Category: Teaching

Introduction

In this paper, I would like to bring forward the issue of writing skills in an L2. I would like to explore the possibilities, if any, of students cultural backgrounds affecting or influencing their L2 writing skills. I would also, in this paper, like to critically examine the role of an ESL teacher with regard to the current theme.

As such, the present paper looks into the area of students culture, their L1, and the writing acquisition process in L2.

Literature Review

Writing is considered one of the most complex human activities. It involves the development of a design idea, the capture of mental representations of knowledge, and of experience with subjects (geocities.com). Moving along the same lines of our discussion, Hinkel (p. 1, 2002) informs us that: because written discourse and text occupy a prominent place in the academy in the United States and other English-speaking countries, much research has been devoted to formal discourse genres, their characteristics, and common linguistic features encountered in academic text.

Most students who are studying in academic institutions like schools, high schools, universities have writing skills. It may more often be the case that their writing capabilities are in conflict with the requirements of the context of a second language. There are certain differences in their writing styles and conventions that are taken as something that hinders learning. For example, Myles (p. 2, 2002) tells us that the culture-specific nature of schemata  abstract mental structures representing our knowledge of things, events, and situations  can lead to difficulties when students write texts in L2. Thus a student from Mandarin, or Spanish, or Portuguese cultural background is not necessarily a competent writer when it comes to the English language not because they lack writing skills but because the system of English language composition is different from that of Mandarin or Spanish, and so on. Mother tongue or L1 cultural influence is something that is apparent in the second language writing or composition. In this connection, the writer tells us that learning to compose in English is not an isolated classroom activity, but a social and cultural experience. The rules of English composition encapsulate values that are absent in, or sometimes contradictory to, the values of other societies (Spack, & Zamel, p. 124, 1998). Thus according to the writer when it comes to learning English composition, it means, to a great extent, actually learning of Anglo-American society.

Moving along the lines of our review, we find that language and writing in it are ongoing processes that need to be understood in connection with historical and sociocultural contexts. We note what the author (in Kaplan, 2002) observes about language and its link or relation to a persons culture that how a language learner interprets or constructs a written text requires an ongoing negotiation among historical understandings, contemporary realities, and future desires. Thus, language learners are not only learning a linguistic system; they are learning a diverse set of sociocultural practices, often best understood in the context of wider relations of power.

The author further informs us that in recent times, researchers have shifted their attention from the area of investigation of social psychology to other such diverse areas as anthropology, cultural studies, sociology, and so on. This is surely a remarkable turn to the direction of recognizing the place of cultural knowledge of L1 and its transfer to L2 writing or composition.

Thus, we can aver that there is high evidence and acceptance among scholars about the influence of culture on second language acquisition and in the present case, writing skills.

Culture, Second Language, and Self

When we probe deeper into the issue of cultural influence on second language writing, we find that there is more to talk about now, that is to say, with relation to the influence of culture onto students second language writing, the concept of self is gaining wider recognition at the present time. Matsuda, Silva, and Erlbaum (p. 128, 2005) come up with the observation that The charge that seeing writing as a cultural phenomenon as much as, say, a cognitive activity essentializes unique individual implies there is an essential self insulated from its context. In the same connection, we find that the concept of self that is being referred to in linguistic literature as something that is regarded as something hard intertwined owing to the empirical findings and implications behind these findings. Here, Eagleton (as cited in Matsuda, Silva, and Erlbaum p. 128, 2005) notes that the essential self is not one beyond cultural shaping, but one which is culturally shaped in a specific, self-reflexive way& to belong to culture is just to be part of a context that is inherently open-ended& Like the rough ground of language itself, cultures work exactly because they are porous, fuzzy-edged, indeterminate, intrinsically inconsistent, never quite identical.

AT the end of the literature review, it is observed that the influence of mother tongue or language one or both cultures on the target language acquisition is a phenomenon that is well-discussed in the empirical literature on linguistics. Therefore, it is worth our attention to talking about the cultural transfer of L1 to the writing development of a second language.

In the coming part of the paper, the discussion shift onto the implications that these findings yield in connection with the teaching of writing skills to the students of other languages. The paper highlights discuss and point out the considerations that an ESL teacher should take into account when it comes to teaching writing skills to students of other languages.

ESL Writing Trend

Ferris, Hedgcock, and Erlbaum (1998) inform us that a strongly influential trend in L1 composition research and pedagogy emerged in the 1960s and 1970s (p. 4). This trend of teaching writing to the students of other languages got popularised in the United States of America in the 1980s. This trend is known as the process approach. The writers cite Faigley, according to whom process proponents can be divided into two distinct categories: the expressivists and the cognitivist (p. 4). For the former composing is a creative act. The latter writing is about planning, defining, rhetorical problem solving and so much more. However, there are complexities in this regard that are beyond the scope of the present paper.

However, when we come to talk about the consideration to be taken by an ESL teacher while teaching writing skills, we find literature that gives us views and ideas in this very connection.

In literature, the research on mother tongue societal and cultural factors and their influence on second language acquisition has yielded an area that is a sociohistorical approach. Goldman and Rueda (p. 1, 1988) inform us of the application of this approach to writing. This approach introduces new principles of instruction. It reinforces a number of principles that are based on cognitive development, information-processing approaches.

First of all, in this approach, all human beings (children as well) are seen as individuals who are actively participating in their own world and consequently in their learning processes. Following this approach teaching writing to the students of other languages the teacher has to view the culture of the first language rationally and intertwine the culture of the second language sensibly creating in students an awareness of both the world with a view of adding to both the poles.

The writers also inform us of another approach that is functional-interactive to teaching writing. According to this very approach, an ESL teacher teaching writing to the students of other languages is more likely to work on the systems of both the languages that a student is putting hand with so that an interaction between the cognitive processes involved in writing and the educational and cultural contexts that influence these processes can be adequately addressed and handled (Goldman and Rueda, p. 1, 1988).

Henceforth, the following guidelines can be put to be considered by an ESL teacher while teaching writing to students of other languages. These are as follows:

• The teacher has to bring into effect the approach that the topic for writing (which both the above-mentioned approaches stress upon) should be student-chosen since Such topics maximize the knowledge students have to include in their writing and they minimize the cognitive load associated with content generation, thereby freeing up resources to be used on other aspects of the writing process (Goldman and Rueda, p. 1, 1988).
• Secondly, under both or either of the approaches, the role of the teacher is somewhat highly nontraditional though highly important. The role is that The teacher provides guided assistance by structuring input just above students current developmental levels and assisting students to develop self-regulatory mechanisms (Goldman and Rueda, p. 1, 1988). In this way, the role of the teacher is to provide scaffolding that creates an interactional learning environment.

Moving along the same line, Commins, and Miramontes tell us of the duty of the teacher who is teaching students of other languages. They say that:

Teachers must carefully consider that second language students will require much more extensive attention to language development than is required for native speakers. At every level, especially for those learning to read solely through their second language, additional steps need to be taken before students can handle text in the same way as native speakers.

They also give us some criteria as to what should be the lines along with a teacher has to move. They say that for every comprehension strategy (which according to them depends on a number of concepts) vocabulary and grammatical awareness should be such that makes sense in front of the students of other languages. They also claim that it is more important to create a repertoire of the second language vocabulary and concepts among the students than merely trying to make them cram out the alphabets. Because this way students will become gradually capable of gripping what they are reading about. They further assert that It will also be easier to learn to read and derive meaning when students already have had extensive practice in talking about and understanding the big ideas and vocabulary represented in the text (Commins, and Miramontes, p. 1, 2006).

Another important area regarding teaching to ESOL individuals is that the teacher should also opt for using the physical environment so that they can help create instructions that are meaning-based, they come up with their rationale for the support of this very observation with the following comment:

An important aspect of meaning-based instruction in a linguistically diverse environment is how the physical space in the room is used. In any good classroom, it should be apparent to students from the physical environment the topics they are learning about, the expectations for their behavior, and the main guidelines for how to accomplish their work.

They stress that print-rich texts that surround the students in the classroom are not necessarily helpful unless these texts are meaningful. Henceforth, the focus must be on the meaningful transition of language rather than print-mania that nothing but confuses and hampers the cognitive development of the students. In a linguistically diverse environment, the key to teaching writing successfully to students of other languages is that the teachers always mediate understanding by relating test, visual imagery, and oral discussion about important concepts (Commins, and Miramontes, p. 1, 2006).

Another important strategy that the authors talk about in the present context is to create as many opportunities as possible for practice and interaction among students. Thus in their view, three poles must be considered when it comes to teaching writing to the students of other languages; these are language, culture, and context. Not until these three poles stand in complete harmony and balance is it possible to yield high result in ESL teaching:

What teachers do and how they do it in the context of their particular school makes a difference in student outcomes. To succeed, all educators need to proactively account for the complex interactions of language, culture, and context.

Moving ahead in the quest of empirical data and observation, we also find another very important observation made by Ferris and Erlbaum (2003) with regard to teaching writing skills to the students of other languages referring to the process approach of teaching writing. They say that in the present-day context, at least within the physical boundaries of the United States of America, the writing model is cyclic. This cyclic model is the process-oriented, multi-draft approach that regards feedback on a broad spectrum of issues, response-and-revision writing cycle. They also inform us that the latest trend has yielded empirical data that teacher-student conferences for feedback on writing and peer review sessions are also equally contributing factors when it comes to teaching writing skills. The best strategy to start with this cycle is to focus, according to them on content and meaning in the initial drafts of the students. It is only when the drafts are mature that the teacher should opt for meaning and form which to them maybe a false dichotomy (Ferris and Erlbaum, pp. 22-23, 2003).

