaching a class
that was totally mixed in ability, and it was a CP class, but that some of
the students were soooo low. They were elementary level in their
reading, and then I had students, my higher students, were struggling
with even grade-level [texts], and I was really confused about how I was
supposed to meet all their needs... I was told to just differentiate for
them, and I am still trying to figure out what that means. Some people
have large print, some people have different assignments, some people
have different tests, some people are only required to do part of their
work, or some people are required to do something else. So every class
day is kind of like a smathering of whats going on. So, Ive got better in
that, but I had no idea.
Because TDs more experienced teachers were given older, higher achieving
students to teach even after the school reconstituted, the burden fell to TDs less
experienced teachers to teach the more challenging classes and lower achieving
students. When they voiced their concerns about meeting the needs of their
students, Gwen and Marie were told to differentiate their instruction; however,
because they were new teachers, Gwen and Marie were still learning how to
effectively differentiate their instruction and the PD they received during the
previous summer did not offer them any methods for differentiating instruction.
In this way, Carmens decision to collapse TDs academic tracks may have
actually hurt TDs newly hired teachers and the instruction their students

32
received. The other major restructuring initiative launched during the 2007-2008
school year was to redesign TD into SLCs.
Structural Reorganization: Rethinking TDs School Design

A high school redesigning itself into SLCs is attempting to increase student
achievement by breaking itself down from being a faceless, intimidating
comprehensive high school to one where students gain an identity (Nieto, 2000).
Oxley (2001) defined SLCs as an interdisciplinary team of teachers that shares a
group of no more than 500 students for a large part of their instructional time in
a physical space dedicated to their collaboration (p. 7). Marie explained TD
redesigned into SLCs because one of the main goals was to keep the classroom
ratio small in order to both build relationships with students and to
individualize instruction because we knew, with our clientele that we are
working with, a lot them are not on grade level. To organize TD into SLCs,
Carmen reported they started by creating a 9th grade SLC in 2007-2008 and then
TD would add two more SLCs for students in 10th-12th grade the following years.
Carmen explained The reason we went with this model was that in 9th grade
theyd be so tight [because]... theyd have the same principal, the same
counselor, the same Project Grad person, all the way through for three years to
develop the relationship piece that is super important here. After having the
SLCs implemented for the first year, Carmen reported positive results:
We got the right administrator, Lead teacher, we got this team of teachers
and theyre all upstairs in one hallway. And they [freshmen students] are
pretty much sequestered up there unless they go to an elective. And
theyve taken those kids, theyve transformed those 160 kids from
coming in here, and they didnt care about what really happened or
classes or anything else to conversations that Im hearing going on up
there, how many honors classes can I take? Can I take an AP class
when Im in 10th grade? And we, you never heard conversations like
that.
Though Carmen was still new to TD, she identified a changing culture at TD
based on her observations of what she saw happening in the 9th grade SLC. For
example, Carmen went from seeing students entering TD and not being engaged
in their academic work to asking about advanced classes they can take the
following year. Carmen cited the move to SLCs as a main success of TDs
restructuring. However, Carmen was only able to provide anecdotal stories to
justify the effectiveness of TDs SLCs, and other teachers saw the SLCs as
working against developing students abilities to be successful in college. Gwen
reported:
They are not autonomous, they are not self-directed, they are not able to
solve their own problems. They have received all these supports because
of the restructuring money [such as]... the SLC principal, they have
administrative assistant for that persons, they have a Lead teacher, they
[students] have someone to come get them and say turn in this work to
Mrs. Gwen they dont have that [in college]. They have it all through
their, their senior year, we do all this work to get them graduated and

33
then they go to college, and, uh, they struggle because there are none of
the supports in college.
From Gwens point of view, the SLCs were actually working against preparing
students for college success by only coddling students until they graduated.
Essentially, Gwen saw the SLCs as setting students up for failure once they leave
for college. However, Marie saw the SLCs in a more positive light. Marie saw
SLCs as being efficient, autonomous communities within TD. Marie said, I get
great reports from teachers working with the freshman... When there is a
problem, they are able to handle it immediately because they are all on one
hallway, the administrators can get there if need be or pull a kid out and talk to
them. From Maries perspective, she keyed on how the 9th grade is self-reliant
and makes TD more productive. No longer were TDs administrators searching
for students; rather, because of the close proximity the SLCs provided, it allowed
for TDs administrators do their job more efficiently.
Where are they now: A Participant Epilogue

Education researchers strongly support sustaining school reforms, which
includes keeping the same personnel in position for multiple years (Datnow &
Stringfeld, 2000; Fullan 2001). In TDs scenario, this was not the case. Following
the 2010-2011 school year, the county transferred Carmen from TD and installed
her as the head principal in a different, higher-performing high school after she
had planned and implemented the first years of TDs restructuring. During that
same summer, Marie transferred from TD and became the English department
head at the countys new Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math magnet
school. Additionally, Floyd applied for and received a new position at a
different high school in the same county. In his new position, Floyd became that
schools Lead teacher and no longer spent half his day in the classroom. One
year later, Gwen transferred from TD and joined Floyd at his new school. This
personnel movement corroborates previously conducted related to high teacher
turnover that low-performing schools experience (Desimone, 2002; Sindelar et
al., 2006).
Effectiveness of TDs Restructuring

For a school to successfully restructure and return to good standing during the
era of NCLB, it has to post proficient test scores on high stakes assessments for
two consecutive years as determined by its state. In the years following its
restructuring, TD failed to post the test scores it needed as displayed in Table 4.
Table 4. Comparing TDs 2008 and 2009 Student Achievement Data in Math and
Reading/English Language and Graduation Rates by Student Subgroup against
State Target and Average Scores*
Criteria Math Math Reading/ Reading/ Graduation Graduation

2008 2009 Writing Writing Rate Rate
2008 2009 2008 2009
State 83% 83% 93% 93% 90% 90%

Target

34
State 87% 89% 93% 94% - -

Average
TD 76% 62% 90% 88% 75.2% 74.9%
Average
African- 75% 63% 89% 87% 76.9% 76.5%
American
White 88% 55% 90% 96% 55% 58.8%
Low SES 76% 59% 88% 85% - -
Special 39% 22% 54% 79% - -

Education
*Data retrieved from Tennessee Department of Education
When looking across Table 4s data, TD student achievement fell in both math
and reading/writing in 2008 and 2009. In math, TDs average student
achievement data fell by 14 percentage points and TDs average student
achievement in reading/writing fell by two percentage points. Additionally,
TDs graduation rate remained stagnant. Looking at these indicators, TDs
restructuring efforts did not effectively result in improved student achievement.
Discussion
As a nation, we made a promise that all citizens are entitled to a quality
education (US Dept. of Education, 2010). However, school restructuring efforts
that become policy but do not result in significant increases in student
achievement undermine our ability to fulfill that commitment. If we are going to
successfully restructure schools, we should use strategies that support teachers,
not fire them. In that notion, I propose an alternative school restructuring
strategy.
Partner Schools
Drawing from the literature about professional learning communities
(McLaughlin & Talbert, 2010) and teacher mentor programs (Barrera et al, 2010;
Moir et al., 2009), I propose a partner-school restructuring model where low-
performing and high-performing schools in the same county would create a
teacher-exchange program. Instead of a reconstitution scenario where teachers
who were deemed ineffective may be at jeopardy for losing their jobs, selected
teachers from the low-performing school would transfer into a higher
performing school in the same county for two years. In their new school, the
selected teachers would be assigned classes to teach and a mentor teacher. With
their mentors, the selected teachers would study best teaching strategies
(Marzano et al., 2004), conduct action research (Kincheloe, 2003), and use
reflective practices (Brubacher, et al., 1994) while teaching at their partner
school. Additionally, the selected teachers would be required to learn how to
collaborate across the curriculum, analyze student test data, and engage any
other school-wide initiatives. The intent then is to build the selected teachers
instructional skill levels and conceptualizations of how an effective school

35
works. That way, when they return to their school after two years, they will have
a stronger teaching foundation.
To work effectively, teachers from the higher performing school would then
transfer into the lower performing school for two years, which may require the
use of monetary incentives. As these teachers join the lower performing schools
faculty, they would be assigned classes to teach and be asked to share their best
teaching strategies through instructional workshops and/or classroom
demonstrations. Additionally, after spending 6-12 months becoming part of the
lower performing schools culture, these teachers would recommend to the
principal specific reforms that could be implemented to increase student
learning, teacher effectiveness, and school-wide collaboration. The remainder of
their time in the lower-performing school would be used to develop a plan for
implementing specific recommendations that the principal agreed to and begin
executing them. The benefits of this restructuring model as opposed to the
turnaround model include:
1. Teachers from both higher and lower performing schools will have a
unique experience that will most likely strengthen their teaching
practices;
2. Teachers from lower performing schools will be provided support in
how they can improve their instruction instead of being released;
3. Lower performing schools that previously implemented the turnaround
strategy would not have to scramble to hire inexperienced teachers to
replaced released teachers;
4. Collaboration will be emphasized opposed to top-down reform agendas;
5. The cost of incentivizing teachers from higher performing schools to
transfer into lower performing schools is likely negligible compared to
the cost of hiring and training a cadre of rookie teachers;
6. By having teachers from higher performing schools teach in lower
performing schools, it will likely increase their conceptualization of
lower performing schools and the challenges they face.
When looking back at TDs experiences with school restructuring, Carmen and
King were put in a situation where they had to make quick decisions about
releasing teachers, and individual support for newly hired teachers who were
struggling with differentiating their instruction to meet the needs of their
students was not offered. Moreover, the overall result of TDs restructuring
efforts was not increased student achievement; rather, it was that TDs English
teachers and assistant principal left while student achievement remained
stagnant, at best. If the goal of turning around schools is to increase student
achievement, an approach that supports teachers and students needs to be used
to restructure schools. The proposed teacher exchange program takes that aim,
and the current school turnaround strategy does not.
Limitations
My study was limited to the data I gathered from my participants, the historical
documents I found, and the information posted online. I was not privy to the
actual meetings between the district and TDs administrators, and my

36
involvement with TD began after the school had been restructuring for three
years. Additionally, I delimited my study to only TDs English teachers, which
made my pool of potential participants smaller.
Also, when working with narrative, researchers tend to become part of the story
and I was no exception (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990). As I worked through the
data, I was the individual who ultimately chose the quotes, events, and
happenings to include, not my participants. My own experiences of being a
former English teacher in a low performing school and working as a mentor for
interns who completed their student teaching experience at TD informed how I
viewed TDs restructuring and the work of my participants.
Conclusion
School restructuring is not an easy process, and there are no correct methods
to turnaroud a school. Moreover, to determine which strategies actually were
useful when a school does successfully restructure is comparable to trying to get
the egg out of a cake once it has been baked. In my study, I discussed how TD
used multiple school improvement initiatives to help it restructure, but none of
my participants keyed in on one specific strategy that was the strategy to
improve student achievement, and TDs test score data suggests that none of the
school reform strategies were effective. Additionally, the teacher attrition rate
TD experienced suggests TDs restructuring did not result in it becoming a place
where teachers wanted to work. As such, I offered Partner Schools as an
alternative model for school restructuring, which emphasizes growth, support,
and understanding for teachers and low performing schools. As education
policies continue to use test scores to evaluate the effectiveness of schools and
teachers, we must go about the work of transforming low performing schools
into higher performing schools by using reforms that are caring to our teachers
and students.
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41

Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 41-58, May 2015
Introducing Productive Pedagogies to Nigerian

Mathematics Classroom through Collaborative Action
Research Using a Community of Practice Approach
Dr. Iliya Joseph Bature,

Australian Catholic University, Sydney,
NSW, Australia
James Jonah Jackson, Aramide Kemi,

Danladi Remkyes Shol and Nengak Sabo,
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi,
Nigeria
Abstract. In this paper a group of four mathematics student-teachers

came together to improved their teaching through a community of
practice. They adopted one dimension each of the four dimensions that
makes up the Productive Pedagogies framework to setup their
classroom teaching practice. The findings of the study suggest that the
four teachers achieved a great deal of success in their effort to improve
their classroom teaching. Also Productive Pedagogies could be an
important tool in improving the deplorable mathematics classroom in
Nigeria particularly at the secondary school level. From the findings of
this study the researcher conclusion suggested that, for effective
mathematics classroom teaching, teachers are advised to adopt the
Productive Pedagogies framework as an instrument for achieving
quality classroom instruction. It is also suggested that collaboration
among teachers should be encouraged. This will help the teachers work
in groups and provide opportunity for teachers to talk about their
teaching practices, criticise and model one anothers thoughts and
perceptions about classroom teaching.
Keywords: Productive Pedagogies; Quality classroom Instruction;

community of Practice
Introduction
When the word pedagogy is used, it connotes a range of methods of organising
ideas that teachers adopt to bring about quality classroom teaching.
Mathematics educators in more than six decades had made concerted effort in
addressing different perspectives to mathematics and its classroom instruction.
2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

42
For example notable researchers like Ernest (1991), Freudental (1978) and Skemp
(1976) thought of mathematics in a fallibilistic terms. Davis, Maher and
Noddings (1990) and Glasersfeld (1987) thought of mathematics learning in a
constructive process. Lave and Wenger, (1991) thought of mathematics teaching
and learning through situate knowledge. And finally, Lerman (1996) and Steffe
and Thompson, (2001) had also debated the commensurability of constructivist
and sociocultural learning theories which also suggested that the concept of the
philosophical and the epistemological development of mathematics and its
teaching and learning.
Looking back over these years one might infer that these learning theories that
are highly influential in addressing the teaching of mathematics as keys to the
development of strategies for a drastic changes to mathematics classrooms
(Jaworski, 2006). This had led to the maturity of the theoretical considerations of
mathematics education discipline in the developed and the developing
countries. However, the position of mathematics teaching has remains
theoretical and underdeveloped (Jaworski, 2006) particularly in Nigerian
mathematics classrooms where the traditional teacher-centred teaching still
prevail (Azuka: 2006; Kaka, 2007; Odilli: 2006).
Generally, several teaching techniques and or frameworks exist in literature that

supports the development of theoretical underpinnings in relation to
mathematics, Mathematics education and Mathematics classroom practice
(Atweh, 2007). For example, first, the use of multi-tiered scale by teachers to
demonstrate their level of expertise in achieving quality student outcome during
mathematics classroom teaching (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001) commonly
referred to as Bloom Taxonomy (Bloom, 1956). Second, the
Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences which believed that

We are not all the same, we do not all have the same kinds of minds, and
education works most effectively for most individuals, if...human differences are
taken seriously" (Gardner, 1995, p.208).
Third, the Debonos thinking Hats; which provides a model to help students think
critically (de Bono, 1991). And finally, the Myer-Briggs Personality Types which
burthened on how a designed personality test can assist a person identify some
significant personal preferences in thinking about learning (Briggs Myers,
McCaulley, Quenk, & Hammer, 1998).
These different frameworks possess some characteristics that may be similar to

one another. However, none of these frameworks and strategies contains
prescriptive teaching tools for the teacher. According to Atweh (2007) these
teaching techniques or what he called tools are used for reflection for teachers to
critique their own pedagogy in order to designed alternative pedagogies (p.98).
Similarly, Atweh when further to suggest that none of these framework or
teaching techniques is content based. Atweh noted that the educational research
base on which these tools or framework of teaching are built are perhaps limited
and

43
Focus more on higher order thinking and intelligence, constructed under the
individualistic models of learning, they dont take into account the social
dimension of learning, While some of them might acknowledge individual
differences in thinking style and preference to learning, they do not account for
the effects of student background and their social context. (p.98)
Productive Pedagogies is an example of one of the attempts made by teacher

educators and mathematics teacher educators to integrate research findings on
effective teaching from a variety of areas to mathematics classroom practice,
within education itself, and to classroom instruction. Specifically, Productive
Pedagogies is a product of a long study on school reform undertaken in
Queensland, Australia (Lingard, Ladwig, Mills, Bahr, Chant, Warry, Ailwood,
Capeness, Christie, Gore, Hayes, & Luke, 2001). The basic aim of the framework
was to enhance the quality of classroom teaching. It refuses the idea placed on a
teaching environment that defined quality education in terms of students
outcomes demonstrated in a standardized test of basic skills (Zyngier, 2005). It
however, defines students outcomes in terms of a set of standards based on
some powerful, important ideas and concepts which could be related to the
students experiences and the environment around them (Atweh, 2014, Zyngier,
2005). This suggests that Productive Pedagogies framework is concerned with
how to help students learn and how to enhance both their academic and social
behaviours during classroom instruction.
The developers of Productive Pedagogies framework (Lingard et al. 2001)

postulated four dimensions which described and characterised what could be
termed quality teaching (Atweh, 2014). These includes; Intellectual Quality,
Connectedness, Supportive Classroom Environment, and the Recognition of
Difference. Each dimension was further described by a number of elements
(Lingard et al. 2001).
A brief description of the dimensions suggests that Intellectual Quality is an

important dimension in achieving quality classroom teaching. Previous research
studies suggested that high Intellectual Quality classrooms assist in improving
students performance during classroom instruction (Boaler, 1997; Hayes, Mills,
Christie, & Lingard, 2006). Connectedness attempts to make mathematics more
relevant to students life by connecting students life experiences either at home
or in the society with their lives in school (curriculum and content) or other
school subjects. This attempt is with the view to making mathematics more
relevant and providing students with more meaningful life experiences
(Atweh, 2007). The Supportive Classroom Environment dimension is needed to
create and enabled learning environments involving support and engagement in
order to foster high Intellectual Quality and Connectedness. Finally, on
Recognition of Difference, Hayes et al. (2006) was of the view that teachers
should give more emphasis to recognize the diversities that exist among
students with different cultural backgrounds and beliefs during classroom
instruction in order to provide an equitable outcome for all students.
The framework has become a focus of research and curriculum development

efforts for some years now. This is demonstrated in several projects around the

44
world. For example, in its efforts to improve achievement and interest in the
study of mathematics and other subjects across all school levels, the Queensland
State Government initiated the New Basic Project in 2001 (Department of
Education, Training and Employment, 2001). The New Basics Projects provided
new curriculum organisations, authentic assessment tasks, and a framework for
designing teaching called the Productive Pedagogies (Tanko & Atweh, 2012).
Similarly, Zingier (2005) indicated that the Productive Pedagogies framework
has been adopted in many states and regions across Australia as in New South
Wales, Tasmania, South Australia and Victoria. Gore, Griffiths and Ladwig,
(2002) also used Productive Pedagogies to prepare a series of professional
development activities for in-service teachers.
There are several other research studies that have utilised the Productive
Pedagogies framework in teacher education across the globe. For example,
Alsharif and Atweh (2012) in Saudi Arabia modelled the Productive Pedagogies
framework in preservice teachers- education programs to develop their
pedagogical practices during their field experience. Tanko and Atweh (2012)
used the Productive Pedagogy framework to improve the teaching and learning
of practical numeracy with adult learners in United Arab Emirates. Similarly,
Productive Pedagogies framework had been used to introduce social justice
practices in classroom instruction (Bacon, 2012; Bartel, 2012; Tanko, 2012). Other
studies used the Productive Pedagogies framework to increase preservice
teachers awareness of teaching pedagogies that could improve classroom
engagement, participation, and to implement critical reflection among teachers
and students (Aveling & Hatchell, 2007; Sorin & Klein, 2002; Wilson & Klein,
2000; Zyngier 2005).
Though, certain principles of Productive Pedagogies had been explored by

