The traditional view that writing is an individual activity often translates into the teaching of it as an individual task. Rarely do students engage in extensive dialogue with their peers when writing. However, much writing in the workplace takes place in collaboration with others. Although, on the surface, many authors may not seem to write with others collaboratively, the truth is that they engage in intensive intrapersonal community affected by interpersonal communication. They also communicate with them through incorporating ideas from other authors and by following requirements set by publishers and teachers. Collectively, these entail that writing instruction at college be tailored towards students' current and future needs. In addition, the collection of student perceptions of such an instructional design is necessary for curriculum designers and teachers to better cater to student needs. It is also useful to identify student perceptions related to gender in gender-segregated learning environments commonly encountered in Arab nations. Motivated by these factors, this study investigated sixty-four first-year Emirati university students' (thirty-one males & thirty-three females) views on collaborative writing in a Project Based Learning (PBL) class on a gender segregated campus. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using a survey and a discourse completion task. Results revealed that the students believed that collaborative project writing was compatible with the Emirati culture. As well, their overall satisfaction with their collaborative writing experience was positive. They were particularly happy that it contributed to general skills that included the use of technology and critical thinking skills. They were also positive about its effects on their English language and teamwork skills. Promotion of active learning and innovation was also agreed upon as a positive attribute of collaborative project writing. Results also showed that the female students were overall more content with their experience, with particularly positive opinions about its effects on English and teamwork skills. Results are discussed, and recommendations are made to enhance learning environments compatible with the principles of collaborative learning.
Engineering is a discipline that requires its practitioners to learn and use a variety of soft-skills, which include academic and non-academic written and spoken communication, inter- and intrapersonal communication skills, critical thinking ability, an ability to work in teams and an ability to analyze, interpret and synthesize interdisciplinary information from a variety of sources. However, students who pursue their engineering education in English as their second language can face formidable challenges acquiring these skills. It is our observation that such students are often only given assistance through English courses designed to improve their individual linguistic abilities. We believe that although this approach may help in the short term, it may not sufficiently cater for students’ overall needs and well-being in the long term. With this in mind, this paper describes our attempt to reduce this problem in our local context of the Petroleum Institute (PI) through a long term innovation effort.A project-based approach has been adopted to provide students with an opportunity to enhance their language skills through meaningful learning experiences that also develop professional, personal and academic skills. This approach has also allowed the university to meet ABET criteria related to communication needs of engineering students. In this paper, we give a detailed rationale for our belief that a holistic approach to developing abilities required by engineering and other students is a better option. This is followed by a description of the different components of our current curriculum that has been developed over 12 years. We describe particular activities, and discuss their merits. We also present students’ perceptions about the impact of their project-based learning experience on their language and skills development. We also outline the way the course is designed to be adaptable for unpredictable future needs in a fast developing professional and academic environment.
Acquiring a foreign language may be a lifelong endeavor, and this requires one to approach it from a lifelong learning perspective. However, learners may not always be ready for such an approach. It is important to know where learners stand in their orientations toward learning and consider this when planning educational activities. Therefore, it is necessary to determine language learners’ readiness for lifelong learning (LLL) in order to support their language development. This paper reports the findings of a study conducted to identify the LLL propensities of some Turkish and Emirati university students learning English as a foreign language in their local contexts. The study included 61 Emirati and 47 Turkish students, with a mean age of 19. Data were collected using a research tool with three sections: Demographics, the Lifelong Learning Tendency Scale (LLLTS – developed by Coskun & Demirel (2012)), and a survey with six open-ended questions. Student’s t-test, the Kruskal-Wallis test and the Mann-Whitney U-test were used to compare the quantitative data in terms of the participants’ nationalities, gender and length of study. The results showed that both Turkish and Emirati students had a moderate level of propensity for LLL. However, the Turkish students’ overall LLLTS scores as well as certain sub-skills were found to be higher than those of the Emirati students. Gender was not found to make a significant difference in the students’ LLL orientations, while motivation was found to be lower at a statistically significant level for those learning English for more than a year. Suggestions are offered for the development of language learners’ LLL skills.
T T he engineering discipline is comprised of a range of specialized fields making it difficult to define. However, the roots of the word 'engineering' offer some insights. It derives from the Latin words 'ingenium' and 'ingeniare'. The former means 'cleverness' while the latter means 'to contrive, devise.' The term is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "the work of designing and creating large structures (such as roads and bridges) or new products or systems by using scientific methods." Taken together, these definitions suggest that the engineering discipline aims at inventing, designing and improving tools, materials, machines, etc. in clever and scientific ways with the overall aim of enhancing our lives. Neil Armstrong (cited in Landis, 2013, p. 37) Mühendislerin yaln›zca teknik becerilerle yetinebilece¤ine iliflkin tart›flmalar art›k geçerlili¤ini yitirmifl bulunmaktad›r. Gerek mesleklerinde gerekse yaflam boyu ö¤renme konusunda baflar›l› olabilmek için bir tak›m sosyal becerilere de sahip olmalar› gerekmektedir. Ancak mühendislik e¤itimi veren kurumlardaki müfredatlarda, ö¤rencilerin iletiflim becerilerini gelifltirmelerine yard›mc› olacak türden ders içerik ve uygulamalar› yeterince yayg›n de¤ildir. Bu becerilerin en önemlilerinden bir tanesi, kiflinin kendisiyle (içsel) iletiflimidir. Görüfl türünde haz›rlanm›fl bulunan bu makalede içsel iletiflimin anlam› ve yaflam boyu ö¤renmeye iliflkin önemi tart›fl›lmaktad›r. Bu iletiflim türünün önemine dair fark›ndal›k, kendimizi tan›mam›za, bilinçli, etik ve topluma faydal› kararlar vermemize yard›mc› olacakt›r. Yaflam boyu ö¤renmenin, bireylerin ve toplumun geliflmesine iliflkin hedefini göz önünde bulundurarak mü-hendislerin mesleklerinde yaflam boyu ö¤renme tutumu gelifltirmeleri gerekti¤ini savunaca¤›z. Bunun için ise içsel iletiflim becerilerinin gelifltirilmesi gerekti¤inin alt›n› çizece¤iz. Ayr›ca içsel iletiflimin, kifliler aras› iletiflimin etkinli¤i aç›s›ndan önemini tart›flaca¤›z. Bu amaçlar ›fl›¤›nda mühendislerin gerçeklefltirmeleri gereken içsel iletiflim becerilerini ve aktivitelerini betimleyece¤iz. Yap›land›rmac› ö¤renme kapsam›nda, yans›mac› düflünme, imgeleme ve geliflim raporu gibi e¤itim uygulamalar›n›n ö¤rencilerin içsel iletiflim becerilerine ve dolay›s›yla yaflam boyu ö¤renmeye katk›lar›n› tart›flaca¤›z. Anahtar sözcükler:Bireyler aras› iletiflim, içsel iletiflim, mühendislik e¤i-timi, sosyal beceriler, yans›mac› yazma, yaflam boyu ö¤renme.A discussion as to whether technical skills per se are enough for engineers may no longer be relevant. In order to succeed as lifelong learners, they also need a variety of soft-skills. Despite this, engineering curricula in general seem to pay relatively little attention to cultivating communication skills in students. One of the most essential of these is intrapersonal communication.In this non-research, discussion paper, we discuss the meaning and importance of intrapersonal communication in relation to 'lifelong learning': awareness of the importance of intrapersonal communication helps...
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