Pathways into Information Literacy and Communities of Practice


Book Description

Pathways into Information Literacy and Communities of Practice: Teaching Approaches and Case Studies considers the specific information literacy needs of communities of practice. As such, the book fills a gap in the literature, which has treated information literacy extensively, but has not applied it to the area of communities of practice. Since every community of practice generates, seeks, retrieves, and uses resources and sources related to the cognitive structure being researched or studied, and the tasks being performed, the need arises to undertake studies focused on real user communities, especially at a graduate level. This edited collection presents contributions from an international perspective on this key topic in library and information science. Contributions are arranged into two sections, the first exploring teaching and learning processes, and the second presenting case studies in communities of practice, including, but not limited to, health, research environments, college students, and higher education. - Focuses on communities of practice, including health, research, and higher education and their distinct information needs - Includes chapters from an international and experienced set of contributors - Presents an interdisciplinary perspective on the topic




Practical Action Research


Book Description

'Practical Action Research' is a compilation of critical commentaries that offer practical steps for understanding and implementing action research. The contributors demonstrate how educators can reflect, collect data, and create alternative ways to improve their practice in the classroom and schoolwide.




Qualitative approaches to research on plurilingual education / Enfocaments qualitatius per a la recerca en educació plurilingüe / Enfoques cualitativos para la investigación en educación plurilingüe


Book Description

This handbook is a guide for researchers in plurilingual education. It introduces notions of collaborative research, action-research, ethnography, conversation analysis and mediated discourse analysis. It also discusses ethics, how to collect and organize plurilingual and multimodal corpora, and write up research papers.Aquest manual és una guia per a la recerca en educació plurilingüe. S'hi introdueixen conceptes de recerca col·laborativa, recerca-acció, etnografia, anàlisi de la conversa i anàlisi del discurs mediat. També s'hi discuteixen qüestions d'ètica, maneres de recopilar i organitzar corpus plurilingües i multimodals, i d’escriure textos de recerca.Este manual es una guía para la investigación en educación plurilingüe. Se introducen conceptos de investigación colaborativa, investigación-acción, etnografía, análisis de la conversación y análisis del discurso mediado. También se discuten cuestiones de ética, maneras de recopilar y organizar corpus plurilingües y multimodales, y de redactar textos de investigación.




Teaching and Training for Global Engineering


Book Description

Provides a foundation for understanding a range of linguistic, cultural, and technological factors to effectively practice international communication in a variety of professional communication arenas An in-depth analysis of how cultural factors influence translation, document design, and visual communication A review of approaches for addressing the issue of international communication in a range of classes and training sessions A summary of strategies for engaging in effective e-learning in international contexts A synopsis of how to incorporate emerging media into international teaching and training practices




Handbook of Research on Using Disruptive Methodologies and Game-Based Learning to Foster Transversal Skills


Book Description

As new technologies and professional profiles emerge, traditional education paradigms have to be adapted to new scenarios, creating favorable conditions for promoting transversal skills among students. Consequently, there is a growing demand for training in emergent skills to solve problems of different natures, distributive leadership competencies, empathy, ability to control emotions, etc. In this sense, one of the challenges that educators of all different educational levels and training contexts have to face is to foster these skills in their courses. To overcome these obstacles, innovative and disruptive methodologies, such as game-based learning activities like escape rooms, can be a great ally for teachers to work on transversal skills and specific knowledge at the same time. The Handbook of Research on Using Disruptive Methodologies and Game-Based Learning to Foster Transversal Skills gathers knowledge, skills, abilities, and capabilities on innovative and disruptive methodologies that can be applied in all educational levels to foster transversal skills. This publication contains different contributions focused on the description of innovative educational methods, processes, and tools that can be adopted by teachers to promote transversal skills such as creativity, critical thinking, decision-making, and entrepreneurial skills. This book is ideal for teachers, instructional designers, educational software developers, academics, professionals, students, and researchers working at all levels in the educational field and provides valuable background information to professionals who aim to overcome traditional paradigm obstacles and meet student needs by means of innovative and disruptive methodologies.