Nigerian educational researchers. There is no evidence in literature that the
concept had been explored as a whole in Nigeria classrooms. For example,
Bature and Bundot (2009) worked on setting the classroom climate for effective
mathematics classroom instructions which could be regarded as the Supportive
Classroom Environment of Productive Pedagogies. Similarly, Kalu (1997)
worked on classroom interaction patterns among secondary schools students
during classroom instruction which could be regarded as substantive
conversation of Intellectual Quality dimension of Productive Pedagogies. While
Ajunwon (2012) worked on socio-cultural identities found in different students
especially in mathematics classrooms which could be viewed as inclusivity of
the Recognition of Difference dimensions of Productive Pedagogies
In this current study, the researchers adopted the Productive Pedagogies

framework because on the following potentials. First, the Productive
Pedagogies framework is believed to provide opportunities for individual
teachers to reflect on their own lessons, either at the planning stage or after
conducting the class, using the four dimensions of the framework (Atweh, 2007).
The teacher can ask herself/himself whether the lesson demonstrated high
quality content in its presentation or whether the lesson provided enough
support to students, or whether the increase recognition of differences among

45
students such as social and cultural groups in the classroom helped improved
students learning and engagements. Second, Productive Pedagogies framework
is believed to have the potential of helping teachers obtain or provide critical
colleagues comments on each others classroom teaching. This allows the
teacher and the classroom observer to enter into substantive conversation about
teaching and practices. It also has the potential to be used in collaborative
planning for the curriculum in the school for one level in one subject, or across
levels and subjects. Third, the researchers believed that the Productive
Pedagogies framework can be used for the professional development of
Mathematics teachers and as a form of induction to both preservice and in-
service teachers in the schools, which could be useful strategy for giving
feedback to teachers for discussions about promoting good and quality
classroom teaching.
Fourth, the Queensland School Reform Longitudinal Study pointed to certain

conditions that make the research on Productive Pedagogies open to other social
settings. First, they assert that: - each dimension of Productive Pedagogies is
readily defended in an ideal setting and in the context in which it was
developed. However, this depends on the prevailing circumstances surrounding
the classroom in terms of classroom environments and other socio cultural
forces. This makes the research on Productive Pedagogies open to further
investigations particularly in other social-cultural environments. Second, the
four dimensions of Productive Pedagogies may be good enough for students to
do well in school; there is however, no quality evidence to believing that all the
dimensions are equally required for success in all socio-cultural settings
(Lingard at al. 2001). Third, different classroom activities may reflect some of
these dimension more than others (Atweh, 2007) for example, some classes may
demonstrate low level Intellectual Qualities, while others demonstrate high level
of Intellectual Quality with the attempt to connect learning to students life
experiences.
Therefore, one may conclude by saying that, Productive Pedagogies may work
in one environment and fail to work in other environments depending on the
prevailing circumstances surrounding the environment. This informed the need
for this research to investigate the process and the effect of introducing
Productive Pedagogies into Nigerian secondary schools mathematics classrooms
with the aim to improving mathematics teachers classroom teaching. This paper
discusses how Productive Pedagogies framework was introduced to four
mathematics teachers in an attempt to improve their teaching practices in a
community of practice or through an approach called Collaborative Action
Research. The following research objectives were adapted to this research.
1. To determine the teachers implementation of Productive Pedagogies

framework during their classroom instruction.
2. To determine the improvement observed in the teachers classroom
instruction using the Productive Pedagogies Classroom Observation Manual
developed by the Queensland School Reformed Longitudinal Study.

46
3. To determine the perception of the teachers on the role of Productive

Pedagogies in improving their teaching practice using the community of
practice.
Methodology
This research adopted the Collaborative Action Research approach to

investigating the classroom teaching of four teachers working in the community
of practice to improve their teaching using Productive Pedagogies framework.
Collaborative Research is a form of research that is authentic and meaningful to
teachers. It is conducted by teacher in their own classroom, to identify their
challenges and find possible solutions to such classroom problems. It helps the
teacher to pick up issues suggested in academic circles, and weave them in his
own classroom to uncover new strategies to be used to improve his/her
teaching practices (Ferrance, 2000, p.13; Johnson and Button, 2000; Sagor, 2004 )
Four preservice mathematics teachers of Jimmy, Jackson, Jerry and Jennie

(pseudonyms) were conducting their final year research project in a community
of practice. They decided to each pick one dimension of the Productive
Pedagogies framework to set their classes in their effort to achieve quality
classroom teaching. These four teachers decided to adopt the Productive
Pedagogies Classroom Observation Manual developed by the Queensland
School Reformed Longitudinal Study commissioned by the Education
Queensland (2001) as an observational tool during their classroom instruction.
The 24-page manual contains explanations and examples of all 20 elements (see
Appendix) of the Productive Pedagogies along with a 5 point Likert type scale.
The teachers used the elements and the dimensions of Productive Pedagogies as
outlined in the Productive Pedagogies Classroom Observation Manual to
determine their level of implementability of the framework during their
classroom instruction.
The data generation period was divided into three cycles of two weeks. After
each data collection session the teachers will meet for a period of another two or
more hours to reflect on their practice, discuss the challenges they faces and
possible solutions proffered before progressing into the next cycle or section.
The quantitative data generated during the research were used by each of the
participating preservice teachers for their final year research project. However,
for this paper, the qualitative data collected were coded using the grounded
theory approached to data analysis. While the quantitative data which
constituted the major data used were collated and analysed using descriptive
and inferential statistics to determine the improvement of each of the
participating teachers across the three cycles or sections.
Result

47
The results of the classroom teaching of the four mathematics teachers were
analysed independently. This is because the teachers adopted different
dimensions of the Productive Pedagogies framework to improve their classroom
instructions. Secondly, since they were working in a community of practice, the
picture of how each of the teachers implemented his/her dimension needed to
be analysed separately.
Response to Research Objective 1
To determine the participating teachers implementation of Productive

Pedagogies framework during their classroom instruction using the Productive
Pedagogies Classroom Observation Manual developed by Queensland School
Reformed Longitudinal Study.
Meta Language
Knowledge as Problematic
Substantive Conversation
cycle 1
Deep Understanding cycle 2

cycle 3
Deep Knowledge
Higher Order Thinking
0 1 2 3 4 5
Figure 1: Jimmys Classroom Instruction. The Figure above described the

implementation of Jimmys classroom instruction using the Intellectual Quality
Dimension of Productive Pedagogies. The Intellectual Quality dimension has
six elements: - Metalanguage, Knowledge as Problematic, substantive
conversation, deep knowledge, deep understanding and higher order thinking.
See table in appendix.
The figure suggested that Jimmys implementation in each element show a

progressive improvement from cycle to cycle. From the figure, Jimmy
demonstrated competences in all elements on the three cycles with particular
improvement in higher order thinking and substantive conversation in cycle
three. However, Knowledge as problematic was the elements with least
competence in implementation particularly in cycle 3. The progressive
improvement could have been achieved as a result of the reflections meetings
after each cycle.

48
Problem Based Curriculum
Connectedness to the world

cycle 1
cycle 2
Background Knowledge
cycle 3
Knowledge integration
0 1 2 3 4 5
Figure 2: Jacksons Classroom Instruction: The figure above demonstrated the

implementation of Jacksons classroom instruction using the Connectedness
dimension of Productive Pedagogies. The connectedness dimension which is
also called relevance has four elements: - Problem Based curriculum,
connectedness to the world, Background knowledge and Knowledge integration
as stated in the appendix below.
The figure suggested that Jackson had a progressive improvement in all the
elements of Connectedness with particular improvement in connectedness to the
world and problem based curriculum. This suggested that Jackson pays
particular attention to helping his students solved real life related problems. He
also gave them the freedom to solved high intellectual quality problems that had
varied approaches to solution. Background knowledge and knowledge
integration where the list implemented elements in Jackson classroom practice.
Perhaps reasons to these could be adduced to his inability to relate his
mathematics content to other subjects as observed by his colleagues. This
notwithstanding does not imply that he did not relate them well but rather they
were not rated as high as the other elements in his dimension. However, this
progressive improvement in Jackson classroom instruction in all the elements
perhaps was as a result of the reflective meetings between the teachers during
the research period. This period was dedicated to discussing the challenges
faced in the previous cycles and how best it could be achieved in the next cycle.

49
Explecit quality performance

criteria
Students Direction
Cycle 1
Self-regulation
Cycle 2
Cycle 3
Academic Engagement
Social Support
1 2 3 4 5
Figure 3: Jerrys Classroom Instruction: The figure above demonstrated the

implementation of Jerrys classroom instruction using the Supportive Classroom
Environment dimension of Productive Pedagogies. The dimension has the
following elements as described in the table below: - explicit quality
performance criteria, students direction, self-regulation, academic engagement,
and social support.
The figure demonstrated improvement in Jerrys classroom instruction from

cycle to cycle. The figure also revealed no improvement in social support
between cycle 1 and cycle 2. It was also observed that there was a high level of
students self-regulation in cycle 3. However the students did not fully have the
control of the classroom activities as students direction was shown to be least
implemented in cycles 1 and 3. This does not implies that Jerry did not improved
in his implementation but rather some elements were better implemented that
others. The implementability of the elements and their effectiveness was as the
result of the explanations given in Jimmy and Jackson classroom instruction.
There was a very high observation on self-regulation also in Jerry classroom
instruction in cycle 3. This perhaps was as a result of the topic Jerry was
handling coupled with the reflection meetings.

50
Group Identity
Active citizenship
cycle 1
Inclusivity
cycle 2
cycle 3
Naratives
Cultural Knowledge
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Figure 4: Jennies Classroom Instruction: The figure above demonstrated the

implementation of Jennies classroom instruction using the Recognition of
Difference dimension of Productive Pedagogies. This dimension is divided into
5 elements thus: - Group Identity, Active citizenship, Inclusivity, narratives and
cultural knowledge
The figure demonstrated that Jennie had a progressive improvement in the

implementation of Recognition of Difference dimension of Productive
Pedagogies, with particular improvement in active citizenship in cycle 3. This
suggests that Jennie recognises the differences that exist among students in her
classroom and uses them to improve her classroom instruction. Active
citizenship was observed to be higher than all other elements in Jennies
classroom practice might be as a result of the preservice provides a more
democratic setting in her classroom instruction. As discuss above, other factors
that could influence her performance were not far from what is said about the
other researchers.
Response to Research objective 2
To determine the improvement observed in the participating teachers classroom

instruction using the Productive Pedagogies Classroom Observation Manual
developed by Queensland School Reformed Longitudinal Study

51
Jimmy
Jerry
cycle 1
cycle 2
Jackson cycle 3
Jennie
0 1 2 3 4 5
Figure 5 Participating teachers improvement in classroom instructions. Figure 5

above demonstrated the improvement of all the participating teachers across the
cycles.
The figure above demonstrated the picture of the participating teachers

classroom instruction across cycles which suggested improvement in classroom
teaching of all the teachers across the cycles. Their performance across cycles
also suggested uniform performances as they fall within the same range in all
the ratings except in cycle one where Jerrys performance was a bit better than
the other teachers. Factors that are likely to bring about better performance
among the teachers perhaps could be as a result of the years of teaching
experiences or the dimensions selected for the research. However, all the
preservice teachers showed potentials in their effort to improve their classroom
instruction. Uniformity in their performance could also be as the result of the
reflection meetings as stated in research objective 1 above.
Response to research objective 3
To determine the perception of the teachers on the role of Productive Pedagogies

and Collaborative Action Research in improving their teaching practice using
the community of practice.
Data collected suggested that the use of Productive Pedagogies framework was
not the only factor that helped improve the teaching effectiveness of the
preservice teachers. The teachers were of the view that discussions held after
each cycle during their reflection meetings contributed a lot to helping them see
the concept of Productive Pedagogies and its implementations in new
dimensions. The reflection meetings gave them the opportunity to look back on
what they did which helped them look forward on what they needed to do to

52
improve their practice in the next cycle. For example, one of the teachers was of
the view that,
The way the program was structured emphasises very challenging learning
objectives, we received and provided support to one another, and not only is
feedback given throughout the program but we actively sought for it, not only
from the researcher, but also from colleagues. (Jerry: Research Journal)
Another teacher said,
The experiences of discussing with colleagues help my problem solving skills, it

provided opportunity for cooperative learning, and there is an enhanced level of
immediate feedback from colleagues during the implementation, particularly,
during reflection meetings. (Jennie: Research Journal)
Similarly the preservice teachers suggested that the framework help reduced the
domineering approach to teaching, commonly observed in most Nigerian
mathematics classrooms. For example one of the teachers was of the view that,
The setting that makes mathematics teachers have the monopoly of knowledge
and students depending on them for everything does not portrayed good
Productive Pedagogies classroom. But in a situation where we are teachers and
we are students; makes our students relax..., the teacher brings the knowledge
and the students analysed and discussed it this tends to boast my students
confidence and encouraged independent learning among them. (Jennie: Research
Journal)
From the comment of the preservice teacher above suggests that using the
Productive Pedagogies framework in mathematics classroom help reduced the
mathematics phobia that is commonly observed among secondary school
students in most mathematics classrooms in Nigeria. Every member of the
classroom community has a role to perform during the classroom instruction as
against the teacher centred instruction that had pervaded most of the Nigerian
mathematics classrooms for decades. Jackson acknowledged this by saying,
My classroom used to be like a graveyard as students dare not talk, but to my

amazement as I introduced Productive Pedagogies framework in my class, the
class naturally became interactive, the students interacted in their groups, before
you know, the solution to the problem is gotten. (Jackson: Research Journal)
Conclusions
The findings of the study suggested that the used of Productive Pedagogies
framework by the teachers improved their teaching effectiveness. It brought
about positive changes in their classroom instructions. This was demonstrated
in figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. The figures showed positive improvement from one
cycle to the other. This improvement according to the teachers was as a result of
adopting the Productive Pedagogies framework in their classroom teaching as
observed in research objective 3. These tallies with the findings of most notable

53
researchers on Productive Pedagogies which were of the view that Productive

Pedagogies framework had been used to help mathematics teachers improved
their mathematics classroom instruction (Bacon, 2012; Bartel, 2012; Tanko, 2012).
Other researchers also observed that the Productive Pedagogies framework
could also be used to increase teacher awareness of teaching pedagogies that
could improve classroom engagement and participation. This helped bring
about critical reflection among teachers and their colleagues on their teaching
practices (Aveling & Hatchell, 2007; Sorin & Klein, 2002; Wilson & Klein, 2000;
Zyngier 2005).
On using Productive Pedagogies as a tool for improving mathematics classroom

instructions, the findings of the study suggest that Productive Pedagogies seems
to be an important tool for effective classroom instruction as it makes teachers
and students responsible for what goes on in the class during classroom
instruction. Every member of the classroom community has a role to play during
the classroom instruction as compared to the traditional teacher-centred
approach that has dominated most Nigerian mathematics classrooms (Azuka:
2006; Kaka, 2007; Odilli: 2006). These findings also coincided with the findings of
Atweh (2014) who asserted that Productive Pedagogies can be used to improve
mathematics teachers teaching effectiveness, because they provide a vocabulary
for teachers and their students to interact during classroom instruction.
Similarly, the findings of the study also suggests that it was not only the use of
the Productive Pedagogies framework alone that helped improve their teaching
effectiveness, but that, the discussions held after each cycle during their
reflections meetings contributed a lot to helping the teachers see the concept of
Productive Pedagogies and their implementations in new dimensions. The
reflection meetings gave them the opportunity to look back on what they did,
which helped them look forward to what they needed to do to improve their
practice. This supports the Collaborative Action Research principles of
reflections which postulate that reflection helps improved teachers performance
during classroom instruction, provides opportunities for teachers to discuss
problems observed and suggest possible ways to resolve them (Sagor, 2004).
This also suggested that collaboration among teachers provide opportunity for
teachers to talk about their classroom instruction and also provides a framework
for reflection after classroom instruction with colleagues (Aveling & Hatchell,
2007; Sorin & Klein, 2002; Wilson & Klein, 2000; Zyngier 2005). Similarly, studies
has also demonstrated that participating in Collaborative Research has been
found to be one of the most important tools for effecting positive changes in
teachers classroom instruction. This is exemplified by teachers improvement in
their practice, self-reflection, improved students overall learning and enhances
mathematics teachers classroom teaching effectiveness (Ferrance, 2000; Johnson
& Button, 2000; Ross, Rolheiser, & Hogoboam-Gray & Campbel, 2002; Sax &
Fisher, 2001).
In conclusion the findings of this study suggest that, for effective mathematics
classroom teaching, teachers are advised to adopt the Productive Pedagogies

54
framework as a tool for achieving quality classroom instruction. It is also

suggested that collaboration among teachers should be encouraged. This will
help the teachers work in groups and provide opportunity for teachers to talk
about their teaching practices, criticise and model one anothers thoughts and
perceptions about classroom teaching.
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57
Appendix
The Dimensions of Productive Pedagogies and their Associated Elements

Summarised by Atweh (2007)
ELEMENTS OF DESCRIPTION
PRODUCTIVE
PEDAGOGIES
INTELLECTUAL QUALITY
Higher Order Involves transformation of information and ideas. This transformation occurs
Thinking when students combine facts and ideas to synthesize, generalise, explain,
hypothesize or arrive at some conclusion or interpretation.
Deep Deep knowledge is concerned with the central ideas of a topic or discipline
Knowledge which are judged to be crucial to it.
Deep Deep understanding is indicated when students grasp relatively complex
Understanding relationships between the central concepts of a topic or discipline. They can
produce new knowledge by discovering relationships, solving problems,
constructing explanations and drawing conclusions.
Substantive There is considerable interaction among students, and between teacher and
Conversation students, about the ideas of a substantive topic. The interactions are
reciprocal and promote shared understanding
Knowledge as This involves an understanding of knowledge not as a fixed body of
Problematic information, but rather as being constructed, and hence subject to political,
social and cultural influences and implications
Meta-language Such instruction incorporates frequent discussion about talk and writing,
about how written and spoken facts work, about specific technical
vocabulary and words, about how sentences work or dont work (syntax,
grammar).
SUPPORTIVE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
Student Students influence the specific activities or tasks they will do in a lesson or
Direction how they will undertake them.
Social Support Social support is characterised by an atmosphere of mutual respect and
support between teacher and students, and among students.
Academic Students are engaged and on task. They show enthusiasm for their work by
Engagement raising questions, contributing to group activities and helping peers
Self-Regulation The direction of student behaviour is implicit and self-regulatory
Explicit Quality The criteria for judging the range of student performance is made explicit.
Performance Using tools such as rubrics.
Criteria
CONNECTEDNESS
Knowledge This occurs when explicit attempts are made to connect two or more sets of
Integration subject area knowledge.
Background Opportunities are provided for students to make connections between their
Knowledge own background knowledge and experience and the topics, skills and
competencies they are studying and acquiring
Connectedness This describes the extent to which the lesson has value and meaning
to the World beyond the instructional context, making a connection to the wider social
context within which students live.
Problem-Based Such curriculum is one in which students are presented with specific
Curriculum practical, real or hypothetical problems to solve. Problems are defined as
having no single correct solution, requiring the construction of knowledge
by the students and requiring sustained attention beyond a single lesson.
RECOGNITION OF DIFFERENCE

58
Cultural A range of cultures, an acknowledged and given status. Cultures are

Knowledge valued when there is implicit appreciation of beliefs, languages, practices
and ways of knowing.
Group Identity Teaching practices build a sense of community and identity.
Narrative The use of narrative in lessons involves an emphasis both in teaching and
in student responses or personal stories, biographies, historical accounts
and literary and cultural texts.
Inclusivity Inclusive classroom practices intentionally acknowledge, support and
incorporate the diversity of students diverse backgrounds, experiences
and abilities.
Active This element involves acknowledging that in a democratic society all
Citizenship individuals and groups have rights and responsibilities.