Conclusion

The latest research and the trends emerging from this research tell us of the importance of the L1 cultural influence of the students of other languages to the target language and particularly on the writing skills in the present discussion. It has been observed in the paper that the teaching approach must come to address students needs and the core realities that theyre being the students of other languages hinge to the context of ESL.

Unless and until due importance is given to the writing skills with regard to the present research findings, it is hard to say that true address can be made to the needs of the students in the due course of time.

References

Advanced Writing in English as a foreign language. 2007. Web.

Commins, N. L., & Miramontes, O. B. (2006). Addressing linguistic diversity from the outset. Journal of Teacher Education, 57(3).

Ferris, D. R. (2003). Implications for second language students. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Ferris, D., Hedgcock, J. S., & Erlbaum, L. (1998). Teaching ESL composition: purpose, process, and practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Goldman, S. R., & Rueda, R. (1988). Developing writing skills in bilingual exceptional children. Exceptional Children, 54(6).

Hinkel, E. (2002). Second language writers text: linguistic and rhetorical features. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Matsuda, P. K., Silva, T., & Erlbaum, L. (2005). Second language writing research: perspectives on the process of knowledge construction. P. K. Matsuda & T. Silva (Eds.). Mahwah, NJ. Publication: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Myles, J. (2002) Second language writing and research: the writing process and error analysis in student texts. 2007. Web.

R. Spack, & V. Zamel (1998), (Eds.) Negotiating academic literacies: teaching and learning across languages and cultures. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Place of Publication.

Robert B. Kaplan (2002), (Ed.). The Oxford handbook of applied linguistics. New York: Oxford University Press.

The main scope of my motor observation report was to monitor the process of teaching children the basic motor skills that were necessary for playing basketball. The method that teacher employed were premised on drilling and practicing simple skills to develop them into more sophisticated. At the very beginning of the lesson, the coach told children to dribble by controlling and coordinating ball movements.

Hence, children had to dribble the ball at different levels, as well overcome the barriers. In such a way, children learnt both to control ball directions and their own travelling. Concentration and coordination were also the skills that were gained through this activity because children had to distribute their attention in order not to lose the ball and balance their movements. The second exercise involved dribbling to the music.

Children had to listen to the music and control the ball movements. In such a manner, they could learn how to stabilize or speed up the ball while listening to the rhythm. It also trained childrens ability to perform two activities on the spot. The next practice focused on training object control and stabilization by exchanging balls with partners. Hence, the task of the children was to direct the ball toward his/her partner and take control of the ball addressed to him.

At the very beginning, children did not succeed in focusing on the coachs tasks because their attention was paid on coordinating their movements so that they could both control the ball and overcome the barriers. However, further practicing allowed children to listen to the coachs advices to improve the performance. Even though some children were not able to perform at the first time, coach constantly encouraged them.

In case a mistake was made, the coach strived to explain how to correct the situation and improve skills. Children were looking at coach to find any sign of approval and disapproval of their actions. In response, the coach was trying to react to each of the childrens actions and improvements to make them sure that they were making progress. At the same time, the coach told children to concentrate on the drilling and practicing of every movement rather than on constant seeking for his approval.

During the practice activities, both children were trying to follow teachers advice, but his remarks were effective only during the actual process of practicing, but not after the instructions had been given. Probably, most of the children gained a deeper understanding of the activity through personal experience.

After ten minutes of dribbling, children start improving their skills. Children successfully react to coachs recommendations. However, the instructor did not interfere with the process frequently for children to realize their mistakes, or just get pleasure from the activities. Such an approach was efficient because it did not impose significant pressure on them because motor skills were still trained.

With regard to the observational experience, it should be stressed that children can successfully develop such motor skills as object control, stabilizing, and balance through performing simple practices such dribbling, bouncing the ball to the beat, and throwing balls to each other. While practicing, children paid attention to the instructors comments to make sure that they were performing the activities in the right way. Thus, they have successfully managed to develop motor behavior that can help them play basketball.

Planning Before Teaching

Identification of Focus for Community Teaching

The impact of physical activity on disease prevention.

Epidemiological Rationale for Topic

Only 19.3 percent of the American population do sports, exercise, and other active leisure activities on a daily basis (Lange, 2021). At the same time, the number of people who suffer from obesity and diabetes mellitus is steadily increasing (Zia et al., 2018). Experts claim that by 2050 more than a quarter of adults in the US will be diabetic (Zia et al., 2018). By 2030, obesity will lead to six million new cases of diabetes and five million new cases of coronary heart disease and stroke (Zia et al., 2018, p. 54). Health promotion is one of the most effective ways to reduce the number of people diagnosed with the aforementioned conditions.

Teaching Plan Criteria

Nursing Diagnosis

Low physical activity provoked by a sedentary lifestyle and evidenced by excessive weight, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and muscular delicacy.

Readiness for Learning

A student is ready for learning when he or she starts thinking about implementing specific changes in lifestyle related to physical activity level. Such a person is highly likely not to know where to start and needs the assistance of a specialist.

Learning Theory to Be Utilized

The teaching applies the humanism learning theory because its focus is directed at the learners, not materials or education methods. This theory suggests that each student should have unique goals and the teachers task is to help the mentees achieve these goals. In our case, every person has personal reasons to increase the daily physical activity rates, and, hence, a nurse should shape education in such a way that it will correspond to the learners purposes.

Goal

Healthy People 2020 project proposes several goals that are appropriate for teaching. The first one is PA-1: Reduce the proportion of adults who engage in no leisure-time physical activity (HealthyPeople.gov). The other two are PA-2: Increase the proportion of adults who meet current Federal physical activity guidelines for aerobic physical activity and for muscle-strengthening activity and PA-3: Increase the proportion of adolescents who meet current Federal physical activity guidelines for aerobic physical activity and for muscle-strengthening activity (HealthyPeople.gov). The rationale for using these HP2020 objectives is that the increase of physical activity levels helps prevent multiple diseases and improve the health status of American citizens.

HP2020 Objectives and Alma Atas Health for All Global Initiatives

The major tenet promoted by Alma Atas Health for All Global Initiatives is that physical well-being is a fundamental human right (WTO, 1978). Therefore, national governments should be concerned with the well-being of the citizens. As it has already been mentioned, the percentage of physically inactive, obese, and diabetic Americans is gradually increasing and the government should tackle this problem. The percentage of Americans with these problems will significantly decrease if the previously mentioned HP2020 objectives are achieved.

Behavioral Objectives, Content, and Strategies/Methods

Creativity

The proposed teaching methods are creative because they are based not on the emotionless delivery of lectures but not encouraging communication between the participants. Furthermore, the learners are forced to investigate their emotions and feelings. Another point contributing to creativity is that the educator uses presentations and interactive maps to visualize the speech.

Planned Evaluation of Objectives

1. The first objective is to decrease the proportion of adults who are not engaged in leisure-time physical activity. This could be measured by the survey of the participants before and after the teaching.
2. The second objective is to increase the proportion of physically active adults. The best way to know whether this objective was achieved is to analyze the lifestyle of adults before and after the teaching.
3. The third objective is to increase the proportion of physically active adolescents. This could be evaluated by comparing the physical activity rates of young people before and after the teaching.

Planned Evaluation of Goal

The overall effectiveness of the teaching plan could be measured by comparing the number of people who began to change their lifestyle after the completion of the course with the number of people who experienced no significant changes in daily physical activity.

Planned Evaluation of Lesson and Teacher

The criteria for lesson evaluation include the level of the audiences engagement and the clarity of new information. The teachers evaluation includes such criteria as competence, openness to questions and suggestions, and learners satisfaction with the classes.

Barriers

The primary barrier arises from the lack of motivation of students to keep on attending classes. To prevent this situation, the teacher should actively involve them from the first lecture and not let them lose interest.

Therapeutic Communication

Communicate therapeutically with patients

The best way to begin the presentation is to introduce yourself and provide the personal story of the transition from an inactive person to an active one. This way, the audience will understand that this goal is achievable. I will interact with the learners, ask questions, and incorporate a few jokes to exhibit active listening. The presentation is tailored so that there is enough time for communication with the audience because this will not let them get bored. The presentation will be concluded with a specific question on the topic to which the audience should find an answer. I will employ such nonverbal communication techniques as eye contact, posture and gestures, and emotions during the presentation.

References

HealthyPeople.gov (n.d.). Physical Activity. Web.

Lange, D. (2021). Physical Activity  Statistics & Facts. Statista.

World Trade Organization [WTO] (1978). Declaration of Alma-Ata. R

Zia, A., Siddiqui, H. U., Mohiuddin, H., & Gul, S. (2018). Leveling-off of declining trend of cardiovascular disease-related mortality in the USA: The challenge to rein in obesity and diabetes epidemic. Cardiovascular Endocrinology and Metabolism, 7(2), 54-55.

