International Journal of Educational Research最新文献

This study investigates the impact of studying two degree programs on students’ identity formation and experiences within the evolving landscape of higher education, characterized by massification and managerial trends in the context of a weak economy. I use a narrative analysis of interviews with 14 Colombian students enrolled in joint-degree programs at an elite private university. I found that students tend to focus their identity development within a single program of study, contrary to the promise of broader identity multiplicity envisioned by the university's joint degree policy: 8 students ended up building their professional identities primarily within one program of study, three students had not developed any, and only one student developed two professional identities. Second, the intensive demands of these programs appear to prioritize the identity of a joint degree student, relegating alternative social and ego identities due to limited socialization opportunities. Third, the conflicted process of identity formation is frequently laden with frustration from unmet expectations, feelings of overload or under-stimulation, and isolation from peers. In conclusion, universities’ promises to enhance career paths and professional identities through joint degree programs may be decoupled from students who do not double their professional identities and horizons. This finding has implications for the theorization of professional identification. As students mature, they often prioritize career opportunities within a program over dual or multiple professional identities. Building multiple professional identities at the university is often unrealistic, and when it does occur, it may be at the expense of subordinating other social and ego identities. Finally, universities offering joint degrees could use these theoretical reflections and empirical findings on identity formation and student experiences that are consistent with our knowledge of the complexity of professional identity formation and the plausibility that this complexity is amplified by the addition of another program of study.

The importance of professionalism in teaching practices for achieving high-quality education has been acknowledged. Becoming a professional teacher is a long-term commitment but it is essential to promote high standards of professionalism from the beginning of teacher candidate formation. In addition, as professionalism in teaching is closely linked to the concept of “teacher as a researcher”, formative research seems to be a potent strategy for engaging future teachers in developing research abilities, essential for understanding and analyzing their educational practices. In this sense, the objective of this work is to explore the influence of a formative research approach on the development of research competencies by applying an action-research approach with a longitudinal cut. Thus, an intervention based on a ubiquitous strategy of formative research was implemented during the final three years of education of a teacher's training institution in Uruguay. The teacher candidate development of research competencies was assessed along the process. The obtained results demonstrated the effectiveness of implementing formative research to enhance the research skills of teacher candidates. The assessment of overall research competencies exhibited a statistically significant and substantial positive change (Cohen's d = 0.92). The impact was most pronounced among teacher candidates with the least developed initial research competencies, particularly for those in the early stages of their careers. This suggests that candidates engaged in the formative research strategy throughout their studies might achieve even higher levels of research competencies. Disaggregating the results by gender and for most of the specific subjects showed similar effects. In addition, within the framework of ubiquitous learning, the emphasis on the use of digital tools during the intervention led to an increase in the development of the research skills related to these tools for the studied sample. This is the first example of a quantitative approach that leads to concrete conclusions related to the effect of a research formative strategy for teacher candidates in Uruguay.

This study investigates the impact of discourse goals on argumentative writing among Chinese elementary school students. Eight fourth-grade classes were assigned to one of three conditions—Persuasion Dialogue (PD), Deliberation Dialogue (DD) and Control—to discuss four controversial topics designed for the Morality and Law subject. Before writing on the intervention topics, PD and DD students engaged in direct peer-to-peer argumentative written dialogues, while Control students addressed the topics and textbook contents in traditional teacher-led whole-class discussions. In essays on multiple intervention topics and a post-assessment topic, PD and DD students outperformed Control students in considering an alternative viewpoint. PD students, however, showed an advantage over DD students and Control students, in rebutting a counterargument and in attributing these counterarguments to the preceding dialogues, as well as in employing evidence to support claims. DD students, in contrast, were more likely to employ a dismissal strategy over a refutation strategy. Strengths of the argumentative discourse goal of persuasion over deliberation for elementary school students are discussed.

Research published in specific contexts and in languages that are not widely read can contain diverse knowledges, often absent in international research published in English. As such PhD dissertations, especially when defended in a language other than English, represent important knowledge ‘in the making’ but they tend to be excluded from published research reviews. The focus of this paper is on diversity and intercultural education, examining how the specific form of Minzu (‘ethnic’) education is constructed in the Chinese language in Mainland China, by performing a systematic review of PhD dissertations from a top minority-serving institution (Minzu University of China). The paper shows that the dissertations represent a vast array of topics and contexts, much broader than e.g., publications available on Minzu education published in English. However, the ‘Westernization’ of theories and concepts/notions used is noted. Conclusions are drawn as to why it matters to take into account this kind of ‘underground’ knowledge in education research.