Licensing has been a dynamic tension for the social work profession for many years, specifically in social work education. Increasingly, social work programs are using factors related to social work licensing (pass rates, number of test takers, etc.) as an indicator of programmatic success. Yet few, if any, published papers examine curricular…

This article presents the results of an inter-institutional research study that assessed the impact of strategies instruction on students' preparation for and performance in oral exams. Two teacher-researchers at different universities trained 26 students in their respective B1-English-level courses in using language learning strategies. The study…

This study examined the regulation of out-of-class time invested in the academic activities associated with a physics class for 20 consecutive semesters. The academic activities of 1676 students were included in the study. Students reported investing a semester average of 6.5 ± 2.9 h out of class per week. During weeks not containing an…

Background: This study investigated the consequential validity of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic exam, specifically focusing on washback upon learners' test preparation strategies and score gain, and the mediating factors influencing washback when learners in an EFL context are not enrolled in test preparation…

People find it easier to learn about topics that interest them. Recent neuroscience research has demonstrated that memory is improved when learning material about which we are curious. Therefore teaching in the context of what students are interested in should result in improved learning. How do we figure out what our students are curious about?…

Technology is an extension of the brain; it is a new way of thinking. It is the solution humans have created to deal with the difficult new context of variability, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Wise integration of evolving and powerful technology demands a rethinking of the curriculum. This article discusses technology as the new way of…

University Admission Tests in Thailand are important documents which reflect Thailand's education system. To study at a higher education level, all students generally need to take the University Admission Tests designed by the National Institute of Educational Testing Service (NIETS). For the English test, vocabulary and reading comprehension is…

This study examines the effect of group work scaffolding on participation. The procedural scaffolding of two cooperative learning techniques, Numbered Heads Together and Think-Pair-Share, are compared based on levels of participation, learning, and satisfaction they elicit. Aspects of participation that are examined include levels of group…

The use of standardised tests as a central tool in education policy has in recent decades become a common feature of many national education systems. In 2002 the Israeli Ministry of Education introduced new mandatory state tests for primary and middle schools. The article describes the adoption of these low-stakes tests and assesses their impact…

The aim of this study is to investigate Taiwanese undergraduate students' perception of using computer-mediated communication (CMC) in a TOEIC preparation course and determine if using an online format motivates them to succeed. As a result, five factors are addressed in the study, namely, attitude, motivation, study habit, feedback, and…

This article traces the work of community-based popular educators with an explicit commitment to "Freirean" popular education as they shifted from teaching in a community-based setting to an after-school program focused on standardized test-preparation. Drawing from ethnographic observation and interviews, it examines educators'…

The global neoliberal context and the emergence of new forms of 'governance by numbers' is now recognized as a ubiquitous educational phenomenon. In this context, large-scale assessments such as are used to justify marketised ideals of education that rely on comparison by numbers. In Australia, one of the key arguments for large scale standardised…

Traditionally, native speakers have been considered as the most reliable source of linguistic data (Chomsky, 1965), although non-native speakers of English already outnumber the native ones (Kachru, 1994), and 80% of the English teachers in the world are non-native English speakers (Canagarajah, 2005). Today, there is a tendency towards including…

A limited ability to pursue postsecondary education often leaves English language learners (ELLs) with a gamut of negative emotional experiences. Using an emotionally oriented framework to guide our study, this article focuses on the experiences of two female South Asian students who graduated from different U.S. high schools. We explored what…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact standards-based aligned computer-assisted writing instruction had on improving writing scores for eighth-grade students that attend an urban middle school. The researcher wanted to remedy the problem of low writing achievement of eighth-grade students and determine if writing across the…