The understanding of basic information on Community Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation is essential to people. Basic life support training equips people with knowledge and skill that enable them to act and save lives of those who experience sudden attacks. Stakeholders in the health sector such as health care experts, hospitals and clinical educational centers are putting more emphasis in encouraging people to take basic live support training (CPR training) to be able to save the lives of people who encounter sudden attacks. Majority of patients who experience sudden attacks due to cardiac arrest die because they do not get immediate treatment while waiting for the doctors arrival. Basic Live support Training enables people to offer appropriate treatment at an opportune time and in the process save the lives of those affected. Therefore, this has highly enhanced the importance of basic live support training to people to reduce the mortality rate that occurs due to patients not receiving immediate attention when they suffer cardiac arrests. An international institution such as the Red Cross Society has allowed people to take basic live support training from any authorized organization. New skills to effectively save the lives of people suffering from cardiac arrests have been developed. Encouraging people to understand the benefits they can gain fro CPR training can motivate them to attend these classes. Those individuals who successfully complete First Aid and CPR training are capable of handling any emergency situation more confidently. This is essential as 80% of cardiac arrest cases happen at home and quite often it happens in the presence of a family member or friend. The national survival rate for patients who suffer in cardiac arrests is around 6% only. The life saving intervention of Basic Live Saving Training improves the patients chance of survival (MacDonald, M. (2001).

Aim of Teaching Basic Live Support Training

The main topic for the teaching session is basic live support training to learners. The aim of teaching this topic is to enable the learners to understand the principles of CPR training and adequately develop these skills for teaching high school students to perform Cardiopulmonary resuscitation. According to Saem Medical Student Educators Handbook (2009), see one, do one, teach one method, is the appropriate method for CPR training traditional model. It is also the most likely common technique for procedural instruction. This technique implies that the supervising tutor demonstrates the procedure using proper technique, which is repeated and performed by the student under supervision.

The constructivists theory is inscribed in the teaching session with a focus on student-center learned evident. Young & Paterson (2007), postulates that Locke, Dewey, Kant, and Piaget had constructive views on learning. Constructivism is a theoretical position, as it will be understood here, refers to learning and teaching that is student centered. In this case, the tutor or educator begins with the students experience and together build knowledge, skills, and competencies for professional practice (Bergum, 2003; Demarco, Hayward, & Lynch, 2002; Doane, 2002). This teaching approach moves away from traditional content focused or teaching focused learning. Student centered learning not does provide a new vision for teachers, but also reflects a shift in nursing practice from nurse-centered to client-centered nursing practice (Engebretson & Littleton, 2001).on the basis of constructivists view, a teaching strategy used in the learning session was to elicit learning from prior learning experiences.

Teaching Objectives

At the end of the teaching session, the student will be able to achieve three main objectives which include; identify risks for minimizing risk of accidental deaths, describe the importance of Community Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, and demonstrate and perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).

Teaching Strategies and Rationale

There are a number of simple and effective definitive teaching strategies that can be applied in Community Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation training available to educators. These teaching methods include: one, the lecture and discussion group method. In this method, lecture is used as by the tutor to revise the core material and group discussion provides valuable opportunity to assist in sustaining interest in the lecture. For the lecture to succeed, it must uphold the following key points; consciousness, simplicity, eye contact, variation in speed and volume, and use of personal experience and questioning (Mackway-Tones & Walker, 1999); two, practical skill session, as CPR essentially involves practical skills. Therefore, it is important for the teacher to ensure that any training session is provided with plenty of time for these skills to be taught and effectively practiced. Practical skill session provides learners with the opportunity to learn CPR skills and be able to debate relevant issues (Gaberson, 1999).

There are three important approaches that should be adapted to facilitate effective learning and teaching regardless of the methods used in teaching. These three approaches are: one, set which ensures that the teaching and learning environment that includes lighting, seating arrangement, audiovisual aids and others are adequate for training; two, dialogue which ensures that the content is presented in a clear, logical, and formal manner at a level which the learners can understand easily; three, closure which includes provision of time for question and queries form learners. This provides educators with concise summary that clearly ends the teaching session (McTaggart, 1997)); four, in teaching and Learning, the teacher must be able to understand and apply the basic teaching and learning principles in a teaching setting to be a successful teacher. These principles occur in three learning domains; cognitive, affective and psychomotor (Roberta, 2001). At the end of the teaching session on CPR learners should be able to; one, to check the dangers, hazards, risks, and safety of the patient; two, check the patients responsiveness unconsciousness. Incase the patient is not responding, help should be sought immediately; three, open airway and investigate signs of life; four, give two initial breaths incase the patient is not breathing properly; five, to give thirty chest compressions; last but not least, continue CPR until qualified personnel arrive or signs of life are witnessed (Young, L & Paterson, 2007).

Student Evaluation

The written examination and practical skills evaluations are accomplished at the training site under the supervision of the Basic Live Support instructor through two means of practical test and written test. The practical and written tests involves evaluating the students in three major steps in basic live support; checking for the danger and vital signs, opening the airway, and giving breadths and compressions to ailing patients (White, 1997).

Teacher Self Assessment

This assists the Basic Live support instructor to be able to know that learners have learnt what they have been taught. This can be achieved through; one, looking at the students evaluation and finding out whether the concept was clearly explained; two, finding out if all students understood CPR; three, determine whether all students are able to perform CPR; four, determine whether the learning outcomes were met. Incase the learning outcomes were not met, the instructor should find out why this was not achieved; and finally, the instructor will ask students to determine part of the session that was not clear and assist by providing them with further clarity (Bradshaw, M., & Lowenstein, 2006).

Learning Outcomes

Learning outcomes provide clear statements of what learners are expected to be able to do. On completion of the CPR training, learners should be able to demonstrate resuscitation of a cardiac arrest victim. This ability should be assessed during or at the end of a CPR training program. This is done using simulated incident and resuscitation training.

References

1. Bradshaw, M., 7 Lowenstein, A. (2006). Innovative Teaching Strategies in Nursing and Related Health Profession. London: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
2. Demarco, R., Hayward, L., & Lynch, M. (2002). Nursing Experiences with the Strategic Approaches to Case-Based Instructions: Areplication and Comparison Study between two Disciplines. Journal of Nursing Education, 41, 165-174.
3. Gaberson, K., & Oermann, M. (1999). Clinical Teaching Strategies in Nursing. New York: Nelson Thormes.
4. MacDonald, m. (2001). Systematic Assessment of Learning Outcomes in Nursing. London: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
5. McTaggart, R. (1997). Participatiry Action Research. New York:Sunny Press.
6. Roberta, H. (2001). Community Based Nursing.
7. Saem Medical Students Handbook, (n.d). Saem Undergraduate Education Committee.
8. White, R., & Ewan, C. (1997). Clinical Teaching in Nursing. Nelson Thormes.
9. Young, L & Paterson, B. (2007). Teaching Nursing: Developing a Student-Centered Learning Environment. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.

Introduction

Teaching nurses in clinical settings, although an educational experience, presents challenges that are different from those encountered in the classroom. The latter is specifically evident when the application of clinical practice is required. Accordingly, due to such distinct challenges, the teaching experience, as well as the learning, can be seen as unique. The collaboration between theory and practice is evidenced at its best in such aspects of health care education. Furthermore, the significance of nursing clinical education can be seen through the involvement of the patients in such activities, either as a requirement of the lesson or in the outcome of the activity. In that regard, the term clinical, that is, involving direct observation of the patient (Gaberson & Oermann, 2006, p. 2), is central.

Consequently, in teaching clinical skills, the importance of the context implies certain educational theories to be applied in the process. Although such theories might vary, they share a common characteristic of being student-centered. Student-centered education is designed to develop professional skills, among which are problem-solving, group process and facilitation, and lifelong learning skills (Young & Paterson, 2007, p. 4). One of the theories that underline the student-centered approach is the constructivist theory. The usage of the constructivist theory in the context of nursing education can be seen as an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current or past knowledge (Brandon & All, 2010, p. 89). The benefits of such an approach can be seen in the promotion of students responsibility, improving critical thinking, and encouraging the rapid adaptation to changes in evidence-based practice (Brandon & All, 2010, p. 91).

In light of the aforementioned, the present report provides a personal reflection of a clinical teaching activity that was conducted on the topic of IV medication administration for staff nurses working in accident and emergency departments. With the theoretical foundation of the lesson being based on the constructivist theory, this report provides a literature review on constructivism in education and nursing clinical teaching, providing recommendations on improving future teaching activities, based on the review and the feedback from peers, as attached to this report.

Literature Review

The use of the constructivist theory in lessons is based on several arguments favoring such an approach in the educational context in general, and in nursing education in particular. The constructivist theory contains many theoretical assumptions and principles which are utilized differently in different contexts. In that regard, this section provides a literature review of the theoretical foundation of the constructivist theory and the practices of its application in learning settings, specifically in nursing education.

The roots of the constructivist theory can be traced to the early 18^th century when the first constructivist theory was attributed to Giambattista Vico (Von Glasersfeld, 1989, cited in Tobias & Duffy, 2009, p. 3). It was later in the last century when the works of such authors as Vygotsky, Dewey, Piaget, and Bruner not only revived interest in constructivism but its applicability was also investigated in various educational contexts (Tobias & Duffy, 2009, p. 3). Nevertheless, an essential element that was not changed, which is the emphasis on the how and doing, which is traced to one of Vicos basic ideas that epistemic agents can know nothing but the cognitive structures they put together& to know means to know how to make (Tobias & Duffy, 2009, p. 3).

Thus, it can be stated that the suitability of constructivism as a teaching method is based on the fact of involvement, which requires three essential elements, the learner, as an active participant of knowledge construction; the context; and the instructor, the one providing students with the opportunities to construct the knowledge (Young & Paterson, 2007, p. 5). As opposed to the traditional transmission model of learning, on which much of the current education is based, the constructivist theory is not a transmission of fixed facts and ideas, but a creation of knowledge through a transformation of experience (Kolb & Kolb, 2005, p. 194).