59
International Journal of Learning, teaching and Educational Research

Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 59-68, May 2015
Blended VS On-Campus Learning:

A Study of Exam Results in the Bachelor Degree
in Nursing
Bjrg F. Oftedal, Kristin H. Urstad, Venche Hvidsten and Brynjar Foss

Department of Health Studies
University of Stavanger, Norway
Abstract. Blended learning is a pedagogical method combining

classroom learning and online learning. For this purpose, various digital
and web-based learning tools have been developed. Although the
benefits of blended learning are extensive and valued by many students,
there is a growing need to explore how blended learning might affect
learning outcomes. The aim of this study was to compare learning
outcomes between students receiving blended learning and the
conventional, on-campus approach. The study had a descriptive
quantitative design. The data was collected from the exam database at
the Faculty of Social Sciences. The study included all nursing students
enrolled in 2009 and 2010 attending the three-year on-campus program
or the four-year blended learning program. Results show that students
engaged in blended learning perform at least as well on theoretical exams
as the on-campus students. This indicate that students in blended
learning are just as capable of doing well in nursing program as students
in an on-campus program. Nevertheless, further research should focus
on larger sample sizes combined with other methodological approaches
in order to explore the impact of blended learning more deeply.
Keywords: Blended learning; Bachelor in nursing; Learning outcome;

Quantitative method
Introduction
Blended learning, the systematic integration of traditional classroom learning
combined with digital learning solutions, is a relatively new pedagogical
method in higher education (Galy, Downey, & Johnson, 2011; Hsu & Hsieh,
2014; Percival & Muirhead, 2009). Blended learning thus causes changes in
learning patterns and practices and may represent a paradigm shift in which the
emphasis of the academic institution changes from traditional teaching to active
learning (Lopez-Perez, Perez-Lopez, & Rodriguez-Ariza, 2011).

60
Blended learning has become widespread among students because of its

potential for providing more flexible and asynchronous learning activities,
offering some of the conveniences of campus courses with the complete face-to-
face contact (Means, Toyama, Murphy, & Baki, 2013). For this purpose, various
digital learning tools have been developed including learning management
systems (LMS) (Burgess, 2003; Galy et al., 2011), rich media solutions such as
Mediasite (Blevins & Elton, 2009; Harvel & Hardmann, 2012; Vasu & Ozturk,
2008), e-compendiums (Foss, Oftedal, & Lkken, 2013) and podcasts (Delaney,
Pennington, & Blankenship, 2010; Evans, 2008; Foss et al., 2013).
Prior studies indicate that blended learning has many positive effects. For
example, some authors have reported that blended learning increases students
motivation for learning, reflection, and collaboration; reduces dropout rates; and
eliminates geographical barriers (Du et al., 2013; Hsu, 2012; Lopez-Perez et al.,
2011). In addition, studies reveal that students are more satisfied with blended
learning because of the flexibility and accessibility it affords, as well as the
opportunity to be more active in the learning process because of various digital
learning tools e.g. games (Hsu, 2012; Korhonen & Lammintakanen, 2005; Lim &
Morris, 2009; Smyth, Houghton, Cooney, & Casey, 2012; Wu, Tennyson, & Hsia,
2010). Although the promises of blended learning are extensive, some studies
have highlighted the negative effects of blended learning. These include
technical difficulties, students feelings of isolation, students becoming
overwhelmed, and the feeling that on line tools are too invasive in their
everyday lives (Smyth, 2012). Nevertheless, according to a meta-analysis, most
research in this area tends to focus on students experiences (Means et al. 2013).
Therefore, more research about how the blended learning program affects exam
results when compared to ordinary on-campus programs is recommended
(Means et al., 2013).
Aim
The aim of this study was to compare learning outcomes between students
receiving blended learning and a conventional, on-campus approach. This was
performed by comparing students exam results in all the theoretical subjects for
the three-year, on-campus bachelor degree in nursing, with students exam
results for the four-year, blended learning bachelor degree in nursing.
Study Context
In 2009, a University in Norway initiated a four-year blended learning program
for the bachelor degree in nursing. The curricula was introduced as a
supplement to the conventional three-year, on-campus bachelor degree in
nursing. The curricula of nurses in blended learning are based on both
theoretical courses and practical training. While all practical training is done on
campus and in hospital/primary health care, the course contents are organized
and provided by the local learning management system (LMS) and various e-
learning tools including, streaming, podcast, video and e-compendiums (see
below).

61
Description of Education Programs

The two education programs are based on identical curricula and exams as well
as lecturers and assessment examiner and carries 180 ECTS (European Credit
Transfer and Accumulation System) credits. However, the timelines and
learning tools differ. The on-campus education is a full-time study that spans
three years. The learning tools were weekly auditorium lectures, textbooks, and
the local LMS. The exams were traditional paper and pencil tests for both
groups.
The blended learning education program is a part-time study over four years,
and the lectures only take place for four weeks during each semester. Beyond
the lectures, the remaining time of the semester involves self-study. The learning
tools included are textbooks, LMSs, and e-compendiums. The e-compendiums
constitute a major part of the blended learning tools and was developed to
substitute for lectures and provide support for and complement the courses. The
e-compendiums are PDF rich-media files that contain the lecture as a written
text supplemented with figures, photos, animations, audio files, interactions,
and a short multiple-choice test (Foss et al, 2013). In addition, highlighting of
text, personal notes (including voice notes) and search functions are embedded.
The audio files from the e-compendiums were made available as podcasts on
iTunes U. Students were thus able to save the podcasts to their PCs or mobile
devices. The podcasts were accessible as audio files only (mp3 files) and
enhanced versions were available that also included the graphics of the e-
compendiums (Foss et al. 2013).
Methodology
The study had a descriptive quantitative design. The data was collected from the
exam database of the Faculty of Social Sciences.
Samples
The study included all nursing students enrolled in 2009 and 2010 attending the
three-year on-campus program (OCP) or the four-year blended learning
program (BLP) (Table 1). In 2009 and 2010, 16 students with a median age of 28,
and 24 students with a median age of 35, respectively, enrolled in the BLP,
whereas 198 students with a median age of 21, and 238 students with a median
age of 21, respectively, enrolled in the OCP. For students who began in 2009 and
who were 19-20 years old, the lowest secondary high school scores were 33.8
and 38.3 for BLP and OCP students, respectively. For students who were 21
years or older and enrolled in 2009, the lowest scores were 48.8 and 43.0 for BLP
and OCP students, respectively. Among OCP students, those who enrolled in
2010 had the lowest scores of 37.7 and 41.6 for the age range of 19-20 and the 21
years old and older range, respectively. All students who applied and were
qualified to the BLP were enrolled in 2010, and therefore, no lowest enter mark
is registered.

62
Table 1: Characteristic of the sample

BLP students OCP students
2009 2010 2009 2010
Enrolled (n) 16 24 198 238
Age (median) 28 35 21 21
Lowest enter mark score*
20 year** 33.8 0*** 38.3 37.7
ordinary 48.8 0 43.0 41.6
* The lower secondary school enter mark.
**Applicants younger and above 21 years are subject to different admission
requirements
*** All BLP students were enrolled in 2010, and no lowest enter mark was
registered
Analysis
The descriptive analysis in this study consists of exam marks for theoretical
subjects in the two study programs. The mark scale ranges from A to F, where A
is the best score and F is a failing grade. Whereas the majority of the students
passed the exam on their first attempt, some students required two or three
attempts to pass. This explains why the number of students who completed the
exams differed compared to the number of enrolled students (Table 4). All
attempts of the exams are included in the analysis.
Results
In this study, we compared the exam results of BLP and OCP students who
enrolled during the academic year 2009 and 2010. The nursing program contains
ten theoretical subjects. The average marks on each of these subjects are
presented in Table 2.
Table 2: Average marks on each theoretical subject for BLP and OCP
Course Course title BLP OCP
2009 2010 2009 2010
BSN Fundamental of nursing C C D D
140:
BSN Natural and medical science part 1 C D D D
142:
BSN Philosophy of nursing C C na na
EX:
BSN Nursing and Social studies D D C C
143:
BSN Nursing - acute, critical and chronic C D D D
240: illnesses
BSN Natural and medical science part 2 C C D D
241:
BSN Nursing - organisation and C C C C
242: management

63
BSN Nursing - health promotion and user C C D C

340: involvement
BSN Theories and Sciences in nursing C C D D
341:
BSN Bachelor thesis B C B B
BAC:
na = not available
By converting the exam marks into numbers, in which the exam mark A
corresponds to a 6, B to a 5, and so forth we found that the average score of OCP
students was 3.4 for 2009 and 3.6 for 2010 students (Table 3). The BLP students
of 2009 had an average mark of 4.0 and the BLP students of 2010 had an average
mark of 3.7 (Table 3).
Table 3: Marks converted into numbers

Code
2009 2010 2009 2010
BSN Fundamental of nursing 4.0 4.0 3.0 3.0
140
BSN Natural and medical science part 1 4.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
142
BSN EX Philosophy of nursing 4.0 4.0 na na
BSN Nursing and Social studies 3.0 3.0 4.0 4.0
143
BSN Nursing - acute, critical and chronic 4.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
240 illnesses
BSN Natural and medical science part 2 4.0 4.0 3.0 3.0
241
BSN Nursing - organisation and 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
242 management
BSN Nursing - health promotion and user 4.0 4.0 3.0 4.0
340 involvement
BSN Theories and Sciences in nursing 4.0 4.0 3.0 3.0
341
BSN Bachelor thesis 5.0 4.0 5.0 5.0
BAC
Averag 4.0 3.7 3.4 3.6
e Mark
na = not available
Figure 1 illustrates the average exam marks of the 2009 and 2010 students for
each subject and compares BLP and OCP. The results show that the average
marks are identical for the two groups for one out of the nine subjects (BSN EX
not included, see Table 3), whereas BLP students do better on six subjects and
OCP students do better on two single subjects.

64
Figure 1: The average marks of 2009 and 2010 students on each subject.
Black = BLP, grey = OCP,
1 = mark F, 2 = mark E, 3 = mark D, 4 = mark C, 5 = mark B, 6 = mark A.
In addition to studying the exam marks of each subject, we also studied the
failure rates of the two student groups. As presented in Table 4, the failure rates
of natural and medical sciences (BSN142 and BSN241) were somewhat higher
for the BLP students compared to the OCP students. The average failure rates
for Natural and medical science part 1 (BSN142) for the 2009 and 2010 students
is 44.2% for BLP students and 30.0% for OCP students. For Natural and medical
science part 2 (BSN241), the same numbers were 22.5% and 17.1%,
respectively. On the other hand, for the subjects BSN140, the average failure rate
for OCP students was 15.8%, whereas all BLP students passed. For BSN143, the
average failure rate for OCP students was 17.8%, whereas it was 20.0% for the
BLP students. Thus an unambiguous pattern of failure rates was not detected
among these two students groups.

65
Table 4: Exam failure rates (n=fail) and students attending the exams (n=total)
Code
2009 2010 2009 2010
n n n n n n n n
fail total fail total fail total fail total
BSN Fundamental of 0 16 0 24 27 90 42 238
140 nursing
BSN Natural and medical 5 16 18 36 70 201 68 259
142 science part 1
BSN EX Philosophy of nursing 0 14 1 21 na na na na
BSN Nursing and Social 1 11 6 24 32 204 38 189

143 studies
BSN Nursing - acute, 0 15 4 15 25 192 90 175
240 critical and chronic
illnesses
BSN Natural and medical 4 17 5 23 25 187 46 228
241 science part 2
BSN Nursing - organisation 0 13 0 15 0 163 14 183
242 and management
BSN Nursing health 15 1* 15 40 148 3 191
340 promotion and user
involvement
BSN Theories and Sciences 0 12 2 16 19 175 13 183
341 in nursing
BSN Bachelor thesis 0 11 0 15 1 152 0 163
BAC
na = not available
* = Sum of BLP of 2009 and 2010.
Discussion
The aim of this study was to compare learning outcomes between students
receiving blended learning and those engage in a conventional, on-campus
approach. This was performed by comparing the students exam results in the
theoretical subjects for the three-year, on-campus bachelor degree in nursing
(OCP), with students exam results for the four-year, blended learning bachelor
degree in nursing (BLP).
The results showed that in the nine theoretical subjects, BLP students achieved
higher exam marks than OCP students on six exams, OCP students achieved
higher exam marks than BLP students on two exams, and the last were equal on
average. These results show that BLP students are doing at least as well as OCP
students on theoretical exams in this nursing program. This is further supported
by the average exam marks for BLP and OCP students thus illustrating that for
BLP students who enrolled in 2009 and 2010, the average exam marks were 4.0
and 3.7, respectively, and for OCP students who enrolled in 2009 and 2010, the

66
average exam marks were 3.4 and 3.6, respectively. The total average of 2009 and
2010 results thus show that OCP students have a mark average of 3.5, whereas
BLP students have an average mark of 3.8. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume
that BLP students are doing just as well as OCP students on theoretical subjects.
This result is in line with a meta-analysis study, which found that students in
blended learning conditions performed modestly better than those receiving
traditional, classroom-based learning models (Means et al., 2013). Another factor
that supports this suggestion is our finding that there are no unambiguous
patterns of differences in failure rates between BLP and OCP. Therefore, the
results are probably not explained by different failure rates.
Although the curriculum exams and assessment examiner are the same, the most
obvious differences between BLP and OCP are the learning methods and
pedagogical tools. Whereas OCP students are closely follow up and supervised
on campus and are able to interact with the lecturers, this is only the case for
three or four weeks per semester for the BLP students. Thus, the BLP students
are significantly more independent in their study. However, this may in fact be
to their advantage. Previous reports show that one of the predictors of good
exam marks is time for self-study (Schmidt et al., 2010), which is central in
blended learning. In addition, the digital learning tools promote flexibility,
active learning and meet the students expectations of e-learning. This is
supported in a previous study (Foss et al. 2013), which found that students
scored the e-compendiums as the best learning tool compared to other e-
learning tools and traditional learning methods, such as lectures and textbooks.
Thus, the students of the blended learning nursing program have a certain level
of control over what is being lectured, and the potential disadvantage to not
joining lectures are minimized. These reflections are further supported in several
studies that have suggested that students who value being empowered and
control their learning process prefer blended learning (Osguthorpe & Graham,
2003; Windle, McCormick, Dandrea, & Wharrad, 2011).
In addition, at least a subset of the BLP group, and maybe a majority, are older
students who may be more dedicated to their studies. Based on our data we
found that the secondary lower marks are higher for 2009 BLP students aged 21
years or older (48.8) than for 2009 OCP students (43.0). Unfortunately, the results
from BLP enrolled in 2010 were not available due to the fact that all applicants
were enrolled. Thus, we do not see the complete picture here. Yet, based on the
available data, a possible interpretation may be that BLP students are older and
do better on secondary education levels and are therefore better prepared for
higher education. Furthermore, it may be suggested that blended learning offers
pedagogical style and structure that fits older students who are in need of
flexibility and convenience in order to balance their studies with other tasks and
obligations in their lives. These reflections are in accordance with previous
research that has highlighted that students prefer educational tools and structure
that promotes flexibility (Korhonen & Lammintakanen, 2005; Rovai & Jordan,
2004). However, obviously, more research is needed to clarify what determines
high exam results among BLP and OCP students in nursing education.