The Palgrave International Handbook of Action Research


Book Description

The Palgrave International Handbook of Action Research offers a vivid portrait of both theoretical perspectives and practical action research activity and related benefits around the globe, while attending to the cultural, political, social, historical and ecological contexts that localize, shape and characterize action research. Consisting of teachers, youth workers, counselors, nurses, community developers, artists, ecologists, farmers, settlement-dwellers, students, professors and intellectual-activists on every continent and at every edge of the globe, the movement sustained and inspired by this community was born of the efforts of intellectual-activists in the mid-twentieth century specifically: Orlando Fals Borda, Paulo Freire, Myles Horton, Kurt Lewin. Cross-national issues of networking, as well as the challenges, tensions, and issues associated with the transformative power of action research are explored from multiple perspectives providing unique contributions to our understanding of what it means to do action research and to be an action researcher. This handbook sets a global action research agenda and map for readers to consider as they embark on new projects.




Ethnography and Educational Policy Across the Americas


Book Description

Third in the series Sociocultural Studies of Educational Policy Formation and Appropriation, this volume brings together scholars from North America, South America, and Europe to examine the relationship between ethnographic research and educational policy. The product of papers and discussions originally taking place at the Interamerican Symposium on Ethnographic Educational Research, the book presents both original empirical research reports and theoretical-methodological proposals for using ethnography to study and influence educational policy. After an introduction and opening chapter that highlight the different ways of conceptualizing education, education policy, and diversity across American borders, five full chapters address the relationship between ethnography and educational policy through sustained empirical attention to specific research sites and projects. The next section of the book presents shorter position statements that relate specific research or policymaking experiences and reflect on the ways that ethnography can be involved in a project of formulating or revising policy. In this section, edited transcriptions of workshop discussions give the reader a vibrant sense of the challenging issues facing educational ethnographers attempting to address policy. The book closes with a commentary by a veteran educational ethnographer. Of interest to educators, researchers, and policymakers across the Americas, this volume contributes to an ongoing dialogue about how ethnographic research can intersect advantageously with the policymaking enterprise.




Transnational Perspectives on Culture, Policy, and Education


Book Description

As multinational elites vie for economic and cultural dominance, neoliberal socio-economic policies are, in effect, not only reconfiguring political economies, but the ways in which culture is being produced and represented. In light of the global impact of these forms of domination, this collection of informed international scholarship examines world-hegemonic engagements with culture in all spheres of contemporary cosmopolitan life: the personal, the public, the popular, and the institutional.




Revisiting Language Learning Resources


Book Description

Human and material resources are two key elements that make up the language learning process. Regarding material resources, nowadays new technologies can be said to play a leading role in most language learning environments. However, we cannot forget that these relatively new tools still coexist with more traditional ones which are still widely used in the foreign language classroom. On the other hand, the progressive emergence of new 'human roles' in language learning means that human resources have also become a key medium through which the learner accesses knowledge and practice towards language acquisition.There is an obvious need to carry out research on these resources in order to assess their potential for an optimum learning experience. This book tries to meet such needs offering the research work that different authors have carried out in this field.




Integration and Application of Business Graduate and Business Leader Competency-Models


Book Description

Utilizing a skill and ability-based competency approach can be used to develop both individuals and organizations. Whether the skills are developed through on-the-job training or trained through educational programs, to be proficient is to gain mastery in the defined area. These standards of proficiency separate the talented from those that have talent and utilize this talent. Competency-models, systematic integration, and application of competency-models are a focus in today’s work environment to remain competitive and to attract quality talent. Therefore, focusing on the identification of management skillsets and the alignment of competency-models with organizational goals to achieve integration through the use of a system are essential to move from good to great management. Integration and Application of Business Graduate and Business Leader Competency-Models is a pivotal reference source that examines how educational competency-based programs and industry needs are being met, along with how best to meet and achieve desired strategic organizational outcomes through integration. By highlighting the organizational need for recruitment, development, and success through scalable approaches at all organizational levels, this book is ideally designed for business graduates, organizational leaders, managers, students, academicians, and researchers in the fields of leadership, social science, organizational development, and business management.