The participation of the students in the process adds another essential element to the process, which is the knowledge that the students have. Accordingly, constructivism seeks to focus on the relationship between the taught material and the knowledge that the students possess (Young & Paterson, 2007, p. 9). By linking the application of the theory in the nursing educational context, there were many prerequisites for a change of the traditional educational model of teaching, an aspect which can be seen through reports from the National Research Council, the American Psychological Association (1997), and several other scholars (Baxter-Magolda, 1999; Boyatzis, Cowen, & Kolb 1995; Keeton, Sheckley, & Griggs, 2002; King, 2003; Light, 2001; Mentkowski and Associates, 2000; Zull 2002; cited in Kolb & Kolb, 2005, p. 193). It can be stated that the application of the constructivist theory lies in its main principles, that is, participation, previous knowledge, and construction instead of a transmission. Transforming the latter into a clinical setting implies the minimization of the lecture material and the increase of active student-centered approaches, which turn students into active participants of the learning process rather than passive recipients of information (Brandon & All, 2010, p. 91).

The Teaching Session

The selection of the constructivist theory in my learning activity was facilitated by the nature of the topic, intravenous medication. This topic implies practical skills as well as theoretical knowledge. Accordingly, the topic relies heavily on the setting, the context, and the nursing students experience, the reliance on which is a characteristic of the constructivist theory. In that regard, following the notion that one has to experience the world to know it, the action emphasis in the activity confirmed the action-based nature of knowledge emphasized in the constructivist approaches in education (Moss, Grealish, & Lake, p. 328). The aims of the lesson corresponding to the action-based nature of the knowledge the students were to receive, which can be seen through the following skills that were to be learned:

• Determining the right dosage;
• Preparing IV medication;
• Administering the IV medication;
• Learning the methods, precautions, and complications; and
• Handling complications.

With the aforementioned objectives, the lesson was problem-oriented, with all the objectives, activities, and learning processes being connected to a larger problem defined by the tutor (Young & Paterson, 2007, p. 248). In that regard, the problem designed for the class can be seen in the common clinical task of administering the medication for patients. Such a task consequently led to smaller sub-problems, derived from the main problem in the lesson, that is, the dosage, the precautions, methods, complications, etc. In this way, the lesson is problem-oriented where the instructional principles are based on constructivist propositions, such as connecting learning activities to the problem, guiding and supporting the learner, designing the problem situation, and providing the opportunities for the learners to take ownership of the process (Young & Paterson, 2007, p. 248).

Another aspect of the constructivist theory is my role as a facilitator in this learning process. Facilitation is defined as enabling of making things easier for others& through a goal-oriented dynamic process in which participants work together in an atmosphere of genuine mutual respect, to learn through critical reflection (Young & Paterson, 2007, p. 250). My role as a facilitator was to emphasize collaborative work in which the utilization of the students previous knowledge has a larger scope, assuming pre-existing differences in such knowledge due to different academic performance.

The literature addresses many of the advantages and the implementations of collaborative approaches in learning in several teaching models which were mostly connected to constructivism. Among such examples is the case described in Bruce et al. (2001, cited in Rose & Best, 2005) where the students in the described program were placed in pairs, with clinicians and learners having modified roles, the role of guidance for the clinician, and the role of learner/practitioner and facilitator for the students. The case showed generally positive results, although the perceptions varied between clinicians and learners, mainly regarding the perceived differences between students (Rose & Best, 2005, p. 234). Thus, working with groups provides several advantages among which are the extension of learning opportunities, reduced anxiety, engagement, and shared self-reflection. For tutors, such advantages include efficiency in planning and the ability to manage a greater clinical workload. Among the indirect positive outcomes, the development of communication skills, interpersonal relationships, and collaboration with others can be attributed to the implementation of such an approach.

In terms of addressing the differences in learners ability, Rogers (1989, cited in Banning, 2005), the variation of the pace of teaching is outlined as a way of meeting the learning needs of all students. The latter, however, requires constant contact with the group of learners, where the teacher needs to explore who the students are in the group, set out the housekeeping rules such as maintaining a positive regard for all members of the group, listening to contributions offered by group members and discuss the objectives of the course (Banning, 2005, p. 504). However, such an approach might be difficult to implement in single learning sessions without an assessment of the academic performance of the students or at least a general acquaintance with them.

An essential element of the feedback provided for the teaching lesson (see Appendix 1) was related to what I experienced as a lack of feedback, namely regarding questions on the topic covered. That is, the strategy of the lesson sometimes shifted to the transmission model, with minimal tutor-learner collaboration. This aspect might be attributed to personal and professional characteristics as well as the type and degree of expertise of the tutor. Without going so far as to distinguish negative and positive characteristics of tutors, I should emphasize two desirable qualities mentioned in literature which are related to clinical expertise and student-teacher interactions (Young & Paterson, 2007, p. 255). The student-teacher interaction might be emphasized where, despite being an area in which two sides are implied, it falls within the tutors responsibility. This can be related to the area of ineffectiveness, described by Rideout (1999, cited in Young & Paterson, 2007), as the lack of sufficient engagement with students and not dealing with issues of group process (p. 256).

Accordingly, the inception of other methods during the learning was investigated by researchers, improving the engagement in the process. In Baumberger-Henry (2005), the combination of the cooperative approach and the case study method was investigated in terms of the effectiveness in problem-solving and decision-making skills. Although such a combination did not show significant differences, possibly due to the study being limited to assessing the outcome through the students self-perception, this approach might be recommended mainly due to the positive characteristics of the case study method. Case studies are used in nursing learning contexts to expose nursing students to a variety of clinical situations where decisions can be creatively controlled and designed without causing potential harm to the patient (Baumberger-Henry, 2005, p. 239).

The applicability of this approach in the teaching activity performed can be seen in two dimensions. On the one hand, the topic of the lesson implies clinical situations and what-if scenarios, e.g. dosages, precautions, and complications. On the other hand, the combination of the case study method with collaborative learning, all within the framework of the constructivist theory, might increase the interest of the student and encourage them to ask questions. The latter accordingly increases feedback from the students, with the students questions assisting in expanding on the topic. Adding other theories in the mix does not contradict the learning principles of constructivism, as [i]t provides a general approach that can incorporate many other theories and approaches (Rose & Best, 2005, p. 138). The utilization of the problem-based strategy in the conducted lesson is a good example in that matter, where the problem presented in the lesson and its context helped guide me through the lesson. Moreover, the incorporation of another method, namely the case study, might help set the appropriate level of guidance, which has been one of the concerns of education researchers of conservatism (Tobias & Duffy, 2009, p. 224).

Recommendations

A revision of the theories and strategies implemented during the teaching sessions as well as the frameworks discussed in the literature highlight the emergent aspects to consider in the future. The next section outlines the recommendations that emerged during this reflection, mentioning the aspects that can be improved on.

The first recommendation is related to the encouragement of learner feedback. As noted in the review, the tutors failure to maintain the appropriate level of guidance can be seen as a deficiency in the use of the constructivist theory in general, and the lesson that I conducted in particular. Thus, developing a case study scenario can be recommended in the future, which will guide the pace of the lesson and might help the students relate more to the problem through the interaction within real-life situations (Baumberger-Henry, 2005). Additionally, in terms of raising the awareness of the learner, case studies might be suitable through their requirements for intense examination, reflection, and assessment of the case content (Kala, Isaramalai, & Pohthong, p. 64). Therefore, my role as an educator will be to create quality learning material with appropriate cases that are relevant to the topic of the lesson.

The second recommendation is related to the practical aspect of the lesson. Despite covering practical elements of clinical learning, the students involvement was mostly theoretical. With one of the arguments for learning clinical skills being the enhancement of these skills as well as gaining practice (Tucker et al., 2003), it is recommended to utilize the setting for more on-field involvement from the students side. Context-based interactions would motivate the students more if they were allowed to apply the practical item being taught, which in this context can be seen as a conflict between the learners goals and the previous lesson. If the aims of the lessons were explained, the aims of students and the drivers for their motivation to learn clinical skills would be related to their ability to apply these skills and be confident while doing so. This should therefore be addressed in future lessons, both in the lesson plan and in matching the aims of the lesson with the students expectations.

The aforementioned recommendation can be extended to include a suitable assessment measure, based on which the learners performance can be evaluated. Hence, a suitable assessment tool should be developed and seamlessly integrated into the lesson to measure the students performance in their application of the practical skills as well as their knowledge of theoretical aspects. The significance of suitable assessment can be seen through the link between learning outcomes and the competence of future health practitioners in service provision, safety and reduction of malpractice/litigation (Bradshaw & Lowenstein, 2007, p. 540). The method recommended here, in addition to the written strategies implemented in the lesson, is to use self-assessment techniques through such means as open discussions on performance, description of the students perception, and their self-evaluation of what they learned during the lesson (Gaberson & Oermann, 2006, p. 72).

The last recommendation is mainly related to personal aspects of my teaching method which might prove crucial in evaluating the lesson that I conducted. These aspects are self-confidence, eye contact while teaching, and variations in the voice. Improving these aspects will be reflected through the learning experience and translated into the students level of confidence and trust shared with the tutor. It is therefore recommended to practice the lesson individually and beforehand to make any necessary adjustments to the personal style of teaching. It can be assumed that it would be difficult to practice the whole lesson, although it is possible to draft an outline and practice my communication skills in some parts of it.