67
Methodological limitations
Some methodological limitations of the study should be acknowledged. Firstly,
the number of students in the blended learning program are fewer compared to
the number of students in the on-campus program. Consequently, the difference
in sample sizes of these two groups limits the possibilities for generalizing our
study findings. Second, our data from a single university population may
mirror the institutional features in the study results. Therefore, the
generalization of the findings must be interpreted with caution. Thirdly, the
exam results of the OCP might include students that were not enrolled the year
they are categorized in this study, as some students are taking an accounting
exam during the year after the program. This is specific to the OCP student. Yet,
these students most likely do better than students taking the exam for the first
time. We therefore argue that the exam results of our OCP are not better than
what is presented in our tables.
Conclusion
In this study, we compared the exam results of theoretical subjects in our
nursing education program between students in a blended learning program
and students in an on-campus program. The overall results indicated that
students in a blended learning program do as well or better than the students in
the on-campus program on their exams. We therefore assume, based on
theoretical subjects that students in a blended learning program are just as
capable of doing well in our nursing education program as students in an on-
campus program. Consequently, we recommend that higher education might
consider using blended learning more systematically in nursing education.
However, further research should focus on larger sample sizes and additional
outcome measures combined with other methodological approaches in order to
explore the impact of blended learning more deeply.
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69

Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 69-77, May 2015
Dealing with Mixed-language Abilities in an

English-Medium University Content Course
Natalie Close
Dokkyo University
Tokyo, Japan
Abstract. Recently many universities in Japan have been increasing the

number of content classes offered in English. From a teaching
perspective, these classes come with a variety of challenges, perhaps the
most significant being the teaching of university level content to groups
of EFL students with very different linguistic abilities. These challenges
are further complicated when the classes are also offered to native-
speakers of English. This paper aims to address some of these issues,
and offer some solutions in the form of a range of activities that were
developed for a specific course at a university in Tokyo.
Keywords: content-based instruction; English-medium instruction;

language-integrated learning; mixed-abilities, differentiated learning
Globalization and the Increasing Need for English

The ever-increasing level of globalization has increased the need for speakers of
other languages to gain competency in English, with some stating that it is now
a prerequisite of gaining successful employment opportunities in the global
business sector (Kung, 2013). Therefore, there has been a global increase in the
number of people learning and using English world-wide, a fact which is
evident by the increased demand for English as a foreign or second language
(ESL and EFL) courses around the globe (McKenzie, 2010).
In part due to previous research based support (Johnson & Swain, 1997), and
supported by linguistic theory (Krashen, 1985), one key educational movement
is an increasing focus on content and language integrated learning (CLIL), a
term first put forward by Krahnke (1987). This approach is seen to help learners
gain the language and content knowledge needed for global business and
academic needs. As discussed later, this is a trend which is currently gaining
popularity in the Japanese university context.
@2015 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

70
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)

CLIL has been defined by Mehisto, Marsh & Frigols (2008) as a dual-focused
educational approach in which an additional language is used for learning and
teaching of both content and language (p. 9). The popularity of using a target
foreign language as the medium of instruction to teach both content and
language started in Canada with a French immersion program, which resulted
in both improved French proficiency and content knowledge (Johnson & Swain,
1997).
There have been many advantages put forward for students learning content in
another language including its pedagogic effectiveness in terms of both content
and language gains, and motivational effects (Wilkinson and Yasuda, 2013).
Although a CLIL approach has been shown to be effective, some research has
highlighted the superior efficacy of achieving second language acquisition
through a combination of language specific instruction, and foreign language
CLIL courses (Swain, 1986). The skills and language gained from language
specific instruction such as discussion skills are often seen to be integral to
success in many CLIL courses. Nunan (1989), for example, argues that when
using the second language (L2) to acquire content knowledge, learners are often
required to use the language for communication in the classroom, where the
focus is not on language itself, but on demonstrating knowledge of what has
been heard, and to further discuss the concepts brought up. Therefore, some
programs offer students English instruction while taking English-medium
courses (Aloiau, 2008), while others such as the one described in this paper
provide English training first, then offer CLIL courses later with no further EFL
support.
CLIL in the Japanese University Context.

Within a Japanese context, there has been a remarkable growth in the number of
universities offering content classes in English. As of 2008, approximately 190
Japanese universities were offering English-medium academic content courses; a
large increase compared to a few years previously (Miichi, 2010). This is a trend
which has continued with the recent government-lead implementation of
initiatives such as the Global 30, and Top Global University Project. For
example, the Global 30 program alone, which was started in 2009, created an
additional 155 English-only degree programs in Japan (Wilkinson, 2015).
Challenges of Mixed Abilities in CLIL Courses

Being a relatively new phenomenon there is little advice outlining ways in
which these classes can be taught, especially with regard to teaching CLIL
courses to mixed language ability students. This paper aims to look at how one
such class was taught in a private university, describing the activities and
approaches that were used, and what the students perceptions of these were. It
is hoped that this paper will offer real ways in which content courses containing
students with markedly different backgrounds and language levels can be
designed and run, and highlight some of the benefits such classes have for both
English language learners and native speakers.

71
As a major goal of the Global 30 and Top Global University Projects was to
increase the number of international students choosing to study at Japanese
universities (MEXT, 2014, Shimamura, 2013), it can be assumed that a number of
the newly created English-medium content courses in Japan will contain a mix
of both Japanese and international students. There was evidence of this before
the implementation of the above two initiatives (Aloiau, 2008; Miichi, 2010), so it
follows that this situation has increased. If this is the case, the linguistic ability in
the target language of the students is likely to vary significantly, therefore, the
level of difficulty of the courses and the kind of support students need will be
very different (Anderson, 1993; Hess, 2001). In addition, as these content courses
are rarely streamed into language ability levels, not only will there be significant
differences in the language proficiency between the international and Japanese
students, but differences will likely exist between the Japanese students
themselves.
In fact, the activities described in this paper below came from a practical
experience of this situation from teaching English-medium content courses at a
Japanese university in Tokyo. The course contained a number of native speakers
of English (approximately 50% of those registered for the course), who not only
had no linguistics problems regarding the medium of instruction (English), but
who had already experienced taking numerous university lecture courses in
English. On the other hand, the Japanese students enrolled on the course had no
previous exposure to English-medium content courses, and had significantly
different language proficiencies; something which was evident from class
observations, as well as their varied standardized test scores (TOEIC).
Therefore, it quickly became clear during the first offering of this course that the
significant differences in English proficiency, and the varied experience levels of
taking English-medium courses was going to cause serious challenges to both
the lecturer and the students. As a result, the curriculum was quickly reassessed
and a number of activities, approaches and materials were designed and
adopted in order to offer all students an achievable, rewarding and interactive
experience. It was hoped that changes made would increase the content
knowledge and cross cultural communication ability of all students, while also
providing ample language learning opportunities for the non-native speakers of
English. While not exhaustive, the main approaches, activities and materials are
described below, and where appropriate, students perceptions and feedback
gained through observations, surveys, and informal interviews are also
provided.
Case Study
The content class in question contained about 35 students, half of which were
Japanese and about half who were foreign exchange students at a private
university in central Tokyo. Building on the research interests and experience of
the teacher, the course provided a general introduction to Japanese culture
entitled Japan Studies. The class offered the foreign exchange students an
insight into Japanese culture, and provided the Japanese students with a chance

72
to study about their own culture in English; improving their language ability
along the way. Even though approximately 50% of the students were Japanese,
many did not have a strong knowledge of their own culture and certainly would
struggle explaining some aspects of their culture in depth in an academic setting,
be it in Japanese or English. The class was originally created in order to give
third and forth year students an opportunity to study in English. Prior to the
creation of this class, only first and second year students at this university
received English education, in the form of first year comprehensive English
classes, and second year classes aimed at discussing Japanese culture in English.
The second-year course focused on the language needed to describe Japan and
its culture, as well as more practical skills such as summary and response essay
writing and discussion skills.
Students
Generally the students could be divided into two distinct groups, each of which
contained their own sub-divisions. On a basic level, the class was made up of 23
Japanese students and 27 foreign exchange students; however, within these two
groups there were varying levels of both content knowledge and English
abilities.
As far as the Japanese students were concerned, the class, Japan Studies, was
designed to build on their experiences of the first two years of English education
and move into actual content education in English. Therefore this class attracted
those who were most interested in continuing with their English education.
However, the students were at a variety of English levels ranging from lower-
intermediate to returnee students with near-native English competency.
During the qualitative data collection, all of the non-native and non-returnee
students indicated during interviews and on surveys that they had a range of
difficulties with studying academic content in English. For some, there were
problems with the level of materials, as all of the reading and articles required
were of native academic level. Others faced difficulties in discussions, and felt a
lack of ability to forcefully participate in debate, especially with native-level
speakers. In addition, many of the Japanese students were uncomfortable in
expressing their opinions in large groups. Based on observations from their
previous English class, they felt capable within the confines of a small English
language class, however in a class of sixty students of mixed abilities and
nationalities, many felt reluctant to participate in some activities at first. Other
linguistic challenges highlighted during the data collection included the
speaking speed of the lecturer, and difficulty with the content vocabulary.
The foreign exchange students, who came from a variety of countries and
majors, with about half of them coming from the United States, and the rest from
Europe and Asia, faced a different set of challenges. Although about a third of
the foreign students were English as a second language speakers, their English
language skills were near to native-speaker level, therefore, English ability was
not a major challenge. However, the content itself was challenging as most of the
foreign exchange students had previously never studied about Japan and
therefore had limited knowledge of Japanese culture and history. The majority

73
of the foreign exchange students came from business or international relations

majors so the content was quite new for them. This meant that time had to be
spent in class describing basic cultural ideas and concepts, which the Japanese
students were well aware of. In addition, because of the native or near-native
English level of the exchange students, there was a risk that the pace of the class,
level of vocabulary, and amount of content covered could be below what they
were used to, and therefore perceived as too simple or boring.
As can be seen from the above information, a key challenge from a teachers
perspective was that the class was made up of students from a variety of
backgrounds and English abilities, with each group having their own strengths
and weaknesses regarding the content course they were taking. It was felt that
these issues needed to be tackled in order for the class to be as successful as
possible for all students. The main challenge seemed to be with presenting
materials which were not too high level or taxing for the Japanese learners, but
that would not be so low as to de-motivate the native speakers. Therefore, the
activities, materials, and approaches described below were developed to deal
with the challenges described thus far.
Course structure and content

As a result of observation, end-of-semester surveys (anket), and interview
feedback obtained during and after the first year, the course was structured as
described below. The changes were made in order to assist the students as much
as possible with both content and language. From the second year, each class
contained the same basic set of activities including a lecture given by the teacher,
comprehension and discussion questions, and student presentations. In
addition, students were expected to produce two written assignments in each
semester; a presentation report and an article summary and response.
Lectures. Each week a short lecture of approximately 30 minutes, accompanied

by a handout with gap-fills and questions, was delivered by the teacher. The aim
of the gap-fill activity was to ensure that the students were fully engaging with
the material by filling in missing information from the lecture slides. The spoken
part of the lecture included much more information than was present on the
slides, which meant that the students had to take notes as well. The purpose of
this was to engage all of the students according to their individual level.
Students with lower English ability could focus on the gap fill and try to fully
understand the meaning of the slides. For those with higher ability, listening to
the lecture provided further, more in-depth information. Also, for students with
limited knowledge of Japan, the lecture provided further background
information, which wasn't necessarily needed by the Japanese students, but was
advantageous to many of the foreign students.
Comprehension and Discussion Questions. The questions following the lecture

had two main purposes; comprehension checking and critical thinking. First,
there were comprehension questions designed to test the students
understanding of the material. These questions were aimed more at the students
who didn't have English as a first language; however, they were still relevant for

74
all of the students. All students were given the option not to do the
comprehension questions if they felt that they had fully comprehended the
lecture. However, the students were reminded that the mid-term and final tests
were based on the comprehension questions and therefore it was a useful
exercise for everyone.
The second kind of question were critical thinking or discussion questions aimed
at allowing the students to think about the content in a broader sense and place
it within a wider framework of thinking (Nunan, 1989). These discussion
questions were added in the second year of the program at the request of the
foreign exchange students who wanted to engage more with the topics. All of
the students had the opportunity to make requests for the course in the end-of-
semester surveys. These requests were assessed by the teacher and added where
appropriate. All of the students were expected to use the discussion questions,
however, they were not checked in class as each groups discussion went in
different directions. Instead, the teacher monitored and contributed in sweeps of
the class. The discussion questions offered an opportunity for the students to
discuss with their peers in small groups. The groups were self-selected and most
students chose to mix both foreign exchange students and Japanese students.
This was recommended by the teacher at the start of the course as a way of
evening various abilities; those with higher English levels but less knowledge of
Japanese culture could mix with people with lower levels of English but greater
knowledge of Japanese culture.
As a result of both the comprehension and discussion questions, the students

were able to help each other with their own difficulties. Many of the Japanese
students initially struggled with participating in discussions, especially with
students who were used to a more forceful approach to academic discussion.
With the help of the teacher, the foreign exchange students were encouraged to
invite responses from the Japanese students, and the Japanese students
confidence to speak in groups with their peers increased. Both groups of
students were also very much interested in the personal experiences of their
peers, and therefore all students could place the academic content within a more
personal framework, as well as learning about other cultures.
Presentations. In addition, the students were expected to conduct independent

research in groups and present their findings to the class. The students were able
to choose their own groups with a signup sheet system; however, most of the
students seemed to choose according to the presentation topic as opposed to
simply working with a friend. This resulted in many of the groups being made
up of a mix of Japanese and foreign exchange students.
While mixed groups worked well for the discussions, overall this system didnt
work as well as expected for the presentations. In many cases the native speaker
seemed to have done more work because of their ability to read and speak
English more fluently. Therefore in the future mono-background groups would
encouraged to ensure that all of the students were participating fully. During the
course, in the case of foreign-student-only and Japanese-student-only groups,

75
the presentations were of a higher standard and more fully researched. This may
be due to the fact both students had to contribute a full workload as opposed to
most of the work being done by just one student.
Homework. Finally the students were expected to read an article provided by

the teacher and write a summary and response essay based on their reading. The
Japanese students had learnt this style of writing in the previous year, and
therefore were familiar with the format and organization, but many of the
foreign exchange students were unfamiliar with both the rhetorical pattern and
the formal aspects of academic writing. Therefore the teacher provided brief
training on academic writing format and expectations. Due to the different
workload that this activity represented to the native and non-native speakers of
English, the foreign exchange students were expected to write a longer
assignment than the Japanese students. However, as many of the foreign
exchange students had little experience of writing summary-and-response
essays, many struggled to summarize the main points of the article sufficiently.
The challenge for the exchange students of being able to write a correctly
formatted and organized summary, versus the challenge of reading a native-
level paper for the Japanese students, represented different but equivalent
workloads. When it came to marking these papers, the varying difficulties and
achievements of the two sets of students could be clearly seen, and therefore
offering different levels of requirements was appropriate to the situation.
Discussion
By adopting a more flexible, student-centered, and differentiated approach,
many of the challenges presented by having native English speakers and English
learners of varying abilities taking English-medium content lectures together
were successfully overcome. By drawing on the different levels of knowledge,
language ability, and academic skills, all of the students were able to help each
other to gain the most from the class. In the case of the Japanese students, they
were able to actually use their English with their peers in a real situation. After
being able to discuss and critically examine the course content with their peers,
many of the Japanese students expressed a desire to continue with their English
studies so that they could improve their conversational abilities. For the foreign
exchange students, having access to people of their own age who could describe
their culture and place the academic content within a real context was a great
advantage. Not only could the Japanese students help them with understanding
Japanese culture, but they could also form cross-cultural friendships. Many of
the foreign exchange students commented that in their other classes they were
only surrounded by other foreign exchange students. Therefore, having an
opportunity to work with Japanese students was very advantageous. Overall, by
adopting a flexible approach which blends some common EFL approaches with
the delivery of authentic content, challenging and enjoyable CLIL classes were
offered, even when dealing with hugely different cultural backgrounds and
linguistic abilities.

76
Conclusion
As can be seen from the above case study, there are many challenges when
teaching English-medium content classes to non-native English speakers. These
challenges are further complicated when the student body represents a mix of
native and non-native level English speakers who come from different
backgrounds and academic majors. This case study shows that through a variety
of activities these challenges can be overcome, so that all the students are able to
gain from the experience. Given the advantages that were gained by both the
Japanese and foreign exchange students, it is worth the time and effort needed
to develop activities and a flexible, more student-centered approach that can
help each group improve academically and linguistically. It is hoped that the
methods described above can offer a base upon which further activities can be
developed in the field of CLIL.
References
Anderson, F. (1993). The enigma of the college classroom: Nails that dont stick up. In P.
Wadden (Ed.), A handbook for teaching English at Japanese colleges and universities
(pp. 101-110). New York: Oxford.
Aloiau, E. K. W. (2008). The Design of the International Program English Curriculum.
The Soka Economic Studies. 37, March 2008. 107-127.
Hess, N. (2001). Teaching large multilevel classes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Johnson, R. K., & Swain, M. (1997). Immersion Education: International Perspectives.
Cambridge University Press.
Krahnke, K. (1987). Approaches to Syllabus Design for Foreign Language Teaching.
New York: Prentice Hall.
Krashen, S. D. (1985), The Input Hypothesis: Issues and implications. New York, NY:
Longman.
Kung, F. (2013). The More the Merrier? Bilingualism in an Academic Perspective:
Exploring the Implementation of English-medium Instruction in Taiwanese
Tertiary Education. In Robertson, P. and Adamson, J (Eds). The Asian EFL Journal
Special Edition: CLIL in Asian Contexts: Emerging Trends, 15 (4), 8-35. December
2013.
McKenzie (2010). Relevant Language Attitude Research. The Social Psychology of
English as a Global Language, 10, 41-71. Springer Netherlands.
Mehisto, P., Marsh, D. & Frigols, M. J. (2008). Uncovering CLIL. Oxford: MacMillan.
Miichi, K. (2010, 7, 17). More colleges offer courses taught in English. The Asahi
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/1343591_1.pdf
Nunan, D. (1989). Designing Tasks for the Communication Classroom. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Shimamura, H. (2013). Global 30 Universities. The Japan Times, Sept. 30. 2013. Accessed
on Nov 10th from http://info.japantimes.co.jp/ads/pdf/20130902_global_30_
universities.pdf
Swain, M. (1986). Two Ingredients in the Successful Use of a Second Language as a
Medium of Instruction in Hong Kong. Educational Research Journal, 1, 1-6.

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Wilkinson, D. (2015). Educational Reforms and Development in Japan: Language and

Culture Education for Global Competitiveness. International Journal of Higher
Education Management (IJHEM), 1 (2), 1-11. February 2015.
Wilkinson, D. and Yasuda R. (2013). The international program: curriculum design and
assessment for an English-medium economics program. In Robertson, P. and
Adamson, J (Eds). The Asian EFL Journal Special Edition: CLIL in Asian Contexts:
Emerging Trends, 15 (4). 347-354. December 2013.