Conclusion

To sum up, the teaching experience was generally positive, although minor issues might be outlined. The review conducted in this paper provided a review of the theories of constructivism in education, the problem-based approach, and the case study approach. The strategy chosen in the lesson conformed to the problem-based approach and the principles of constructivism. Despite several unsatisfactory points, I can state that the experience was beneficial, thus setting the directions and the guidelines for future teaching activities. The main points that should be focused on are related to the issue of increasing the students involvement and increasing opportunities for their feedback during the lesson. The set of recommendations provided in this reflection outlined areas such as combining teaching strategies, increasing the students practical involvement, assessment, and practicing communication skills.

References

Banning, M. (2005). Approaches to teaching: Current opinions and related research. Nurse Education Today, 25(7), 502-508.

Baumberger-Henry, M. (2005). Cooperative learning and case study: does the combination improve students perception of problem-solving and decision making skills? Nurse Education Today, 25(3), 238-246.

Bradshaw, M. J., & Lowenstein, A. J. (2007). Innovative teaching strategies in nursing and related health professions (4^th ed.). Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Brandon, A. F., & All, A. C. (2010). Constructivism Theory Analysis and Application to Curricula. Nursing Education Perspectives, 31(2), 89-92.

Gaberson, K. B., & Oermann, M. H. (2006). Clinical teaching strategies in nursing (2^nd ed.). New York: Springer Pub.

Kala, S., Isaramalai, S.-A., & Pohthong, A. (2010). Electronic learning and constructivism: A model for nursing education. Nurse Education Today, 30(1), 61-66.

Kolb, A. Y., & Kolb, D. A. (2005). Learning Styles and Learning Spaces: Enhancing Experiential Learning in Higher Education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 4(2), 193-212.

Moss, C., Grealish, L., & Lake, S. (2010). Valuing the gap: A dialectic between theory and practice in graduate nursing education from a constructive educational approach. Nurse Education Today, 30(4), 327-332.

Rose, M., & Best, D. (2005). Transforming practice through clinical education, professional supervision, and mentoring. Edinburgh: New York: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone.

Tobias, S., & Duffy, T. M. (2009). Constructivist instruction: success or failure? New York: Routledge.

Tucker, K., Wakefield, A., Boggis, C., Lawson, M., Roberts, T., & Gooch, J. (2003). Learning together: clinical skills teaching for medical and nursing students. Medical Education (37), 630-637.

Young, L. E., & Paterson, B. L. (2007). Teaching nursing: developing a student-centered learning environment. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Fostering a free one on one interaction between experienced teachers and the new teachers amicably helps in quick masterly of the key roles and professional expectations. Mentoring as a strategy for new teachers induction, works perfectly when the mentors are well acquainted with the knowledge pertaining to the responsibilities and roles expected of them. The mentors main responsibility involves helping new teachers in their survival as opposed to continuous professional learning aimed at fostering effectiveness in teaching.

Therefore, mentoring forms a component of induction and not the vice versa. A combination of mentoring and other components vital for induction process are used alongside in many new teachers orientation programs. For teachers to succeed in the new profession, they normally need a lot: not just jobs. They desire to make differences in their profession. They are thirsty to realize success through experience and the establishment of their recognition. Mentors awareness of such desires is of paramount importance.

During the mentoring sessions, such desires feature frequently. Learning possibilities increase whenever the learners realize that the topics they seem eager to hear the teacher address them have a priority allocated to them. Well-experienced personnel administer the mentoring task and further acting as trainers in other induction components. New teachers consequently uphold the need for working hard on the strategies proposed by the mentors to become effective just like them.

For example, in Maryland in the county of Prince Georges, mentors spend a 40-hour training session about the missions and goals in the mentoring province. The example exemplifies magnificence in knowledge wealth requirement for a mentor, which with no doubt will ultimately find its way to the inductees.

Since mentoring entails one on one exchange of teaching expertise, it enables the new teachers to translate anxiety to confidence. Essentially, enormous confidence is required to guarantee success of the other induction strategies. Mentoring requires fewer resources compared to comprehensive induction and has the capacity to respond to anything that might arise. Thus, it forms a crucial strategy in the induction process.

The model of induction comprises three aspects: mentoring, comprehensive induction and professional developments. As priory discussed, mentoring constitutes a part of the induction process. Transition between college environment and practical work environment is crucial. Comprehensive induction provides mechanism that facilitates such a noble task. In the work environment, storms exist that tend to lift the newly hired professionals off the ground and therefore they need to be strongly anchored.

Personal, motivators of the profession such as satisfaction, achievement of the anticipated results: Excellence of students and hiked hopes of probabilities in retention in the job demands several glances. Enhancement of Proper information flow provides one of the crucial strategies to ensure the newly hired teachers reduce work related stress considerably. Once contract signing takes place, orientation into the profession follows. The process of orientation encompasses many activities taking place possibly in different venues.

The new teacher, not only needs adequate information on schedules of the activities but also prompt invitations. During the orientations, it seems vital to inculcate the spirit of group work by involving the new teachers in social forums especially during the first few days after which, subdivision of the social groups permit the teachers to meet their mentors individually.

The last element in the induction process entails professional development of which comprehensive induction constitutes one of its key elements. This phase borrows majority of its help from support seminars. The support seminars ensure that the teachers do continue to master aspects of the profession after having taken up their duties since virtually not everything obtains attention during the orientation period.

To monitor the level to which new teachers have embraced the induction programs, reflective reports preparation are necessary. During the mentoring and comprehensive induction phases, the new teachers prepare reflective learning logs. The logs provide room for entry of date and venue of meeting, the lessons learnt and the perceived benefit of the lesson to the student. At the end of the log, signature of the appropriate induction personnel is appended satisfying that.

The Board of Governors confirms, on the recommendation of the Principal and in the light of a satisfactory report on induction which meets the criteria for the completion of the induction described in the Teacher Education Partnership Handbook that has completed the induction stage of teacher education, and may begin an early professional development (Breaux & Wong, 2003, p.94).

In the professional development phase, new teachers prepare reports featuring descriptions of their experience with regard to the needs of the students in comparison to the priorities set out by the teachers.

In the report, the teaching strategies adopted by the teacher to achieve the goals of the lessons are indicated followed by a personal evaluation satisfying whether goals were actually achieved. Where the goals seem unattained, the teachers indicate the areas where improvement needs to take place. Upon gathering the information, the observers allocated to the inductees scrutinize it thoroughly thereby giving recommendations.

Reference

Breaux, A., & Wong, H. (2003). New Teacher Induction: How to Train, Support and Retain New Teachers. Mountain View, CA: Harry K. Wong Publications.

Teaching Practice Choice

There are seven main teaching practices that may define the guidance approach and set the foundation for encouraging classrooms (Gartrell, 2013, p.118). Each has its purposes, peculiarities, and impacts on child development. The current paper aims at discussing the worth of building positive teacher-child relations. This teaching practice is based on the role a teacher performs. Early childhood teachers are the next people after parents, who start cooperating with children and playing an important role in their lives.

It is very important to create positive, successful relations and consider that this type of relations should differ from the already developed personal parent-child relations. Building positive teacher-child relations promotes the facilitation of the childs transition between private family life and public kindergarten life. Children may face a number of challenges adjusting to public life, and positively-developed relations with teachers can make this process easier.

This is the list of teacher behaviors that are necessary to implement the chosen practice. Any teacher should:

• Accept each child as a welcome part of the group;
• Develop high-quality relations but not sincerely love every child;
• Promote face-to-face interactions with a child;
• Use a calm, pleasant voice in communication with children;
• Encourage children for efforts;
• Stay firm but friendly;
• Offer responsive contact with each child.

A Concept Map

A Birth-Pre-K Classroom Teachers Observations

Mr. Carly and Mrs. Olly are the two teachers, chosen for the observation in a birth-pre-K classroom. Their experience differs in 10 years; but, their approaches amaze and prove how crucial the roles of teachers are.

Mr. Carly (due to her little experience) is not always ready to find the most appropriate techniques, and her ideas are new and interesting. Mrs. Olly works longer with children, and she knows how to calm children down and occupy them within a short period of time. The results of the observations are introduced in a concept map above.

Explanations

Correlation between teachers classroom management practices and the selected guidance approach teaching practice

The selected teaching practice, to build positive teacher-child relation, is a good example of how teachers are able to assist little children with their first public practices. Classroom management is a combination of such issues as respect, motivation, and order (Rose, 2010). It has to be properly introduced to support children and show them how important their well-being can be.

If one of the above-mentioned aspects is missed, the success of the positive teacher-child relation is under threat. The behaviors inherent to the chosen practice (stay firm, friendly, and calm, talk to children and mind eye-contact, and acknowledge each childs achievement) are the basic rules pre-K teachers should follow. This is why the correlation between management in the classroom and the considered practice is evident  it is difficult to organize a workshop in classrooms without properly organized (positive) teacher-child relations.

Evidence related to teaching behaviors

Observations chosen for the projects prove how important teaching behaviors can be. The difference in the professional experience of two teachers shows that the creation of positive relations between teachers and children may be organized in a variety of ways. Still, there are certain norms that have to be followed. For example, the cardinal principle that implies face-to-face contact may be in the form of waving, winking, hugging, etc.

A teacher is free to decide how to show a child that he/she notices the childs presence; the only outcome that matters is that a child feels the teachers emotions about their meeting. Another example of teaching behaviors is an acknowledgment of the childs achievements.