78

Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 78-87, May 2015
Supporting Cooperative Learning with

Technological Tools
Asst. Prof. Dr. Aye Derya IIK

Bartin University
Bartin, Turkey
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gizem SAYGILI

Suleyman Demirel University,
Isparta, Turkey
Abstract. Criterias of Cooperative learning include positive

interdependence, face-to-face promotive interaction, individual
performance, social skills and group processing. Many techniques can
be used with cooperative learning method such as learning together &
alone, teams-games-tournaments, group investigation, constructive
controversy, jigsaw, student teams achievement divisions, team
accelerated instruction, cooperative learning structures, cooperative
integrated reading & composition. The aim of this study is to evaluate
the support of cooperative learning with technological tools. For this
purpose, supporting of the elements and techniques of cooperative
learning with the technological tools is discussed and various proposals
are put forward in line with previous research results.
Keywords: Cooperative Learning; Elements and Techniques;

Technological Tools
Introduction
The use of technology in educational environments has increased considerably,
especially today in Turkey due to Fatih project conducted by the Ministry of
Education. It is estimated that technology will be used more frequently in
educational environment in the future (Bulun et al, 2004). Therefore, during the
period in which educational politics are decided, there are considerable efforts to
create opportunities and provide environment for students to develop their
knowledge and skills related to the usage of technological devices.
As it is known, the technological tools are used in education and training

environments for reasons such as to enrich the materials used with multimedia
elements, to easily carry the materials created to the classes, to share with their
students, to make corrections, to make materials comply with the situation and
the requirements, to provide more effective learning for students by establishing

79
material-student interaction, to facilitate classroom management, to increase

interest and curiosity of the students to the subject of the lesson and to improve
their attitudes towards the course (Isik & Cukurbasi, 2012). These uses support
the teachers in the implementation of constructivist approach. Constructivist
approach is an educational philosophy, which specifically focuses on the mind
of the student, is based on the development of mental skills and argues that the
person's knowledge is occurred by his/her interaction with the environment
(Bagci Kilic, 2001).
According to the constructivist approach, students learning depends on their

previous information, cognitive ability and environment. Learning is dependent
on the environment because according to the constructivist approach learning
consists of our experience in the real world (Duffy & Jonassen, 1992). Learning
depends on the person's cognitive abilities because learning occurs by active
efforts of individuals and information is structured in mind (Gunes, 2013). These
items should not be ignored in the regulation of the educational environment.
One of the most effective ways to use these items in educational environment is
determining an effective teaching method. One of these methods is cooperative
learning.
Slavin (2010) defines cooperative learning as arrangement in educational

environments made by teachers to provide students to learn academic content
by helping each other in small groups. Cooperative learning method provides an
environment in which students apply their knowledge and skills to support and
enrich each others learning (Fisher & Frey, 2013).
The aim of this study is to discuss the support of cooperative learning with
technological tools. For this purpose, supporting of the elements and techniques
of cooperative learning with the technological tools is discussed and various
proposals are put forward in line with previous research results.
Elements of Cooperative Learning and the Use of Technological Tools

There are five basic elements separating the cooperative learning from group
work and the works done by the student teams can be defined as collaborative
learning only if these criterias are met. In this section, it explains that what are
these elements (Johnson & Johnson, 1989, Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 1994,
Johnson, Johnson & Smith, 1998, Felder & Brent, 2007, Johnson & Johnson, 2009)
and what can be done to meet these criterias in technology-supported
environments.
1. Positive Interdependence: The basis of cooperative learning is constituted

by the success of the student inspired by the group members success. Students
should learn together, should develop products together, each student must
have their own tasks in the group; product of group should be subject to
fulfillment of the duty of each member. Positive interdependence should be
established between students for the formation of this condition. It can be
provided by an award, resources, roles and tasks commitment. Award
interdependence can be provided by giving extra points to the group in which
each member succeeds over 90%. Ensuring award interdependence is easier due

80
to the fact that the test results can be evaluated quickly if individual or group
works are done using the technological devices. Resources interdependence can
be provided by giving a part of the tasks to be completed to the each member in
the group. In the cases that collaboration is provided by technological tools,
documents that ensure the fulfillment of the task (such as word files,
presentations, programs) can be delivered to members of the group separately.
Thus, group members can work combining the available documents. Roles
interdependence can be provided by giving tasks such as readers, controllers,
printer to members of the group. To provide roles interdependence in
environments that is supported with technological tools, each student is given or
asked to prepare documents related to their task. Tasks interdependence can be
provided by giving tasks to each member of the group to complete their own
task after they succeed the task of the previous group member. In collaborative
environments that technological tools are used, tasks interdependence can be
provided by differentiating each members task into researching, making
presentation, creating the final report and so on.
2. Face-to-face Promotive nteraction: Students working together in groups

in order to improve themselves encourage, support, help each other and provide
feedback about the performance of the group friends with verbal and nonverbal
responses. Cognitive processes such as explaining how to solve problems,
teaching what they know to the group friends, establishing connection with the
past learning and interpersonal processes such as changing someone else's
thoughts, results, models and facilitating the learning process are used in the
group. Students know the characteristics of each better. Elements used with
technological tools such as video conferencing, e-mail, blogs, and social media
will enable students to communicate synchronous and asynchronous and so,
communication will be liberate aspect of time and place, and students will be
able to communicate anywhere and at any time of the day they want.
3. Individual and Group Accountability: Identifying and evaluating the

performances of the individual and the group is another element forming the
basis of collaboritive learning. Students contributions to the group product can
be determined by giving individual test as well as observing what they do in the
group. This can be done more easily in environments that technological tools are
used. Giving individual tests and assessing process can be easier than
performing them on paper. Performance of the members within the group can
be determined by recording during the fulfillment of the group tasks. The
recording of individual tasks of students within the group and determining the
contribution to group product are easier in this way. Additionally, the purpose
of cooperative learning is making each individual in the group progress by
allowing them to teach each other. Development of students' individual
performance can also be observed easier by recording the group process.
4. Social Skills: Another important element of cooperative learning is

acquisition and the use of social skills by students. Students should be made
aware of about social skills such as leadership, decision making, building trust,
communication and conflict management and provided to use these skills.

81
Guiding students who have problems, determining the elements required for the
solutions are facilitated especially by the recordings of the communications
between the students provided by technological tools.
5. Group Processing: Students are to contribute to the development of both

themselves and the group friends by making their intra-group transactions in
collaborative work environments. In this regard, it is important that the work is
performed by the students and the level of fulfillment of the students and the
contribution to the group product are determined by teachers. In this step,
students should observe the behavior of each other within the group, establish
effective ones and ensure that they continue, identify those that are ineffective
and disrupt the group process and decide what to do to correct them. In
collaborative learning environments that technological tools are used, it is easier
to examine and identicate what behaviours are effective or not due to the fact
that the students group process is recorded.
Cooperative Learning Techniques and Use of Technological Tools

Cooperative learning methods and techniques can be used for facilitating the
learning process of the students in classes, making them direct their own
learning, providing support to each other in the group, improving students
achievements and attitudes, developing their study skills in a cooperative way,
ensuring a constructive classroom and providing them social skills.
Table 1. Modern Methods of Cooperative Learning (Johnson, Johnson & Stanne, 2000)
Researcher-Developer Date Method
Johnson & Johnson Mid 1960s Learning Together & Alone
DeVries & Edwards Early 1970s Teams-Games-Tournaments (TGT)
Sharan & Sharan Mid 1970s Group Investigation
Johnson & Johnson Mid 1970s Constructive Controversy
Aronson & Associates Late 1970s Jigsaw Procedure
Slavin & Associates Late 1970s Student Teams Achievement Divisions (STAD)
Slavin & Associates Early 1980s Team Accelerated Instruction (TAI)
Kagan Mid 1980s Cooperative Learning Structures
Stevens, Slavin, & Late 1980s Cooperative Integrated Reading & Composition
Associates (CIRC)
The characteristics of the techniques used for cooperative learning are (Johnson
& Johnson, 1988, Slavin, 2010, Ekinci, 2011, Doymus & Dogan, 2011):
a. Learning Together: In this technique, developed by Johnson & Johnson,

learning objectives are determined primarily. Class is arranged for the
groups to work, which are heterogeneously formed. Teaching materials
are offered to students and individual assessment is definitely realized at
the end of the group work. Topics are presented to the students in
technological environments and their cooperation is ensured with the use
of computer in this technique. Since it requires synchronic work, video

82
conferencing, teleconferencing, and instant messaging tools can be

utilized which allow synchronous communication. Realizing individual
assessment is one of the most important factors in this technique. By
realizing this assessment in the online environment via technological
tools, it both enables a student to immediately see the results of the
assessment and reduces the assessment time and labor of teachers. At the
same time, records of students achievements are kept easier, more
realistic and detailed interpretations can be done by monitoring their
developments by performing evaluations considering their previous
achievements. In this case, the precautions to be taken related to the
achievements of the students will be determined or it will enable them to
act realistically and avoid wasting effort.
b. Teams-Games-Tournaments (TGT): In this technique, developed by

DeVries & Edwards and used for evaluation of the course, students form
heterogeneous groups, after the teacher ends lecture. Each group
prepares within itself for the tournament by using materials related to
the subject discussed. The two groups of similar levels go to tournament
table and the tournament begins. Groups score points with the correct
answers given to the questions. Successful group in the tournament
competes with a group with a higher level of competency in the
following days. The websites, created, facilitate the work of the teachers
in using this technique. The teachers who register such websites as a user
can prepare multiple choice or gap filling exams including items such as
image, text, and audio. The teacher can enable all the students in class to
see the questions via projector by connecting to this system in the
classroom environment. Students can give the answer of their group by
connecting to the system via their own mobile devices. System checks the
answers for each question at the end of the period specified by the
teacher and sends feedback to students' mobile devices. In addition, at
the end of each question, the ranks are specified by projecting the scores
gained by students or groups and the total scores. Since the system saves
the students score in the previous tournaments, it helps the teachers
match the groups of similar levels of achievement before the lesson. The
teacher's workload is reduced with the use of this technology and it eases
the use of the technique in the class.
c. Group Investigation: This technique was developed by Sharan & Sharan.

It is a learning technique in all the steps of which students take an active
role. In this technique, teachers determine the main issues, students do so
for the sub-topics in the classroom, and students, who have determined
the same sub-topic, form a group. Students create a research plan on the
subject they have determined, and they prepare and present a research
report together in class at the end of the study. During the evaluation
process, in addition to receiving the evaluation of other groups, the
group assessment or individual assessment can also be realized. In this
technique, based on that students conduct a research and present their
research findings to the class, technological tools can be effectively used

83
in the process of quickly and effectively accessing and recording the

resources during the investigation. It facilitates students to interpret what
they have learned by using the information and documents accessed and
prepare presentations in order to present them to the class.
d. Constructive Controversy: In this technique, developed by Johnson &

Johnson, students' research, listening to opposing views, understanding
and persuasive skills are developing. Students form groups which
advocate two opposing views about the research subject, determined by
the teacher. The purpose of the discussion in the classroom is listening to
and understanding other groups as well as defending their own opinion.
The students are given the opportunity to research during the discussion,
too. It would be a discussion without the winning side, and ends with the
determination of consensus of students. In this technique, it is important
that students quickly reach the information resources and use them to
change the idea of the opposing group. The utilization of the
technological tools at this stage will enable students both to question
their own ideas and to check the accuracy of the opposing group's
opinions.
e. Jigsaw Techniques: After the first technique, developed by Aronson &

Associates, Jigsaw II, Jigsaw III and Jigsaw IV were developed, however
the basic elements of all the techniques are the same. A group is created
to work on a topic in this technique. Each member is provided with their
own sub-topics. Students who have the same subtopic meet to form
groups of experts. Expert groups search on their subject, specialize on the
subject. Then, each member returns to their group and informs their
group friends, the report or presentation is prepared as the group
product. Group or individual assessments can be made in the assessment
process. In the expert group, it is important that students receive in-
depth information about their topics and specialize in their topics. At this
stage, technological tools will help students reach different information
sources. After the specialization phase, students are required to give
information to their group friends. At this stage, the use of the
presentations prepared by expert groups with the help of the
technological tools will prevent the individual differences in the
information given to the groups. That groups present their presentations
prepared with the contributions of the expert group members with the
help of the technological tools will save students from the constraint of
explaining their knowledge just verbally and prepare a base to use
multimedia elements such as picture, audio and video. In this case,
students will use their mental skills to transform the knowledge into
different forms, in this way it will both provide students with
opportunities to improve their mental skills and enable an effective
learning.
f. Student Teams Achievement Divisions (STAD): In the technique
developed by Slavin & Associates, after the submission of content by
teachers, students try to cover each others shortcomings and prepare

84
themselves for the exams which will be held. Then individual assessment
is made and group score is determined by the points each member of the
group has. According to the previous success of the group, their progress
is observed and the award is given to the group exceeds a certain criteria.
It is easier for students to acquire knowledge, research the knowledge
they acquired in-depth, reach to the different forms according to
individual differences with the help of technological tools. Besides
technological tools help implementation and evaluation of the individual
test be easy and they facilitate forming and monitoring of the group
points.
g. Team Accelerated Instruction (TAI): In the technique developed by

Slavin & Associates, subtopics students will work on are determined by a
pre-test. Each member studies a subtopic appropriate for their levels
individually but gets help from the members of the group when needed.
Members are evaluated by follow up tests at the end of each sub-topic.
Students who fail the follow up are assisted by a teacher. Students who
are successful in follow up test are given unit test, and group score is
determined by points of the group members. Awards will be given to
groups that meet specific criteria. The use of this technique is facilitated
with the technological tools as it contains branched preparation of
training content and also it ensures studies that can be carried out
according to the individual differences of different students. With the
help of technological tools, determining the level of each students,
providing students study on contents appropriate for their levels,
implementing and evaluating the follow-up, helping students that have
failed, implementing and evaluating the unit tests to the students who
have succeeded, generating group points become easier and so,
workloads of the teachers are reduced and classes are more productive as
the teachers only focus on guiding the students.
h. Cooperative Learning Structures: In this technique developed by Kagan,

submitting the contents and determining the subjects are carried out
through classroom discussion. Each group selects a topic and subtopics
are decided for each member of a group. Each member informs the
group friends with presentation about their subject as a result of
individual studies. Then the group makes the group presentation in the
classroom. Either group assessment or individual assessments can be
made during the evaluation process. In this technique, technological
tools can provide students researching each subject of them, accessing to
resources, and preparing the presentation they will perform to the group
friends. By fulfilling the duties of every member in the group, the ground
for students to prepare the group presentations and perform it to the
students in the class are provided. The use of technological tools in the
assessment process ensures quick and easy evaluation.
i. Cooperative Integrated Reading & Composition (CIRC): This technique

was developed by Stevens, Slavin & Associates. This technique is mostly

85
used in the literacy education. Students study on meaningful reading

and writing skills with activities such as reading aloud, making
predictions about what they read, ask questions, summarizing, and essay
writing in pairs. Group members complete the shortcomings of the other
and they provide their own learning, as well. Implementation of this
technique with the support of the technological tools provides different
facilities in different phases. In reading instruction, sound recording is
made during students reading aloud and it will enable them to listen
themselves and identify deficiencies in pronunciation. Writing for note
taking and audio recording tools can be used in the activities such as
making predictions about what they read, summarizing and asking
questions. It provides oppurtunities for students to communicate with
each other regardless of the time and place and allows students to
continue their study in outside school times. In the process of developing
writing skills, in addition to doing exercises about writing essays, doing
writing studies using the tools of instant messaging or mailing improve
students writing skills to express themselves
Conclusion
There are benefits of the cooperative learning in terms of increasing the studens
academic success and gaining social skills. Because the students are actively
involved in the learning environment, direct their own learning, combine the
new informations with the previous ones, their academic success improves, their
ability to reach information resources develops, their attitudes are affected in a
positive way, their self confidence fosters, their communicative and writing
skills improve, they gain cognitive and social skills. On the other hand, with the
usage of cooperative learning, teachers have the opportunities to use current
methods of evaluation and their responsibilities for the class management are
reduced. (Hannigan, 1989, Johnson, Johnson & Smith, 1991, Johnson, Johnson &
Holubec, 1994, Johnson, Johnson & Stanne, 2000, Simsek, Simsek ve Esen, 2009,
Shindler, 2009).
Besides, with the use of cooperative learning, teachers may encounter some
situations that need to be taken precautions during the planning and the
implementing process of the course. There may be some students who dont
fulfill their tasks in the group, in some groups all the work load may be left to a
couple of students and students who have no contribution for the group may
gain unearned advantages, ineffective students courage may be affected badly in
the groups which has different students of different success levels, some
students may want to come into prominence and the problems within the group
may lead conflicts in the classes. (King, 1993, Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 1994,
Mulryan, 1994). Teachers can produce more convenient solution to many
problems with the use of technological tools in the teaching environment.
Technology-supported collaborative learning environment allows producing

projects which they study together in computer, mobile learning tools and
internet assisted environments (Ozdamli & Uzunboylu, 2008). Students can
continue to work independently of time and space. In particular, simultaneous

86
virtual classroom tools offer versatile communication opportunities to learners

by providing mutually among users simultaneous video, voice and data
communications in an online environments (Cinar et al, 2011).
Technology-supported collaborative learning environments facilitates teachers

planning, tracing the process, the teachers intervention when necessary usage of
all resources. Zhi & Liu (2007) stated in their study that technology-supported
cooperative work environments facilitate reaching statistical informations
related to students for the teachers and teachers are satisfied with it. The creation
of positive interdependence within the group, evaluation of individual
performance, ensuring interaction, the development of social skills and
monitoring of group process can be made more easily thanks to the
technological tools. Johnson & Johnson (2013) reported the opinion that it is
beneficial in many aspects of the use of cooperative learning environment as
used in the training of technological tools that make our lives easier. All these
considerations show that supporting collaborative learning with technological
tools would be useful.
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Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 88-108, May 2015
Video Annotation for Effective Feedback and

Reflection on Micro-Lessons in a Collaborative
Blended Learning Environment to Promote Self-
Directed Learning Skills
C.P. van der Westhuizen

North-West University
Potchefstroom, South Africa
Abstract. This article discusses the process and findings of a study in

which Video Annotation (VideoANT) and a Learning Management System
(LMS) were implemented together in the micro-teaching lessons of fourth-
year Geography student teachers at a university in South Africa. The aim
was to ensure adequate feedback and reflection for each student, since this
is, in general, a shortcoming of micro-lesson facilitation. VideoANT is an
online environment-synchronising web-based video with timeline-based
text annotations, and it was imported and managed in the universitys
LMS known as eFundi. The web videos of the students micro-lessons on
VideoANT were made accessible by the lecturer according to a rotational
time schedule managed in eFundi. This enabled students to assess fellow
students micro-lessons in a collaborative blended learning environment,
as well as to adequately reflect on their own lessons. Both qualitative and
quantitative data was collected and the results indicate that Geography
student teachers held positive views of these technology applications for
micro-teaching in particular and their teaching careers in general. This
video method also proved to contribute to the students self-directed
learning (SDL) skills.
Keywords: Micro-teaching; Micro-lessons; Video annotation; Technologies
in education; ICT in Geography education; Web 2.0 technologies; Web-
based technologies
Introduction
The integration of web-based technologies can promote student learning and
facilitate the development of lifelong learning skills such as collaboration,
creative thinking, metacognition and knowledge construction (Lin & Overbaugh
2013) all of which are important for fostering self-directed learning. Web-based
technologies afford teacher educators and teacher students creative and