Teachers may use different methods to appreciate childrens activities: e.g., it is possible to create a special place with photos of childrens achievements, or encourage them orally, or give some presents (in other words, children should know that their activities are noticed and rewarded). These behaviors and examples promote building positive teacher-child relations and help children to get used to public relations.

Relationship between the guidance approach teaching practice and the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct

The main principles of the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct are to appreciate a childs uniqueness, respect childrens dignity, and support child-family relations in all possible forms (Code of Ethical Conduct, 2005). The Code teaches to recognize trust and respect as the main factors of childhood care.

The guidance approach teaching practice chosen for the project has much in common with the Code, the only difference is that the Code presupposes trust in relations, and the practice shows that there are many ways to overcome trustful relations but make them positive for children and teachers.

It is not always necessary, to tell the truth, because little children are not always able to comprehend the truth and learn the peculiarities of trust. Still, children are always ready to recognize whether teachers have a positive mood or not. This is why the recognition of the relation between the Code and the practice helps to develop appropriate classroom management: teachers know how to behave, show their respect to children, and provide children with the necessary portion of support and understanding.

Reference List

Code of ethical conduct and statements of commitment. (2005). National Association for the Education of Young Children. Web.

Gartrell, D. (2013). A guidance approach for the encouraging classroom. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.

Rose, E. (2010). The promise of preschool: From head start to universal pre-kindergarten. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Abstrsact

The aim of the study is to examine the extent and rationale of engagement dissimilarities understood across classes in assorted big school. Further, the paper utilizes a sample of 120 scholars in coming up with the diverse types of instruction practices used to measure the students engagement.

The study identifies connective instruction and academic rigors as well as lively teaching as the major types of teaching practices that are closely associated with students engagement. Besides, the study employs in-depth interviews, self-administered surveys along with observations to examine the connections existing between the teaching practices and the students engagements.

Introduction

Focused behaviors, emotions along with cognitions are considered critical aspects through which active state of response to class are achieved. In essence, classroom engagement encompasses behavioral, cognitive and emotional engagements. To begin with, behavioral engagement encompasses the magnitude of students behaviors in class regarding listening, participation, doing assignments as well as adherence to instructions (Turner, Christensen, Kackar-Cam, Trucano & Fulmer, 2014).

On the other hand, cognitive engagement denotes the scope at which students utilize mental capacities to think about instruction substances, understand firsthand materials as well as tackle intellectual encounters. Lastly, the scope of positive sensations developed by students towards class utilizes emotional engagement. For example, feeling relaxed, wanting to excel and reveling in lessons involve emotional engagement.

The occurrence of behavioral, cognitive and emotional engagements is concerted effort amongst the dimensions of engagement. In other words, for the engagement dimensions to operate effectively, collaboration as well as constitution of all-inclusive classroom engagement experience is essential (Cooper, 2014).

Theorists postulate that the levels of emotional engagement are higher among adolescents because in such epoch, the scope of venture and indulgence in engagements and interactions, which affect individuality, is augmented (Cooper, 2014). In fact, practices involving the incorporation of accomplishments, letdowns, lifestyles, delights, customs and desecrations along with fulfillments, characterize the period in the definition of distinctiveness.

Indeed, available evidence puts forward that relations and interrelationships that occur between teachers, adolescents and peers are significant definers of individuals self-worth as well as identity. Additionally, studies contend that there is a positive connection between individuality progress and engagement in teenagers.

Actually, teaching practices are critical in enhancing the scope of exchanges among students in a number of ways. Principally, teaching practices enable teachers to be acquainted with various forms of engagement and encourage students through offering students with the prospects of developing aptitudes as well as learn from slip-ups.

Statement of the Problem

Core to the development of individual distinctiveness among big school students is engagement. In this regard, the application of teaching practices, which significantly contributes to the development of students uniqueness, is necessary. In fact, active engagement is critical for success in learning within the school environment.

Essentially, engagement of adolescents incorporates positive academic outcomes in school, compassionate teachers and peers along with inspiring and realistic tasks. Actually, the concept of engagement applies the significance of participation in academic and extracurricular activities. In reality, involvement in class activities is fundamental for success in academics. Besides, engagement involves sensations that adolescents portray towards teachers, classmates, academics and school.

Such reactions are invaluable in enhancing links between school and the abilities concerning handling challenging tasks. Moreover, involvement also integrates thoughtfulness in understanding and grasping multifaceted concepts and challenging expertise. Based on the levels of engagement, teachers play critical roles in offering support and assistances to students in class.

Undeniably, teachers are capable of applying various approaches, which center on the content and abilities to be imparted and learnt respectively. Besides, teaching also engages students. Indeed, teachers often utilize diverse teaching approaches to engage students in class. In other words, the use of connective instruction, academic rigor and lively teaching practices play critical roles in bringing about engagement.

Actually, the combination of teaching methods and connective instructions enhances the teachers engagements with the students. For instance, through connective instruction, personal contact to the subject matter is enhanced among students. Such connections are significant in aiding the students to grasp the weight of academic content regarding lives, beliefs along with prospects. Besides, personal connections are vital in validating the thoughtfulness of students. Moreover, praise, written feedbacks and prospects for achievements are some of the ways through which personal connection offers affirmation to students.

Regarding academic rigor, the teachers emphasize on the hard work and academic success, passing the desired content in addition to the delivery of thought-provoking work. On lively teaching, teachers often embrace the use of games and fun activities, working in complaisant clusters and conveying project works as replacements to the monotonous discourses and low-involvement videos. In reality, the integration of teaching practices is connected to student engagement and identity development.

Whether connective instructions, academic rigor and lively teaching are connected to engagement is still a matter under study. While most researches that have been conducted in the area indicate positive and closer relationships of the variables, the degree in which the teaching practices affect students engagement particularly in big schools have not been exhausted. Therefore, this study will tend to examine the degree in which the teaching practices relate to engagement.

Operational Definitions

Engagement refers to the students commitment to teachers instructions and other learning processes. In other words, students engagement is the level of concentration in classwork as well as other leaning activities.

Big school in this study refers to schools above the elementary levels. In this study, big school encompasses schools with students in 9^th to 12^th grade. In other words, schools with grades ranging from ninth to twelfth grades are considered big school.

Connective instructions refer to teaching as well as the manner in which learning processes are undertaken. In other words, connective instruction is the process through which learning is imparted in classrooms.

Methodology

The Study Design and Procedures

The study utilized both survey and interview methods of data collection. The survey and interview methods of data collection are chosen due to their effectiveness in reaching out to the respondents and the quality of the obtained data. The desired data for this novel study were obtained through administering self-designed survey and interview questionnaires. Moreover, the data were gathered from respondents selected through random sampling procedures. In other words, the empirical data were collected within the specified number of participants, which constituted 70 students and 50 teachers.

In other words, the number of participants was limited to 120 respondents chosen through simple random sampling procedures. Besides, in terms of data analysis, integrated statistical analysis tools including Microsoft office applications and statistical software were applied. The analyzed data would be presented through the application of line graphs, tables as well as statistical bar charts. Further, the methods of data collection were chosen due to the reliability and validity of the obtained results.

Data perceived to be containing the relevant research information for the study were acquired from the primary sources. In fact, as a qualitative study that involves self-administration of research questionnaires, the pertinent primary data that included the students engagement in class were gathered via self-administration of the survey questionnaires, conducting structured in-depth interviews to the chosen employees, and through observation.

In essence, a comprehensive exploration instruments were developed besides being satisfactorily tested prior to embarking on the actual students engagement research study. In other words, after consultation with the supervisor, questionnaires were developed and only the selected as well as amended items that addressed the study questions and objectives were included.

Population and Research Sample

In this particular study, all the students and teachers were deemed viable when carrying out the research. However, the population consisted of only a few selected students as well as teachers. From the total number of students and teachers that could have been used in the study, just 120 respondents including 70 students and 50 teachers were selected via a technique dubbed as convenience sampling strategy. The research questionnaires were administered to help in addressing the formulated research questions.

However, for this study, the proposed sample size comprised of 120 participants mainly students grouped according to their class levels. The groupings consisted of seven class levels each represented by ten students randomly picked from the main classes. However, the teachers were not categorized since teachers are involved in all classes and could easily determine the engagement levels among the students. All the participants were interviewed to help the researcher obtain the study qualitative data.

Instrumentation

As one of the most critical studies in the field of education, the required information concerning the students engagements in classrooms were collected through administering properly designed research questionnaires, observations alongside conducting well-structured in-depth interviews to the randomly selected participants. As indicated, the soundly designed research questionnaires were administered to 120 participants consisting of students and teachers. Each part of the questionnaire constituted of key items that suitably attended to the research questions.

For instance, part one constituted of the reasons behind lack of engagement and active participations in classrooms while part two elicited on the challenges students face while in class. On the other hand, the teachers questionnaires consisted of items that tended to challenge the students views. Some items in the questionnaire threw light on the best teaching practices, training policies as well as the impact attached to such teaching practices.

The questionnaires were made of both open and closed ended research questions and were believed to be of great significance to the research particularly during the data analysis. Minor research tools namely direct observations and occasional conversation were also used to collect primary data. Different scales were however applied in the survey questionnaire during data collection to ensure reliability and validity of some research questions.

For example, ordinary scales were applicable in various research questions given that most questions measured knowledge, feelings and experience. In contrast, the scale reliability was made certain via repeatability and internal consistency concepts. This implies that the questionnaires comprised of different questions asking about the same thing yet in a very different way. Finally, split half techniques were applied to attain internal consistency.

Results

Various classroom engagement practices were examined among students and teachers including the connective instructions, academic rigor and lively teaching. As indicated in prior researches and according to the expectations, the classroom engagement practices were found to positively correlate with increased engagement in all the class levels.

However, the degree of engagement increases with higher-class levels. In other words, large number of students in lower class levels were least influenced by the teaching practices. Besides, it was hypothesized that connective instruction practices, which are individualistic in nature, would play a greater role in influencing students engagement given the fact that the learners are in adolescent and identity is significant in their development at this stage.

Essentially, as anticipated, all the teaching practices examined were found to have significant correlation with classroom engagement as well as with each other. In fact, the teachers perception had the strongest correlation while the challenging work had the least correlation. The study findings are in accordance with the previous study findings indicating that teaching practices such as care and understandings are highly related to classroom engagement.

The study findings also indicated that challenging work, games and fun activities have reduced correlation with students engagement respectively. Generally, the mixtures of connective instructions, academic rigor and lively teaching were found to have significant correlation with engagement respectively.

The other assumption of the study is that class levels and differences in teaching cause the variations in students engagement. In fact, the hypothesis was found to be true given the fact that differences in classroom engagement depended significantly on the class levels. However, other factors such as differences across students were also found to significantly influence engagement. In terms of class levels, the 11^th and 12^th grade students were found to be highly engaged compared with 9^th and 10^th grade students. Besides, students at higher-class levels also recorded increased levels of connective instructions compared with other grade levels.

Limitations of the Study

Given the kind of study to be carried out, the stipulated timeframe might hinder the full investigation and covering of all the students class engagement parameters. Moreover, most of the students engagement parameters included in the study is not easily measured since such variables are non-quantifiable.

The limitations were anticipated to pose considerable threats when the gathered research data will be evaluated and consequently analysed. Besides, regardless of the fact that the chosen sample size of 120 students and teachers materialise to be exceptionally small given the type of research study to be carried out, the constraints such as the available financial resources and the planned timeframe makes it completely necessary to confine the study selected sample to the precisely specified size.

Discussion

According to the prior researches, various classroom engagement practices including the connective instructions, academic rigor and lively teaching have been found to significantly influence the students classroom engagement (Turner et al., 2014). Besides, the study was based on the assumption that connective instructions, academic rigor and lively teaching would have significant influence on the students engagement in classrooms. In fact, the study has confirmed the expectations.

The study findings send strong signals to the practitioners on the manner in which students should be engaged and get involved in classrooms (Cooper, 2014). The findings of the study also indicated that the classroom engagement increases with class levels. The implication is that the students engagements depended on the seniority and age. The expectations of the students by teachers as well as other stakeholders including parents play a critical role in shaping the concentration levels.

Besides, the study hypothesized that connective instruction practice, which are individualistic in nature, would play a greater role in influencing students engagement given the fact that the learners are in adolescent and identity is significant in their development at this stage. The findings on the parameter confirm the importance of age factor in determining the students classroom engagement.

The teaching practices used in class engagement encompass lively teaching, academic rigor as well as connective instruction. In fact, lively teaching involves the emphasis on vigorous delivery of instruction. Lively teaching incorporates the utilization of games and fun activities, group works and project coursework (Cooper, 2014).

In this regard, students are capable of trying novel concepts along with developing deeper insights concerning the program of study. On academic rigor, teaching is anchored on the educational measurements of a class. In other words, cognizance and focus form the basis of the learners tasks and learning surroundings. The delivery of challenging work and asserting students via academic press along with conveying passion content are the foundations on which academic rigor is laid. In fact, academic rigor focuses on hard work and academic achievement.

Concerning connective instruction, teachers often utilize evocative associations through enhancing individual connections among students to class. Undeniably, connective instruction creates a surrounding where teachers and students have personal connection to learning involvement and class matters (Turner et al., 2014). Generally, the teaching tools are significant aspects that aid in stimulating student engagements thereby booting out anxiety in puzzling courses as well as satisfying the responsive emptiness in reduced connective modules.

In terms of teachings practices, teachers should have positive perception towards the students in order to increase their engagement in class. In fact, most studies have identified teachers perception to have a significant influence on classroom engagement. While students may differ depending on individual characteristics, teachers should have a general positive view towards the students.

The positive view would boost their morale and self-esteem, which is critical in enhancing the students concentration in class. However, teachers should not ignore the importance of other factors in teaching practices including curricular activities. Generally, the mixtures of connective instructions, academic rigor and lively teaching are significant in enhancing the students engagement in class.

Conclusion

Classroom engagement remains critical in the academic success of students. As such, enhancing engagement among students cannot wholly depend on eccentric teaching methods. Besides, increased understanding of the manner in which various teaching practices influences students engagement enables practitioners to start modifying classes that would result in increased commitment among the students.

In fact, this study has classified and shown the manner in which various teaching practices influences the students classroom engagement. In addition, the study findings explain why the study is relevant to the education practitioners. Generally, this study supports various notions of connective instructions as one of the most valid strategy for enhancing classroom engagement. Therefore, the study findings can be applied in counselling psychology.

While the study has attained its current purpose, it is very limited in terms of scope design and resources. In fact, the anticipation of this study is that it should inform further research. Therefore, further studies should increase the scope of the study to make the results have reliable and valid conclusions. In addition, the study is limited to only few participants. In other words, increased number of participants selected from various areas and social classes need to be studied in order to come up with valid and reliable conclusion.

References

Cooper, K. (2014). Eliciting engagement in the High school classroom: A mix-methods examination of teaching practices. American Educational Research Journal, 51(2), 363-402.

Turner, J. C., Christensen, A., Kackar-Cam, H. Z., Trucano, M. & Fulmer, S. M. (2014). Enhancing students engagement: report of a 3-year intervention with middle school teachers. American Educational Research Journal, 3(2), 372-423.

I have gained a lot of knowledge as I participated in this course. From the beginning of this course, I have slowly gained an understanding of what is involved in research and the importance of becoming a research practitioner in the field of education.

In the first week, we learned to distinguish researches that are usually done in the classroom using TPRI (Texas Primary Reading Inventory) and PLCs so that we could come up with a plan as a group. A comparison of the two approaches reveals that TPRI is more responsive to discoveries that we make than PLC (Richardson, 2000).

As we moved to the lessons of weeks two and three, it became clear that it is always essential to narrow down your research question to avoid running into trouble. There are eight factors that a teacher needs to consider before deciding to do a research project. This includes the following; the learners, curriculum, knowledge content, teaching strategies, beliefs, professional identity, society, and research context (Dana and Yendol-Hoppey, 2009). These factors are the ones that make the characteristics of research and helps us develop the question for research.

In the weeks that followed, we began our research projects, and it is then that I realized the importance of narrowing down a research question and the relevance of reading the previous journals of research as a guide to doing it for the benefit of the project (Dana, Yendol-Hoppey, 2009). Finding the relevant materials for the study is quite a difficult task because it takes time and involves energy use. When you collect the past journals and use them as a guide to your research, you will be able to develop the proper action plan that will address your research question. The literature will also add credibility to the project being planned (Dana, Yendol-Hoppey, 2009)

While exploring the research done by May, I found out that several things should have been changed. First, her research question should have been narrowed down to include strategies to use in the project. This would help to support the outcome of the project (Dana and Yendol-Hoppey, 2009).

It is always essential to create an action plan that quickly narrows down the research question and has more questions than the original plan. Action research is an ongoing cycle, where one question leads to another and gives strength to the initial problem. It is through this approach that teachers gain knowledge to become better teachers than they were before for the benefit of the learners (Rust, F. and Clark, 2008).

The next item I want to address is the way she collected her data. I think she should have collected data herself instead of letting the students collect. I would still have used the student as my research assistant, but I would take the responsibility of recording people who were causing disruptions and the exact time they were happening. I believe the teacher should have done this as part of her job. She should have been taking notes and recording them in her wandering journal (Rust and Clark, 2009).

It is important to note that action research is about how teachers can provide the right learning environment for learners. To provide a learning experience that both the teacher and learner are involved, the teacher needs to include action research to help find out what is working out and what is not during the schools calendar year. Students copy behaviors from adults; hence, we as teachers need to be good role models for them. We should always incorporate students into our plans. Most students would feel good to be part of something big. It is also beneficial to them because they learn to conduct their own research, which an essential skill they should have.

Lastly, the information gotten should be shared with other educators. The project is not complete unless you share the information you have collected with other educators (Dana and Yendol-Hoppey, 2009). The information gathered is vital because if it is shared, it can bring positive changes in the school and the entire district.

Plan to use a PowerPoint presentation to present your findings to your colleagues in a professional development session. The benefit of sharing information is the outcomes that you would get from other professionals. When you work with your colleagues, you can initiate positive changes in school (Riel, 2010).

From this course, I have learned how to conduct a research project and the importance of teacher participation in the research. Research is a systematic and reflective study of our actions in the classroom (Riel, 2010). Though conducting the research might seem complicated, it helps us ask essential questions, prepare a plan, and use it to draw a conclusion. When you start to study, you begin to understand the importance of sharing information. As part of the research, we should always strive to find the best strategies that can help our students succeed not only within the classroom or school but also in the outside world.