89
collaborative choices, as well as easy access to and interaction with ICT tools and
global information. The universal and flexible nature of Web 2.0 tools that are
mainly collaborative in nature, promote deeper understanding, solve problems
creatively and transform thinking, all by using appropriate technologies.
(Nelson 2007; Hemmi et al. 2008; Saeed et al. 2009; King 2011).
As part of their training, pre-service teachers usually receive feedback about

their micro-lessons from peers and lecturers after their micro-teaching sessions,
but sometimes they may have to wait for such feedback for up to a week. During
practice teaching, they can also receive feedback from the supervising senior
teachers and lecturers. However, this approach has two limitations. Firstly, in
most teacher-training programmes around the world (Airasian 1993; Wu and
Lee 1999; Fernandez and Robinson 2006; IAnson et al. 2003), student teachers
receive limited feedback because of time constraints and limited class time.
Secondly, pre-service teachers have limited opportunities to reflect on their own
teaching and micro-lessons. Reflection is an essential skill that they must
develop and hone during their pre-service training (Kettle and Sellars 1996;
Amobi 2005). Without proper reflection, student teachers will miss out on,
among others, opportunities to recognise the limitations of their personal
assumptions or to acknowledge and adopt new perspectives (Lee and Wu 2006).
Therefore, Frick et al. (2010) emphasise the importance of teacher educators
creating opportunities and facilitating experiences that will develop the student
teachers capacity to reflect on his/her own practice.
Research on the application of video recordings to enhance micro-teaching in

teacher training used to be limited to Brent and Thomsons Video-taped
microteaching (1996). Grossman (2005) later predicted that developments in video
annotation tools would make video reflection increasingly viable and accessible.
Recently, interest in using video to facilitate teacher reflection has increased
significantly (Springer 2008; Trip and Rich 2012). Video annotation tools offer
the potential to support both reflection on and analysis of ones own teaching.
These tools provide potentially important methods for scrutinising instructional
decisions within a specific context (Stevens 2007; Roblyer and Doering 2013).
According to Rich and Hannafin (2009), video analysis programs such as
TransanaTM (www.transana.org), DIVERTM (diver.stanford.edu),
ConstellationsTM (orion.njit.edu), StudioCODE and VideoANT provide
significant data-mining capabilities, good management opportunities and fine-
grained analysis and reporting opportunities. They also mention other video
annotation tools with different functions, namely VAST, VITAL, the VAT,
VideoTraces, VideoPaper, MediaNotes, and Studiocode. Regarding Geography
teacher training, the Gilbert M. Grosvenor Centre for Geographic Education at
Texas State University recently developed an online video-based professional
development in Geography teacher training with great success (Boehm et al.
2012). However, most of the research that is limited to teacher training and
micro-teaching focuses on self-analysis and self-reflection (Rich and Hannafin
2009), or on student teachers who received only single peer and teacher feedback
(Colasante 2011).

90
At our University, we identified the need to combine collaborative student

assessment, feedback and reflection with a video annotation program such as
VideoANT, as well as with the managerial capabilities of a Learning
Management System (LMS). This article discusses the results of a case study in
which these web-based technologies (VideoANT and the universitys LMS) were
implemented in the micro-teaching methodology class of fourth-year full-time
Geography student teachers (BEd degree).
The outlay of this paper is as follows: Firstly, the conceptual-theoretical

framework regarding the application of micro-teaching, as well as the possible
advantages of collaborative learning in micro-lessons for teacher education will
be put in context. Secondly, theoretical advantages of the application of web-
based technologies for micro-teaching will be discussed. This will be followed by
a description of the method of research, including an intervention section that
provides more detail about the operation and utilisation of the two web-based
technologies, both separately and in conjunction with each other. The paper is
concluded with a discussion of the results and findings regarding students
perspectives and experience of VideoANT, whether it effectively addressed the
said limitations of micro-teaching in a collaborative way, and whether this video
method has in any way promoted students SDL abilities or skills in this
collaborative blended learning environment.
Micro-Teaching
As student teachers in many training programmes complete their practical
teaching with inadequate supervision and little or no feedback, the relative
merits and economy of micro-teaching are quite apparent. According to Lee and
Wu (2006) it is important that pre-service teachers should receive as much
feedback as possible from their practice teaching.
Micro-teaching is a common practice in teacher education and originated as a

training technique in the United States in the 1960s. It is a shorter version of a
school lesson approximately eight to ten minutes long and presented by a
student teacher to a smaller group of classmates with the aim of providing
student teachers with hands-on, learner-centred teaching experiences (Grossman
2005). Literature describes micro-teaching as a scaled-down, simulated teaching
encounter designed for the training of student teachers and regarded as a
beneficial and an accepted element of student teacher education. Micro-teaching
can provide student teachers with a number of benefits: engaging in the critical
examination or assessment of student teachers lesson presentations (Lim and
Chan 2007); critically examining or reflecting on the strengths and limitations of
each (Lim and Chan 2007); providing hands-on knowledge and insight
regarding effective practice for the trainee to reflect upon (IAnson et al. 2003);
introducing students to the different roles of a teacher (Amobi 2005); teaching
them about the importance of planning, decision making, and the
implementation of instructional methods and strategies (Gess-Nwsome and
Lederman 1990); gaining valuable experience of lesson planning (Bell 2007);
enabling students to develop and improve teaching skills (communication,
public presentation, etc.) (Benton-Kupper 2001); and building practical teaching

91
confidence (Brent and Thomson 1996). According to Amobi (2005) and Benton-
Kupper (2001), students themselves find micro-teaching to be a useful and
enriching training tool (Amobi 2005; Benton-Kupper 2001).
From the literature it is evident that the implementation of micro-teaching in the

training curriculum enables both student teachers and lecturers to engage in
dialogue and discussion regarding connections between theories of teaching and
practical micro-teaching experiences (Allen and Wang 2008). Benton-Kupper
(2001) emphasises that feedback to students should be detailed rather than
general in nature. She describes detailed feedback as supportive and
constructive, and as providing suggestions that can be used to improve student
teachers teaching strategies and methods. Darling-Hammond et al. (2005)
mention that students develop an analytic framework to assess the micro-
teaching performances of their peers. The critical examination or assessment of
student micro-lesson presentations during micro-teaching is in line with Lim
and Chans (2007) view that to critically examine or reflect on the strengths and
limitations of each approach may restructure students existing beliefs and
encourage them to adopt new instructional practices that are consistent with
their pedagogical beliefs. Studies indicate that feedback serves as the content
for and quality of reflection (Amobi, 2005). This content enables student
teachers to reflect on micro-teaching experiences, which leads to changes in self-
perception and subsequent behaviour (Amobi, 2005; Benton-Kupper, 2001).
Advantages of collaborative learning in micro-lessons for teacher education

Fernandez and Robinson (2006) highlight the importance of collaboration among
student teachers when they plan and present micro-teaching lessons and reflect
on them afterwards. Successful collaboration, according to Strijbos et al. (2004),
requires the careful design of the learning environment with a view to
stimulating group interaction, and the provision of scaffolding (leadership and
support) by the facilitator to promote students understanding. Jianhua and
Akahori (2001) point out that optimum collaborative learning performance
occurs where collaboration between students is well supported by technology.
Learning is thus a social activity and peers play an important role in

encouraging mutual learning (Jia 2005). Collaborative learning is also viewed as
the result of a persistent attempt to construct and maintain a shared conception
of a problem (Rochelle and Teasly 1995). This leads to a deeper level of learning,
critical thinking, shared understanding and long-term retention of the mastered
material (Kreijns et al. 2003).
Collaborative learning in micro-teaching offers a space in which group members

can evaluate and reflect face to face on their own and fellow group members
micro-lessons to help improve the quality of their learner-centred micro-lessons.
The discussions and reflection between group members provide excellent
opportunities to engage in pedagogical reasoning that, according to Young and
Birds (2009), helps students move toward a mastery of teaching. Savery and
Duffy (1995), as well as Sawyer (2006), emphasise that interacting groups do not
only provide feedback, but also support and monitor one anothers work.

92
Regarding teacher training, Krajcik et al. (1994) argue that teachers construct
their knowledge through social interaction with peers in the form of ideas
applied in practice, and through their reflection on and modification of such
ideas. Grossman and McDonald (2008) suggest that pedagogies in teacher
training need to approximate practice in such a way that prospective teachers
can engage in intensive, focused opportunities to experiment with aspects of
practice and then learn from those experiences.
The application of specifically focused Web 2.0 technologies such as video

recording and annotation can effectively result in micro-teaching being more
reflective, either collaboratively or individually, thus addressing the two
limitations mentioned in the introduction. The syndication, authoring
capabilities and technology infrastructure of Web 2.0 technologies and their
associated applications provide the higher education community with authoring
and community-building capabilities, the pedagogical implications of which are
still largely unexplored (Hemmi et al. 2008).
Integration of web-based technologies and collaboration to propel micro-lesson

learning objectives
As web technologies have grown and become more versatile, they have revealed
more adaptable paths and opportunities for learning and assessment. With
regard to the conventional role of learning, learners have moved away from
their former passive position towards becoming active facilitators of the learning
mechanisms. In the era of Web 2.0 technologies, learning has becomes
synonymous with collaboration, and learning activities accordingly constitute a
society of collaboration (Lin & Overbaugh 2013). Jianhua and Akahori (2001)
were among the first researchers to concur that optimal collaborative learning
performance should integrate Web.2.0 collaborative learning environments and
classroom-based collaborative learning activities.
According to Fernandez and Robinson (2006), students view collaboration as a

highly important learning tool in micro-lessons. Luttenburg and Bergen (2008)
indicate that participants welcome the sharing of different points of view and
the feedback contributed by group members. Wu and Kao (2008) also state that
student teachers are usually satisfied with the peer assessment activities
supported by the streaming video system and that they consider the mark video
feature useful for providing more specific comments about a peers teaching.
This supports the suggestion by Jonassen et al. (2003) that technology should be
a partner in the teaching and learning process as it engages and supports
reflective thinking.
The application of Web 2.0 technologies fits the context of a social constructivist
learning environment and examples include social networking sites, blogs,
wikis, video-sharing sites, hosted services, instant messengers (IM), web
applications, podcasts and vodcasts (Saeed et al. 2009; Roblyer and Doering
2013). From the literature it is also evident that the skilful integration of
applicable technologies can promote student learning, facilitate the development

93
of lifelong skills and ultimately foster SDL. The lecturers of student teachers may
also appropriate new uses for technologies according to specific content needs
and curricular goals (Nelson 2007; Hemmi et al. 2008; Saeed et al. 2009; King
2011).
In order to integrate Web 2.0 technologies in their training programmes, teacher

educators should create well-designed web-based activities that are applicable to
specific curriculum standards, embody ownership of choice and provide time
for student and teacher assessment and reflection (Nelson 2007; King 2011). For
the purposes of the current study, VideoANT was implemented during
Geography micro-teaching sessions. VideoANT allows users to make timeline-
based textual comments in synchronisation with an on-line video (see Figure 1).
It is ideal for peer assessment and provides feedback or facilitated peer reviews
(Hosack et al. 2009). When managed within an LMS, it provides an effective
training opportunity for student teachers.
Empirical research
Research objectives and design
The first objective of this study was to determine final-year student teachers
perceptions and experience of the contribution made by the video annotation
technology VideoANT as managed and made accessible within the
universitys LMS (named eFundi) to achieve the learning outcomes of micro-
teaching in Geography methodology in a collaborative way. As a second
objective, it was important to determine if this video annotation method in any
way enhanced the students level of self-directedness in general as well as their
SDL skills in particular.
The research question could in this instance be answered best by a case study
evaluation, as the case study method fills a distinctive niche as an evaluation
tool (Yin 2012). A case study is bound by time and activity (Creswell 2009) and
suggests being distinctive with regard to place, time and participant
characteristics (McMillan and Schumacher 2010). In addition, Merriam (2009)
points out that the case study has proven particularly useful for studying
educational innovations, evaluating programmes and informing policy.
Pragmatism was employed as the philosophy underpinning this study.
Context
The present study was conducted in the context of a teacher education

programme offered at a university in South Africa. The Faculty of Education
Sciences at this university offers two modes of delivery, a four-year BEd degree,
as well as a one-year Post-Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE). The
learning outcomes of the fourth-year methodology module in Geography inter
alia comprise micro-lessons, in other words students are afforded the
opportunity to present to fellow students a short version of a lesson (10
minutes as a micro-lesson) that is video-recorded and assessed by peers and
lecturers. The micro-teaching sessions are introduced approximately six weeks

94
before the students leave for practical teaching in schools during the first
semester. There are roughly four to five weeks available for micro-teaching.
Participants
All the 2013 fourth-year BEd Geography methodology student teachers (N=20)
took part in the study.
Instrumentation, data collection and analysis procedure
A mixed-method approach that involved collection and analysis of both

qualitative and quantitative data was used (Cresswell 2008). The researchers
employed the following qualitative and quantitative data collection methods:
A questionnaire with 25 Likert-scale questions was administered to the
students to determine how they perceived, experienced and valued these
technologies for Geography micro-teaching. The questionnaire also included
open-ended questions on any positive or negative aspects regarding the
workability of this video method operated in eFundi, as well as some
questions about the collaboration between the students in a group context.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with some of the students in a
focus group that had been compiled from different class groups (n = 6). The
aim of these interviews was to evaluate the contribution that the
technologies involved made to micro-teaching in particular and to teacher
training in general.
To determine the students level of self-directedness in learning we used
Williamsons (2007) Self-Rating Scale of Self-Directed Learning (SRSSDL).
The SRSSDL was developed to measure the level of self-directedness in ones
own learning, and it consists of 60 items categorised into the following five
areas of SDL:
Awareness: Twelve items that relate to learners understanding of the
factors that contribute to their becoming self-directed learners.
Learning strategies: Twelve items that explain the various strategies self-
directed learners should adopt in order to become self-directed in their
learning processes.
Learning activities: Twelve items that specify the requisite learning
activities in which learners should actively engage to become self-
directed in their learning processes.
Evaluation: Twelve items that reveal learners specific attributes so as to
help monitor their learning activities.
Interpersonal skills: Twelve items that relate to learners skills in inter-
personal relationships, which are a pre-requisite to their becoming self-
directed learners.
In our study, a five-point Likert scale was used to rate each item, with 5=
always and 1= never. All items were positively stated and a maximum score
of 300 and a minimum of 60 could be obtained. According to Williamson
(2007) a score between 60 and 140 is defined as low and definitive guidance

95
from the facilitator is still needed. A moderate SDL score lies between 141
and 220, which implies that there are still areas in respect of self-
directedness that need improvement. A high score of between 221 and 300
indicates effective SDL (see Table 2).
Reliability and Data Analysis
The present research formed part of a larger research project on SDL conducted
at this University. Within the large project, we utilised the SRSSDL (n=403) and
Cronbachs alpha coefficients (Anastasi, 1988) for the five categories of the
questionnaire. Their values ranged from 0.76 to 0.88, which implies that they do
not only correlate highly with the Cronbach alpha coefficient reported by
Williamson (2007), but also that the SRSSDL is reliable within this South African
context.
Our quantitative analysis of data was conducted by means of descriptive

statistics such as frequencies, means and standard deviations. The questionnaire
was based on a five-point Likert scale with (1) indicating strong disagreement
with the statement, and (5) indicating strong agreement. The internal
consistency for each group of questions (grouped together to best respond to the
different research objectives) was estimated using Cronbachs alpha coefficient.
According to Nunnaly (1994), a scale with a computed alpha greater than 0.70 is
considered to have an acceptable level of internal consistency, especially for
cognitive or ability tests. However, since Field argues that it is realistic to expect
values below 0.70 because of the diversity of the constructs being measured, a
value of greater than 0.60 was also considered internally consistent in these
instances (Field 2009). For this study, Cronbachs alpha coefficients of 0.674 and
0.631 were calculated for the research objectives identified in 3.1. Furthermore,
unidimensionality and descriptive statistics such as frequencies, means and
standard deviations were applied where necessary.
For the qualitative analysis, a process of inductive coding was employed, which
followed the sequence of open coding, axial coding and selective coding. The
questions asked during the interviews guided the coding process, but new codes
emerged from the answers to open-ended questions and hence led to new
insights. Code generation was handled manually and required continuous
metacognitive reflection.
For the SRSSDL, a mean score per category was obtained for the pre-test as well
as the post-test. T-tests were used to analyse the differences in the responses of
the students in the pre- and post-test. Effect sizes (Steyn 2002) were also
calculated to determine whether practically significant differences had occurred
between the pre-test and post-test. Seeing that a random sample was not used,
p-values and statistical significance could not be reported. The effect size (d-
value) indicated the practically significant differences between the two mean
scores (pre-test vs. post-test), where 0.2 indicated a small effect, 0.5 a medium
effect, and 0.7 a large effect that was of practical significance.