References

Dana, N. F., & Yendol, D. (2009). The reflective educators guide to classroom research: Learning to teach and teaching to learn through practitioner inquiry (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Richardson, J. (2000). Teacher research leads to learning, action. Web.

Riel, M. (2010). Understanding Action Research, Center for Collaborative Action Research. Pepperdine University. Web.

Rust, C. and Clark, C (2008). How to do Research in your Classroom. Lessons from the Teacher Network Leadership Institute. Web.

Walden University (2011). A case study: Living the process of inquiry with a real teacher-researcher study. Web.

Dissertation Summary

The chosen dissertation was written by Kaya (2008) who focused on the problems and experiences of general education teachers working in Turkey. The research was conducted in an urban center in Turkey in 2008. The researcher was paying focused attention to the connection existing between burnout and classroom and teacher factors (Kaya, 2008, p. 7). During the research, the author was focusing on three important questions shaping the study. First, the paper studies the degree of burnout among teachers teaching in inclusion classrooms in Turkey (Kaya, 2008, p. 9). Also, it focuses on the specific factors about the working process and characteristics of participants that can be used to predict burnout in teachers working in Turkey. The third research question touches upon the existence of perceived challenges associated with this profession.

The sample studied during the research included almost six thousand elementary school teachers from Turkey. Data collection methods used during the research include the use of two survey tools (MBI and EBES). As for the data analysis methods chosen by the researcher, there are five of them: descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, independent t-test, stepwise multiple regression, and qualitative analysis (Kaya, 2008, p. 7). Having analyzed the collected data, the researcher concluded that both age and teacher experience could be called the variables predicting burnout in Turkish teachers. In terms of the perceived work-related difficulties, a lot of the participants reported that it was difficult for them to use individualized strategies in classes with large numbers of students. The given dissertation is important to the proposed research as it demonstrates the practical significance of inclusion policy and provides an example of the proper use of quantitative research methods and data collection tools. Therefore, a lot of conclusions presented in the dissertation can help to study the topic of burnout in intellectual disability teachers in Saudi Arabia.

Dissertation Critique

Among the key concepts and terms used by the author of the chosen dissertation, there are employee burnout, inclusion classrooms, and the history of disability education in the country where the research was conducted. As for the key notions that the proposed research will utilize, they include intellectual disability, occupational burnout, and the impact of important characteristics of special education teachers in Saudi Arabia on the levels of burnout that they experience. The most important term that needs to be discussed in this section is employee burnout and the way that it is defined in the two works that are compared.

Generalizing the information on employee burnout that acts as a primary term in his research, the author of the dissertation acknowledges that no definition would be accepted by all researchers in the field due to the difference of opinions concerning the dimensions and signs of burnout. At the same time, the author believes that the majority of researchers appreciate the idea concerning burnout dimensions forwarded by Maslach in the twentieth century. According to the latter, occupational burnout presents a combination of three factors that include emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal achievement (Kaya, 2008, p. 13). The proposed research will use the definition proposed by Maslach as it presents the most comprehensive one. Importantly, the proposed research will use numerous sources whose authors rely on the theoretical knowledge discussed by Maslach.

In terms of the topic and research questions of the discussed dissertation and the proposed research, the most significant difference between these two works is presented by location and population. The dissertation, the author reports, remains the first work in Turkey that studies a wide range of variables and their connection to the phenomenon of occupational burnout. The author proves the significance of the work stating that the previous studies did not include inclusion related variables (Kaya, 2008, p. 9). The research questions identified in the dissertation focus on the way that teachers in Turkey perceive themselves in connection with the three dimensions of burnout, teacher and classroom characteristics predicting burnout, and the perceived work-related challenges reported by teachers. As for the proposed research, it will focus on burnout in special education teachers with a different cultural background  the research will be conducted in Qassim, Saudi Arabia.

The proposed study will focus on four variables and the way that they influence burnout rates whereas the dissertation utilizes a larger number of variables. This is because the phenomenon of teacher burnout in specialists from Saudi Arabia has not been thoroughly studied yet. At the same time, the author of the discussed dissertation refers to some studies conducted in countries with similar cultures such as the UAE. According to the findings, male education specialists from the country were less positive towards inclusion than their female colleagues, and the negative perception of inclusion was more manifested in less experienced education specialists (Kaya, 2008, p. 26). Nevertheless, the situation for special education teachers in Saudi Arabia has not been studied, and this is why the proposed research will be unique. Due to the presence of a knowledge gap related to occupational burnout in intellectual disability teachers in the country, the findings will also possess practical significance.

Unlike the chosen dissertation, the proposed study will use four sub-questions guiding the research process. As for the latter, they refer to the impact that four variables have on burnout levels in intellectual disability teachers in Saudi Arabia. The variables that will be studied are the following: the gender of disability teachers, their academic degree, the level of teaching, and the number of years that participants work as special education teachers. As is clear from the research questions, the proposed study and the dissertation are extremely different in terms of study variables that are identified. Thus, the proposed research will not include some of the variables related to inclusion classrooms such as the types of disabilities that students have, resources used by teachers, and the number of students with individual plans taught by the participants.

The sample chosen for the discussed dissertation includes almost six thousand participants working in inclusion classrooms in Turkey. About the proposed research, it is planned to survey at least five hundred special education teachers from Qassim in Saudi Arabia. The sampling strategy used by the author of the dissertation is random, and the proposed research is also going to use random sampling that is one of the popular quantitative sampling strategies. Using this strategy, researchers are required to assign numbers to participants instead of using their details during the stage of data analysis. The given strategy was chosen for the proposed research to give an equal chance to all teachers to make their contribution to the research. Due to this strategy, each teacher in Qassim will have an equal probability of being selected from the population (Creswell, 2012, p. 143).

As for the tools for data collection used by the author of the dissertation, they include MBI with more than twenty statements helping to measure burnout levels using three dimensions. The researcher has chosen this tool due to its reliability and proven effectiveness. Also, the researcher was using the survey that was created for the particular research; the latter was aimed at collecting demographic data and the information on the classroom environment. It is clear from the results reported by the researcher that the combination of two data survey tools helped her to conduct an in-depth analysis of factors affecting burnout rates. The second tool used by the researcher includes questions related to teachers previous experience, personal details, degrees earned, professional licenses, and the level of teaching. Also, it touches upon the types of inclusion classrooms that they can use, the number of students they teach (including students who have IEPs), and types of disabilities that the latter have.

The attention is also paid to specific materials that teachers can use to support children with special needs. To study the system of special education applied in different schools, the researcher also included the questions concerning the participants collaboration with other professionals helping children with special needs. In the end, the respondents are supposed to identify the most important work-related challenges that they face. The proposed research will use MBI (1982) to measure burnout among special education teachers whereas the dissertation studies general education teachers as well. The tool is known to have the strongest psychometric properties, and it uses three subscales to measure burnout rates about three dimensions presented by reduced performance, exhaustion, and cynicism (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001, p. 401). Also, there will be a demographic survey that will be distributed with the help of the Survey Monkey service after the approval of the Ministry of Education. The author of the dissertation analyzes data with the help of the ANOVA test, qualitative analysis, t-test, and other tools. To analyze the data that will be collected within the frame of the proposed research, it is planned to perform a multiple regression analysis using SPSS software.

The limitations identified by Kaya (2008) include the possible influence of the official endorsement of the government on data credibility and the lack of open-ended questions in the survey (p. 157). The latter, the researcher believes, can prevent researchers from identifying unknown factors that can also be responsible for growing burnout rates. As for the challenges that the proposed study may encounter, there is a danger that the respondents answers will be influenced by their sense of guilt or the position of the unwillingness to share their negative experiences.

The Proposed Research Study

The proposed research study is expected to improve the state of knowledge concerning occupational burnout among intellectual disability teachers in Saudi Arabia. In particular, the desired results are to indicate whether burnout in this group of special education teachers is predicted by the following variables: gender, the level of teaching, degrees earned, and professional experience. In terms of setting chosen for the proposed research, the study will be conducted in Qassim, Saudi Arabia.

The sampling strategy chosen for the proposed research is one of the subtypes of probability sampling  simple random sampling. They discussed strategy is often regarded as the most popular and rigorous form of probability sampling (Creswell, 2012, p. 143). The chosen sampling strategy possesses numerous advantages that make it appropriate for the proposed study. To begin with, using this sampling strategy, it is easier for researchers to analyze data as they are not required to divide the sample into a few groups. Another important advantage that needs to be mentioned is strictly interconnected with the purpose of the proposed research. Considering the necessity to study the situation with a burnout in special education teachers in Saudi Arabia and fill the knowledge gap that exists in the field, the research is aimed at identifying the relationships between burnout and four independent variables. At the same time, simple random sampling is regarded as an appropriate strategy allowing to generalize results and single out the most obvious tendencies.

The proposed study is going to use a combination of two data collection tools such as MBI and a survey helping to analyze personal details and the professional situation of teachers in Qassim. A demographic survey will be distributed with the help of Survey Monkey that is a popular website helping to develop and conduct surveys. The use of the Internet for electronic data collection is extremely popular in quantitative research as it has numerous advantages related to costs and the speed of data analysis (Creswell, 2012, p. 156). The use of multiple regression analysis is appropriate for the proposed research as it will help to describe the connection between each independent variable identified and burnout in special education teachers in Saudi Arabia.

References

Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (4^th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Kaya, O. (2008). Inclusion and burnout: Examining general education teachers experiences in Turkey. Web.

Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 397-422.