96
Instructional procedures
At the University concerned, four scheduled contact sessions per week are
offered in the Geography methodology module for the fourth-year BEd and
PGCE student teachers in a semester course. Two of these sessions are used for
theoretical studies and two (in this case a double period) for micro-teaching. In
the theoretical studies the focus is on teaching and learning theory, strategies,
methods and teaching aids, as well as on assessment strategies and methods in
Geography teaching and learning. For the micro-teaching part, students have to
design learner-centred instructional lessons that are embedded in the socio-
constructivist approach. The purpose of the micro-teaching sessions is for the
student teacher to demonstrate the ability to integrate content, methodology and
pedagogy, as covered in the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) for
Geography. Students are expected to present at least one properly assessed
micro-lesson ( 10 minutes) per semester.
As part of our study, students were instructed to select themes for micro-
teaching as prescribed in the NCS for Geography teaching according to their
specific specialist phase, i. e. intermediate, senior or Further Educational
Training (FET). Each student had to design a learner-centred 10-minute micro-
lesson in collaboration with the other four members of his/her group. (A micro-
lesson normally consists of three prominent phases a creative introduction
phase, a teaching and learning phase with an applicable teaching/learning
strategy, and finally, a reflection and consolidation phase.) The lesson was
subsequently presented in a class setup to the group who acted as the learners,
and it was video-recorded by a fellow student or assistant. The presenting
students were expected to make use of teaching aids such as PowerPoint,
transparencies, worksheets, posters, models, role play, educational games, etc.
The main focus of the micro-lesson was to see whether the student succeeded in
implementing learner-centred instructional strategies and activities that would
not only ensure the active involvement of the learners in the learning process,
but also promote and facilitate communication and collaboration among learners
in the class.
The recorded micro-lessons were then uploaded in VideoANT and embedded in

eFundi (see Figure 2), from where they were made accessible to fellow students
according to a predetermined assessment schedule (see details later in this
article). The students then assessed one anothers micro-lessons (group-by-group
assessment as illustrated in Figure 3) on VideoANT by adding comments or
recommendations at specific lesson moment indicated by a marker on the
video timeline (see Figure 1).
Intervention
VideoANT 2.0 beta
VideoANT is an online application tool designed by Hosack, Miller and Ernst
(2009) from the University of Minnesota that synchronises web-based video
with an authors timeline-based text annotations. VideoANT was designed to
engage learners by supporting interactions between students, instructors, and

97
the video content. This application allows students to tag specific portions of a
video on which they wish to make a comment or give feedback (Hosack et al.
2009). VideoANT can be accessed via the web address
http://ant.umn.edu/vae.php (a newer version is available at
http://ant.umn.edu). For the proper operation of videos in VideoANT, it is
preferable to access them in flash Video (*.flv) format. The videos (usually in
*.MOD, *.MPEG or JPEG format) must be compressed and converted to a *.flv
file (a common flash player video). A variety of products for this purpose can be
found on Google as free versions, such as the Riva FLV encoder or Format Factory.
With this software, it is for example possible to compress a 120 megabyte (MB)
video file six to ten times to approximately 12-20MB, which is much easier for
web operation.
Figure 1 shows the different attributes and functions that VideoANT offers. The
video can be viewed on the left of the VideoANT screen with the play and pause
buttons underneath. On the timeline at the bottom of the screen, markers and
corresponding comments/remarks can be added at any place by clicking the
Add a Marker to this Timeline button, which then correlates with the comments
column to the right of the screen. On clicking this button, the video pauses and a
pin or marker appears on the timeline of the video to which the comment
corresponds. This ability of VideoANT is seen as extremely valuable for the
purpose of micro-lessons. The viewer can also slide the video forwards and
backwards by clicking and dragging the timeline with the mouse for quick
browsing through the video.
A groups own video of their micro-lesson can be made viewable to them but
will not be editable. Viewing is possible by activating the VIEW link of
VideoANT in each groups eFundi site. It only allows the group members to
view the comments (see Figure 2 that shows the VideoANT embedded in eFundi
without the Add a marker to the timeline button).
Figure 1 Screen shot of VideoANT in operation (video on the left, comments column
on the right and timeline with markers that indicate the corresponding place of the
comment)

98
To manage these videos according to an assessment schedule between the

groups, it is necessary to upload and access them through an LMS, in this
instance eFundi.
eFundi as the Universitys LMS with VideoANT
eFundi is the universitys name for Sakai (http://www.sakaiproject.org/), a

web-based collaboration and learning management system (LMS). Being an e-
learning education system based on the web, eFundi typically uses Web 2.0 tools
for two-way interaction, and includes a content management system. An LMS is
also known as a Course Management System (CMS).
VideoANT can be more proficient if accessed, operated and managed within

eFundi. To make VideoANT operational in eFundi, the appropriate links have to
be added to the tool list in the left-hand column of eFundi. The customisable web
content function that is available in the edit tools option underneath the site info
tool on the LMS should be used to give the video your name of choice. This web
content or customised name of the VideoANT video will then appear as a choice
in the left-hand toolbar of the eFundi website (see examples of added toolbar
options in Figure 2, such as Own Lesson 4 and Assess+Edit 2deLes).
Figure 2 VideoANT within the LMS, eFundi (showing the toolbar on the left
with the web content as a customised name, e.g. Own lesson)

99
Use of VideoANT in a collaborative context managed by eFundi
The class of 20 students was divided into four groups of five. The micro-lesson
experiences stretched over a period of five weeks to enable each group member
to present a micro-lesson one lesson per group per week. Thus four micro-
lessons were recorded per week (one per group), which needed to be assessed
by two other groups each week (see Figure 3). We created a website for each
group in eFundi there they were able to view the videos of their own micro-
lessons with the annotations (comments made by other groups) and to moderate
and evaluate other groups micro-lessons at allocated times (see Figure 3). The
assessment opportunity was made available in the left-hand toolbar list of each
groups eFundi site on different days of the week as it was turned on and off by
the lecturer (see left-hand toolbar in Figure 2).
Figure 3 Collaboration and group-by-group assessment on a rotational schedule
In each week, the following sequence of day-to-day activities took place on

each groups website in eFundi:
DAY 1: The micro-lessons were recorded.
DAY 2: According to a rotational system, each group received a micro-
lesson to assess.
DAY 3: To ensure detailed and fair assessment of micro-lessons, the
assessed lessons of DAY 2 were rotated (managed by the lecturer in eFundi)
to a next group. They had to evaluate and moderate the assessments made
by a previous group by indicating whether they agreed or disagreed with

100
the comments made, and they could also make their own assessments
where necessary. These options were made available or unavailable by the
lecturer by editing the toolbar choices on each groups eFundi website. (See
the highlighted comment in Figure 3 where Group 2 commented on the
comment made by Group 1. Also see the left-hand toolbar in Figure 2 for
options made available.)
All the recordings of DAY 1, assessments of DAY 2 and moderations of DAY 3
had to be done outside of class time. During contact sessions the lecturer
continued with normal course work.
DAY 4 (usually a Thursday or Friday) comprised the class session

(preferably a double period) of micro-teaching. The videos of all four micro-
lessons were played to the whole class via VideoANT (within eFundi), and
the program showed all the assessments and moderations made by the
groups during the week. This class session allowed for further discussions,
reflections and the lecturers input, and it gave the respective groups the
opportunity to defend their micro-lessons where/if necessary. This
ensured that the comments made on VideoANT as well as in the class
sessions were constructive and properly debated, and that they contributed
to an effective learning experience of the student teachers in their
Geography micro-lessons.
In the course of the five weeks, every group member got an opportunity to
present a micro-lesson, have it assessed by two other groups, as well as listen to
the class discussion and the lecturers input on his/her micro-lesson. In total
over the five weeks, each group presented five lessons (one by each member),
assessed/moderated ten lessons in a group context (two lessons per week from
two different groups), and listened to most of the lessons during the joint class
sessions on DAY 4 (including the comments and input of the lecturer and all
class members). All five annotated micro-lessons (one for each group member),
remained available on each groups eFundi website for them to view and reflect
upon in their own time. This enabled them to look at other additional
information that was available in the video recording, such as the presenters
appearance, mannerisms, teaching skills, etc.
Findings and discussion
All the student teachers were pleasantly surprised by the efficiency of

VideoANT, they thought it to be an excellent teaching and learning aid, and they
remarked on how easily it operated for the assessment of micro-lessons. The
following qualitative data gained from the open-ended questions of the
questionnaire provided support and triangulation possibilities with regard to
the quantitative data. The respondents remarked inter alia: Excellent aid for
effective learning and Programme is easy and simple to use even on a
beginner level. From the interviews, John (pseudonyms are used for all
participants) commented as follows on the easy accessibility and simple
operation of VideoANT:

101
I think the big thing with VideoANT is that the programme

was so easy to use; nobody could have said they could not
operate it, could not get it right, struggled, etc I think you
really dont have to be very skillful [sic] with a computer to use
the programme correctly.
To emphasise their positive attitude towards the VideoANT method, Diane said
that she and her fellow group members were very satisfied with the way
VideoANT and eFundi managed this exercise with micro-lessons. They were
also impressed by the number of assessments and reflections made possible by
these technologies within a short period of time:
...Now we record all lessons in one day, assess two lessons according to
a time schedule on eFundi in our own time on our computers, whilst
we can monitor our own lessons being assessed, as well as watch and
discuss them again during the class session, all in one week, and over
four weeks it is a lot of lessons to learn from.
The Geography students perception and experience of the effectiveness of the

VideoANT method for collaboration
Questions 8, 9, 10, 19, 22 and 25 from the questionnaire, which deal specifically
with how the student teachers perceived and experienced the VideoANT
methods effectiveness for collaborative learning were grouped together in
response to the second research objective. The students responses are presented
in Table 1. The computed value of Cronbachs alpha coefficient for this group of
questions was 0.631 and according to Field (2009), points to an acceptable level
of internal consistency.
Table 1: The students perception and experience of the VideoANT method as

effective for collaborative learning and promoting SDL (n=18)
5-point Likert Scale:
1 = strong disagreement, 5 = strong agreement
No. Question 1 2 3 4 5 Mean
8. The collaborative working method in group context was always effective. 0 1 3 6 8 4.2
9. The collaborative working method made the work easier. 0 1 2 7 8 4.2
10. Everybody in the group worked well together and carried his/her part of
the responsibility. 0 2 2 3 11 4.3
19. The use of VideoANT and eFundi made group work more effective. 0 0 3 6 9 4.3
22. VideoANT and eFundi as technology aids enhanced self-directed learning. 0 0 1 7 10 4.5
25. VideoANT and eFundi as technology aids effectively supported
collaborative learning. 0 0 0 5 13 4.7
Cronbachs alpha coefficient = 0.631 (average for the six questions)

Average of six questions = 4.4 with a standard deviation of 0.45
From Table 1 it is evident that the majority of evaluations scored a 5 or 4 on the

Likert scale, which implies strong agreement or agreement with the statements. The
only exceptions were questions 8, 9 and 10. Nevertheless, the average mean for
the six questions together is still 4.4 (see bottom of Table 2). In respect of
questions 8, 9 and 10, Payne and Monk-Turner (2006) remark that students are

102
often inexperienced at working collaboratively; they have difficulty meeting in

groups because of conflicting schedules and priorities; they are intimidated by
the amount of work and organisation involved in collaborative learning
experiences; and they are often frustrated by other students who do not carry
their weight. Furthermore, Table 1 reveals that almost all the students (17 who
strongly agreed or agreed) reported that they believed that the VideoANT method
ultimately enhanced SDL. In fact, all the students (18) strongly agreed or agreed
that this video method effectively supported collaborative learning. Fifteen of
the 18 students also felt that this method made group work more effective.
According to Diane, they were very satisfied with the way eFundi and
VideoANT helped manage the collaboration:
Moreover, we each effectively gave four lessons because we
were part of a group and helped the presenter on the planning
of lessons. Furthermore, VideoANT was not time consuming, it
helped to do the assessment quickly and efficiently.
The above remark emphasises Amobis (2005) viewpoint that good feedback
serves as the content for and quality of reflection. Moreover, the VideoANT
method optimally supported the effective collaboration between group members
despite the fact that they could not always come together. This fact was best
testified to by Marli:
When the group cant get together to do the micro-lesson
assessment of another group, we each did it on our
ownwhile the other group members could add comments or
edit each others comments on their own time until all agreed
on the final assessment.
To this, Sam added:
you could access VideoANT wherever you were at a
computer which could get internet access to login to eFundi.
The most commonly mentioned advantage of VideoANT was that students were
able to reflect more thoroughly on their own micro-lessons, which helped them to
improve their lessons more than other methods do. This correlates with Lee and
Wus (2006) viewpoint of the value of reflection. Marli again summarised this
aspect the best:
Everybody has a different way of teaching, and with the help
of this technology you could see everybodys lessons and
implement what youve learned from others in your own
lesson
The Geography students perception and experience of the ability of the

VideoANT method to promote SDL skills
The scoring range in Table 2 indicates the respondents level of self-direction in

learning, based on their individual scores and the corresponding interpretation
according to Williamsons (2007) SRSSDL, which were developed to measure the

103
level of self-directedness in a students own learning.
Table 2: Scoring range of the 2013 fourth-year LASD411 students to indicate their
level of SDL and the interpretation of their scores according to Williamson (2007)
Scoring range Interpretation
and Pre-test Post-test according to Williamson (2007)
level of self- total score total score
directed learning
Guidance is needed from the teacher. Any
60-140 - - specific changes necessary for
Low improvement must be identified and a
possible re-structuring of the methods of
learning must be suggested.
(n=9) (n=4) This is half way to becoming a self-
141-220 Ave = 204.7 Ave =207.3 directed learner. Areas for improvement
Moderate Mean = 3.41 Mean = 3.45* must be identified and evaluated, and a
strategy must be adopted with teacher
guidance when necessary.
(n=11) (n=15) This indicates effective self-directed
221-300 Ave = 237.2 Ave = 239.1 learning. The goal is to maintain progress
High Mean = 3.95 Mean = 4.00 by identifying strengths and methods for
consolidation of the students effective
Whole Class Whole Class self-directed learning.
(n=20) (n=19)
Ave = 223 Ave = 232
Mean = 3.72 Mean = 3.90
The test results of the fourth-year students in the current study showed that no
one scored in the lower range. In the pre-test, nine students achieved a moderate
score for their level of SDL. Remarkably, in the post-test, five students migrated
to the high level, three remained in this category, and one migrated down from
the high level. This left the moderate level with four students, while the high-
level category increased from 11 to 15 students. The mean of both the moderate
and high categories also increased slightly in the post-test. This indicates that the
use of the video method in this methodology class could have assisted in
increasing the level of self-directedness of the whole class, which is emphasised
by the fact that the overall mean of the whole class increased from 3.72 to 3.90.
Thus (according to Williamsons interpretation), only four students in the class
would in the end need guidance for improvement in becoming more self-
directed.
As indicated earlier, the computed coefficient alpha in all five areas indicates
sufficient correlation. For establishing the construct validity, a known-groups
technique was used; it was observed that the average scores for the pre-test and
post-test was 223 and 232 respectively. The students post-test scores were
higher than their pre-test scores, which suggests that overall the students
improved their SDL skills.
Regarding the five broad areas of SDL, the students tested as follows in the pre-
and post-tests (see Table 3 for paired sample statistics). The students responses
to the SRSSDL were summarised in frequencies and percentages. The responses
of both the pre- and post-test of the students were summed up in order to obtain
the average scores.

104
Table 3: Measured changes between the pre-test and post-test results in the five broad
areas of the SRSSDL for the fourth-year LASD411 students of 2013
Paired areas of SDL Mean N Standard Effect size
deviation (d-value)
Awareness (pre-) 3.97 20 0.38
Awareness (post-) 4.02 19 0.45 0.12
Learning strategies (pre-) 3.82 20 0.39

Learning strategies (post-) 3.73 19 0.43 0.22
Learning activities (pre-) 3.55 20 0.52

Learning activities (post-) 3.70 19 0.42 0.29
Evaluation (pre-) 3.48 20 0.40

Evaluation (post-) 3.79 19 0.44 0.80
Interpersonal skills (pre-) 4.07 20 0.36

Interpersonal skills (post-) 4.12 19 0.41 0.15
According to Table 3, the fourth-year student teachers improved in all areas

except for the Learning strategies area where a slight decline was noticed.
However, this proved to be not practically significant with a small d-value of
0.22. Because of the evaluative character of this video method to support
assessment, reflection and feedback on micro-teaching in the Geography
methodology class, it is not surprising that there was a practical and
significantly large effect in the Evaluation area of the students self-directedness.
According to Table 3 it was precisely the Evaluation skills of the students that
tested lowest in the pre-test, but improved most in the post-test. According to
Figures 4 and 5 that show the responses of the students in the broad areas of the
SRSSDL in the respective pre- and post-tests, it is clear that there was a
significant improvement in the Evaluation skill area, as the often choice
increased from 35% to 49.1%. Besides the improvement of Evaluation and
Learning activities skills all the other broad areas stayed more or less the same.
Furthermore, according to these graphs, there was an overall decline in the

seldom and never choices from the pre-test to the post-test, not only for the
Evaluation skills, but in all the broad areas of the SRSSDL. Furthermore, from a
breakdown of the dataset, the effect size (d) for the students who scored in the
moderate SDL category in the pre-test was as high as 3.65 in the post-test, as
the mean size of their Evaluation skill improved from 3.1 to 3.7, followed by the
Learning activities broad area which had a d-value of 0.73. The improvement of
the Learning activities as one of the broad SDL areas is noticeable. All over, the
broad areas of the SRSSDL remained fairly moderate to high.

105
60 Always
Often
50
44.2
41.7 Sometimes
40
40 35 Seldom
33.7
32
30
28.3
30 Never
30 25 24.2 24.6
20.8
20 16.7 17.9
14.2 14.6
10 5.8 5 3.7 4.6

2.92.1 2.1
0.8
0
Awareness Learning Learning Evaluation Interpersonal
Strategies activities skills
Figure 4: Fourth-year student teachers pre-test responses to broad areas of the

SRSSDL (in %)
60 Always
49.1 Often
50 46.5
44.3 43.9
40.4
Sometimes
40 35.1 Seldom
31.6 32.9
30.3
Never
30
23.2 24.6
18.4 19.3 19.3

20 15.4
10 6.6 5.3
4.4
1.30.9 1.8 0.9 1.8 1.81.3
0
Awareness Learning Learning Evaluation Interpersonal
Strategies activities skills
Figure 5: Fourth-year student teachers post-test responses to broad areas of the

SRSSDL (in %)
Conclusion
The students involved in this case study felt that this video method (VideoANT
in conjunction with eFundi) supported micro-teaching optimally. They rated it
an excellent teaching and learning aid to improve micro-lessons because of the
greatly increased reflection, feedback and assessment opportunities that it offers.
From the students point of view, it was a great asset to be able to watch and re-
watch their micro-lessons and to again evaluate the comments made by fellow

106
students in respect of exact moments in the video. The students were equally
impressed with the benefits of working together in groups. The VideoANT and
eFundi technologies proved supportive in achieving the learning aims of micro-
teaching, in improving the students teaching skills in general, as well as in
empowering them to do sufficient and effective reflection and self-reflection.
Using this method also seemed to help improve the students self-directed
learning skills in general, but it was their evaluation skills in particular (one of
the five broad areas of the SRSSDL) that were improved most significantly (this
area was tested as the lowest SDL skill in the pre-test). It was precisely the self-
directed learning skill that was most repeated and trained with the VideoANT
method, and Jacques valued this method by saying that many assessments could
be made in one week and over five weeks it is a lot of lessons to learn from.
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109

Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 109-116, May 2015
Application of Contextual Learning to Improve

Critical Thinking Ability of Students in Biology
Teaching and Learning Strategies Class
Hasruddin, Muhammad Yusuf Nasution and Salwa Rezeqi

Biological Education, State University of Medan
North Sumatera, Indonesia
Abstract: This study is aimed to improve students' critical thinking skills

through the application of contextual learning in Biology Teaching and
Learning Strategies Course. Classroom Action Research was conducted
in Biology Education Study Program of State University of Medan. The
subjects were 60 Biology Education students, which were determined by
purpossive sampling. Critical thinking skills data was obtained through
the analysis of student questions during students journal presentation.
The data were also collected through observation and documentation of
student journals which then analyzed based on its percentage. The
results showed that there was a 18.5% increase in the critical thinking
skills from the first to the second cycle after applying contextual
learning in Biology Teaching and Learning Strategies course.
Keywords: Contextual Approach, Critical Thinking, Journal Learning,

Question.
Introduction
Biology Teaching and Learning Strategies, weighs as many as three credits, is
one of the courses included in Biology educational field study. This course is
taught to biology education students in the fifth semester. By attending this
course, students prepare themselves with a preliminary understanding, that can
be used when they attend Biology Lesson Planning, Micro Teaching, Evaluation
Process and Biology Learning Outcomes and Research Methods in Biology
Education courses in the future. These courses are aimed to construct student
competence as biology teacher candidates, and can be taken by students
following the fifth semester. According to Hall, et all (2008), teaching is a
professional job, so the pre-services teacher, taking class in educational training
program, need to prepare themselves better with regard to learning the ins and
outs.

110
Course Content and Learning Strategies of this subject concerns about the
philosophy of learning, learning theories, strategies, approaches, methods,
models, learning styles, media, teaching materials, and teaching aids in biology
learning. Lecture methods are currently running on commonly used methods
such as lectures, discussions, paper assignments, and the search for learning
resources via internet. The data showed that learning outcomes of students in
this course were generally still considered mediocre, in which on the average,
were categorized into grade C (68.45%), followed by B (19.58%), with the rest
(1.12%) earned an A, after taking this course. This data is important because
Ginnis (2007) suggests that acquisition of such values can be used as feedback in
the learning process to improve learning approach in the future.
Students were observed to possess negative behavior that considered

unproductive for their improvement during this course, such as inability to
promote questions during learning process, less creative work, followed with
less demonstration of critical thinking skills. Results of quiz distribution during
meetings to see the acquisition of skills in one or two basic competencies,
showed that students do not obtain satisfactory results. In general, average
obtained quiz score, from a maximum of 100 the acquisition value is only 68 or
still are under 70. It is believed that with one or two numbers of lecture material
repetitions, then the students can be expected to improve their critical thinking
skills.
If this is allowed to continue, otherwise, there will be the barriers in terms of

time use in repeating the subject matter, as experienced by researchers. Thus, it
is necessary to study an innovation by making students become more active in
learning. In contextual learning theory, students are in the learning process or
usually called learning by doing. Students just not merely receive materials from
the professors, but the students, through learning by doing are able to master the
subject matter well and can apply it in everyday life.
Biology Teaching and Learning Strategies need to be turned to the foundation of

contextual learning in which students actively construct their own knowledge,
able to think critically and have the independence in learning. In addition,
students need to have the life skills and ability to work together, the ability to
communicate, the ability to be a diligent learner, and able to take the right
decisions in solving real life problems. Therefore, in Biology Teaching and
Learning class there is a need to study on an appropriate innovative approach.
Smith (2010) said that Contextual Teaching and Learning in a conception of
teaching and learning helps teachers relate the content of subject matter to real
world situations. On the other hand, CTL defined the concepts as an innovative
instructional process that help students connect the content they have learned to
the life context in with that content colud be used. Hutson (2011) said that CTL is
defined as a way to introduce content using a variety of active learning
techniques, designed to help students conduct what they already know to what
they are expected to learn and to construct new knowledge from the analysis
and synthesis of this learning process.

111
In the case of Biology Teaching and Learning Strategies course, it is still not
much to change the way students learn form the semester of the previous
academic year. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct an innovative approach the
quality of this lecture, by applying contextual learning, and practicing various
teaching methods such as problem-solving methods, guided discovery, field
trips, simulations of active learning, critiquing various learning models that are
presented in the form of animation, critical analysis, and student journal
reading. Wishler (2013) explained that contextual learning is an active learning
design which provides a way to introduce the learning content with the
variation of active learning to help students connect with their learning world.
The importance of the application of contextual learning in studying Biology

Teaching and Learning Strategy is that the student is given with material that
has been long studied. Contextual approach will be basically improve student
learning. In this case, students become an active participants through the
learning process. Lecturer acts as a facilitator that enables students to optimize
their learning ability. Indeed, this approach is not a new approach, since the
introduction by John Dewey in 1916. For biology education students who would
be a teacher, the learning is not enough to simply memorize the material.
Furthermore, students are invited to practice learning by doing. It is expected
through the course, students critical thinking skills can be improved. According
to Harrell (2004) philosophers generally agree that one aspect of critical thinking
is the ability to analyze, understand, and evaluate an argument. Critical thinking
skills are deemed important because they enable students in dealing effectively
with social, scientific, and practical problems (Shakirova, 2007). Simply put, as
explained by Snyder and Snyder (2008), students who are able tothink critically
are able to solve problems effectively, because merely having knowledge or
information is not enough. To be effective in the work place students must be
able to solve problems to make effective decisions; thus, theymust be able to
think critically.
Critical thinking is defined as the process of decision-making that encourages

self-regulation aimed at solving problems and making the right decision or the
"engine" that drives how to decide what to do or believe in a certain context.
Critical thinking includes behavioral tendencies (eg, curiosity, open-
mindedness) and the skills of analysis, conclusions, and evaluation. This study
aims to answer how much improvement students' critical thinking skills by
applying contextual learning in Biology Teaching and Learning Strategies
course.
Methods
The present Classroom Action Research was conducted in Biology Education
program, State University of Medan. The execution time was for one semester or
six months. The subjects of interest were 60 Biology Education students. Subjects
were determined by purposive sampling. The entire subject of research consist
of 11 male students, with the rest 49 female. Students enrolled in this study
actually counted as many as 51 students, but there were the additional 9
students which we transferred from non-educational biology program.

112
The study design was a classroom action research. This classroom action
research was developed based on the findings earlier lectures it is expected that
after attending Biology Teaching and Learning Strategies course, students can
improve the quality of their thinking. The steps of study consisted of two cycles.
Research cycle is determined based on the basic competencies that were taught
in the Biology Teaching and Learning Strategies course.
Cycle I:
The first cycle was consisted of Planning Phase, Actions Phase, and
Observation/ Evaluation, Phase and Reflection Phase.
Planning stage included: reviewing, analyzing, and developing course materials
of Biology Teaching and Learning Strategies.
Action Phase: Simulating the lecture material by giving problems in soft-copied
form to be discussed by students in cooperative group work Learning. Students
also perform critical analytical study of impressions, delivered during the
learning. Students also do a critical analysis of the source books (literature), and
write student learning journal individual.
Observation/Evaluation Phase: the phase took place on the course meetings and
was done by an observer from members of the research team. All questions and
activities of student learning were recorded through observation sheet.
Reflection Phase: Measuring the achievement of the learning process and
products such as critical thinking skills. Based on the results of the first cycle of
this reflection the process can be continued to Cycle II.
Cycle II:
In the second cycle, the phase included performed Planning Phase, Actions
Phase, and Observation/Evaluation Phase, and Reflection Phase.
Planning Phase of this cycle consist of review, analyze, and action on the results
of the first cycle of reflection into the course design when the problem was
encountered by the students. Students pose a problem which is obtained from
the internet, and textbooks. The issues raised during this term are ranged from
Biology Teaching and Learning Strategies course materials that they deem to be
solved.
Action Phase: Simulate the problem of student learning and the solution was
made or done together in groups of cooperative Learning. Students also perform
critical analysis of source book and student journal writing, each was done in a
separate notebook.
Observation/Evaluation Phase: The phase took place when observations by two

observers from members of the research team was done. All questions and
learning activities of students were recorded at the end of the second cycle.
Reflection Phase: Measuring the achievement of the learning process and
products such as students critical thinking skill. Lecturers also corrected student
journal as part of the reflection. The results obtained at this stage of reflection
would be used as a reference in planning the next cycle (cycle III) but if there is a
significant increase in research, the process would be halted in the second cycle.

113
Findings
The data of this study were obtained form critical thinking skills and social
proficiency. Other supporting data is in the form of students activity in asking
questions. Critical thinking skills is analyzed through the examination of student
questions during presentation. Social proficiency were analyzed from a
distributed questionnaire. Data were collected through the observation and
questionnaire analysis using percentage techniques. The data collection and
analysis of data in the first cycle and the second cycle obtained as follows in
Table 1.
Table 1: Critical Thinking Ability

__________________________________________________________
No. Range Value Category Cycle I Cycle II
_______________________________
F % F %
__________________________________________________________________
1. 90-100 Exellent 6 10.0 14 23.3
2. 80-89 Good 25 41.7 28 46.7
3. 70-79 Moderate 28 46.7 18 30.0
4. < 70 Not Critical 1 1.6 0 0
___________________________________________________________________
Table 1 shows that there is an increase in the critical thinking skills of students in
Biology Teaching and Learning Strategies course with the application of
contextual approach.
Result and Discussion

Critical thinking skills of students in Biology Teaching and Learning Strategies
course can be enhanced by applying contextual learning. Students' critical
thinking skills can be improved for logical reasons that the introduction of a
contextual approach in directing students into realistics thinking according to
real life conditions. Various theories of learning is that learned can be
implemented on lecture material. This makes it a challenge for students in
applying it to everyday life. Subject matter becomes more meaningful for
students with application of problem solving and through the process of inquiry
and cooperative group work. This makes the students, becoming more diligently
to asked question during the group presentation. The average student questions
counted as much as 5 questions, making students become more motivated to
learn. This is in line with the opinions of Wishler (2013) declaring the interaction
in the learning process, in which students will be challenged and motivated in
their learning. Besides that, students were trained to think in an advanced
organization, this is also in line with Shihusa and Keraro (2009) which states that
student motivation were higher after applying advanced thinking organizer.
Smith (2010) said that the subject matter can be delivered using the CTL
pedagogical model while also build critical and problems solving skills.
Contextual learning provide a stimulus to the brain for processing materials

meaningfully. In this case, students gain an advantage in applying the material

114
in the context of their daily lives as part of the family and community members .
Students in this case are not only able to master the concepts well, but further,
that they can explore the material better. They can do this because they are
involved in the learning process directly, explain the materials, tell it, or even
deduce what they serve. This is in line with the view of Johnson (2002) which
states that the student will be able to explain in broad and deep subject matter
by applying the contextual approach.
Students in this learning activity do not just memorize Biology Teaching and
Learning Strategies concepts, but can also appreciate the subject matter well.
Through this contextual learning, students will be able to demonstrate their
ability in classroom discussions. They will increase the vocabulary knowledge of
the various sources of relevant literature, or from their previous experience.
Thus, the students will try to connect concepts they had obtained previously
with what they learned that day, accommodating unique learning they have.
Prashing (2004) states that everyone has indeed a unique style of learning,
thinking, and working.
Students not only receive course materials based on what the lecturer said, but
constructs the subject matter from time to time in his mind. In view of this,
students build and create knowledge by trying to give meaning to his
knowledge according to his experience. Ginnis (2007) states that constructivism
is the process of building or construct new knowledge in the cognitive structure
of students based on experience.
Critical thinking skills include solving problems, making decisions, and separate
opinions with facts on science. Through contextual learning, students can
criticize biology learning problems in school. The improvement of students'
critical thinking skills through the application of contextual learning can be
understood as the students will be active in finding a variety of learning
resources. Students social ability will be encouraged through inquiry,
cooperating, and cooperative group work. The use of various multi-method
allows students to be active in the learning process. This is in line with Hall and
Kidman (2004) which states that contextual learning make the atmosphere
becomes centered on student learning and faculty can develop the ability.
Students are trained to be a critical thinker to all courses when contextual

learning is applied. This is in line with the opinion of Fisher (2009) which that
the ability to think criticallis described as an active process that involves the role,
played by the metacognitive thinking about thinking itself. Students become
more creative in thinking.
Through contextual application, students are allowed to communicate and share

ideas while experiences and work together to solve problems. In a community
learning activities or learning community by Suryawati (2010), students work
better in group than working individually. Besides that, students softskill will
also be formed through the learning activity. Learning community create
conditions that allow one student to learn with other students. Some examples of

115
soft skills can be formed through this learning activity, according to Smith
(2010), namely: (1) There is a sense of responsibility and cooperation between
members of the group to give and take; (2) There is a willingness to accept the
opinions of others; (3) There is a willingness to respect the opinions of others;
and (4) There is a sense of responsibility of the group, all members of the group
have the same responsibility.
Through contextual learning, students have increased activity in learning. They

in turn become a speaker in front of the class presenting lecture material. At the
time of question and answer, many students were observed to actively raised
their hands to promote question. Classroom atmosphere become more alive.
Although teaching process are in the middle of the day students still look
excited. In fact, often times be increased because it is still fun to student to
conduct a question and answer session through the dialogue. Along with that,
students were seen to possess thehabit in conducting a social inquiry. This is in
line with Zumdani (2014) explanation that in the social inquiry, students can
collaborate and be more successful in achieving their academic achievement.
Students have asked qualified questions when debriefing process takes place.
Students promoting question activities were better in the second cycle; with so
many questions asked by students in the learning process. This showed that they
really enjoy learning. Using questioning techniques that improve student
learning, the development of problem solving, and higher-order thinking skills
(Suryawati, 2010) can be achieved. Students were more likely to be able to
develop the scientific ability, which is in line with the opinions by Balaney (2013)
that with student centered approach, students can significantly improve critical
thinking skills.
Promoting questioning in learning is seen on the lecture activities to encourage,

guide, and assess the students ability to think (Suryawati, 2010). Smith (2010)
states that in a productive learning, activities asked to: (1) Digging information,
both administrative and academic; (2) Check for student understanding; (3)
Generating a response to the student; (4) Knowing the extent of the student 's
curiosity; (5) Knowing the things that have already known to the students; (6)
Focusing attention on a desired student lecture; (7) To raise more questions from
students; and (8) to refresh students knowledge. Haynes (2003) and Bailey (2003)
emphasized the importance of asking the right questions for students to
stimulate critical thinking skills, while Hemming (2000) explained the focus on
integrating questioning techniques into class discussions to support an
educational environment is important where students can demonstrate and
practice critical thinking skills.
Conclution
Based on the results and discussion of research it can be concluded that students'
critical thinking skills was improved by 18.5% after applying contextual learning
in Biology Teaching and Learning Strategies course.

116
References
Balaney, C.A.(2013). Assessment on student's science process skills: A student sentered
approach. International Journal of Biology Education. 3(1), 52-60.
Fisher, A. (2009). Critical thinking: A conductor. Jakarta: Erland.
Ginnis, P. (2007). Teachers, toolkit, raise classroom cchievement with strategies for every
leaner. California: Corwin Press.
Haynes, T., & Bailey, G. (2003). Are you and your basic business students asking the
right questions? Business Education Forum, 57(3), 3339.
Hemming, H.E. (2000). Encouraging critical thinking: Butwhat does that
mean? Journal of Education, 35(2), 173-182.
Johnson, E.B. (2002). Contextual teaching and learning: making teaching and learning
activities exciting and meaningful. Bandung: Mizan Learning Center.
Hall, C & Kidman. J. (2004). Teaching and learning: mapping the contextual influences.
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Hall, G.E., Quinn, L.F., & Gollnick, D.M. (2008). The joy of teaching making a difference
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(Tech.Rep.No.CMU-PHIL-158). Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon University,
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Prashing, B. (2004). New ways of learning and teaching learning styles. New Zealand:
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Shakirova, D.M. (2007). Technology for the shaping of colleges students and upper-
grade students critical thinking. Russian Education & Society, 49(9), 4252.
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IJLTER.

The Realities of Reconstitution: A High Schools Tale ................................................................................................... 17

Dealing with Mixed-language Abilities in an English-Medium University Content Course .................................... 69

Supporting Cooperative Learning with Technological Tools ......................................................................................... 78

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research

English-Medium Content Courses: Student

Abstract. Taking English-medium content courses is very challenging

Keywords: content-based instruction; student strategies; English-

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Content and Language Integrated Learning: A brief Overview

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Gaps in the Literature

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With regard to outlining, this is a widely recommended activity or strategy to

Aims of the Study

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3. What are the students views of the effectiveness of these materials in

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Of the various types of interviews discussed by Hatch (2002) and Spradley

Surveys. A survey was administered to a convenience sample made up of the

Artefact Checking. Data was further triangulated by examining student-

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into categories or groups based on predetermined typologies or headings (pp.

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B. Answering questions. Another area of perceived difficulty expressed by two

P1: Professor asks some students questions about lecture or topic it is

A. Use of pre-prepared materials. Before beginning this research, I was aware

1. What do you do/use to help make it easier to understand the lectures?

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P1: Talking with friends in Japanese about content talking about

As mentioned above, this point was quite surprising to me as it seems to directly

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3. Which materials or strategies do participants most value?

B. Peer Support (Cooperative Learning )

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Again, although the participants mentioned the benefit of textbooks, outlines,

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Limitations and Future Directions

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Johnson, R. K., & Swain, M. (1997). Immersion Education: International Perspectives.

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1. What are you overall impressions/feelings about your lectures?

1. What are your overall impressions of the class?

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research

The Realities of Reconstitution:

Abstract. During the first decade of the 21 st century, the number of US

Keywords: School Restructuring; Education Reform; English Teachers;

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restructuring (Center for Comprehensive School Improvement and Reform,

Background: The Process and Critiques of School Turnaround

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From a legal standpoint, Spitser (2007) critiqued NCLBs school turnaround

Additionally, hiring released teachers replacements is cumbersome. NCLB

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To illustrate the challenges that concern researchers about school turnaround, I

Data Collection and Analysis

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Interviews. I conducted interviews with each of my participants that lasted 60-90

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To guide my interviews, I used a protocol that featured three open-ended

1. What are you beliefs about school restructuring?