Journal Review Assignments - Article Example

? Journal Article Review Assignments Details: al Affiliation: Journal Article Review Assignments 1. Shim, W., & Walczak, K. (2012). The impact of faculty teaching practices on the development of students’ critical thinking skills. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 24(1), 16-30. One of the principal objectives of institutions of higher learning such as colleges and universities is to impart skills that enable its clients [the student] of whatever level to think critically while analysing problems in order to find implementable solutions that best fit the dynamic nature of the changing and challenging dimensions in the 21st century. As the title suggests, this article critiques the Teaching Practices used by instructors to achieve that very end. The authors’ argue that instructors teaching critical thinking at these same institutions do not explicitly understand the very nature of critical thinking, and as such lack the expertise to effectively transfer such knowledge [critical thinking skills] into their students’ immediate and later endeavors (Shim & Walczak, 2012, p. 16). The study, as the two co-authors explain, investigates the effects of different teaching practices used by instructors in different institutions of higher learning to sharpen the critical thinking ability of students. Shim and Walczak cite evidence from varied authors with prior interest in the same, effectively unearthing massive disagreements from how to define the concept at hand to its components. Accordingly, instructors apply varied instructional practices with no clear-cut boundaries on their suitability on course related tasks, the level of study, disciplines and/or institutions. To be sure, a standardized measure informing appropriate roadmap on the same is non-existent. Buoyed by the evidence gathered, the two dug deep into the transfer of critical thinking skills through a survey investigating the benefits derived from varied instructional methods commonly used by instructors. Like their predecessors, their findings seem to validate organized presentations, interpretation of abstract concepts, posing challenging questions and certain types of class assignment in bolstering critical thinking. The study, however, went against past studies disapproving class presentations and group projects towards the same course (Shim & Walczak, 2012, p. 24); a clear lead as to where the lack of problem solving skills needed in the workplace emanates from. Reference Shim, W., & Walczak, K. (2012). The Impact of faculty teaching practices on the development of students’ critical thinking skills. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 24(1), 16-30. 2. Arkoudis, S., & Tran, L. (2010). Writing blah, blah, blah: Lecturers’ approaches and challenges in supporting international students. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education , 22(2), 169 - 178. While the institutions of higher learning that do admit international students into their programs reap significantly in terms of revenue and sociocultural value exchanges, which includes but not limited to enhanced institutional reputation, the sustainability of such institutions with regards to the diverse needs of the students, particularly concerning an even out academic environment, remains much in doubt. Arkoudis and Tran (2010) point out that despite English language being a mandatory entry requirement for the international students in certain universities, such as those in Australia, the Language and Academic Support (LAS) programs established to assist such students in horning their English language skills are more often inaccessible, leaving a non-consultative flow of endeavors from both lecturers and their students; individual efforts that rarely converge towards the desired objective from ends. In this particular study, the authors, thus, set out to investigate the strategies used by lecturers with the view of offering helpful insights into reorganizing instructional methods within higher institutions of learning in line with the international students’ disciplinary language and writing skills requirements. Citing arguments from numerous authors, the two co-authors point fingers to the ethnocentric approach taken by lecturers in responding to the international students’ learning needs. Surprisingly, the respective departments also follow the lecturers’ leads, and consequently make decisions in isolation, excluding the very necessary resources, the students’ characteristics, in the entire process. As a result, good practices are never standardized for adopting; a scenario that leaves lecturers basically struggling to respond to the unfamiliar characteristics in own perceptions on how to incorporate the principles of diversity into their pedagogic practices. Indeed as it is, views and reflections from the four lecturers [Anna, Kevin, Lisa and Andy] interviewed on their own practices reveals a varied approach, with lecturers “positioning themselves with strategies that “best helps”, yet struggle to deliver; a position affirmed by the complaints registered by the cross-examined students (Arkoudis & Tran, 2010, pp. 172-176). References Arkoudis, S., & Tran, L. (2010). Writing blah, blah, blah: Lecturers’ approaches and challenges in supporting international students. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 22(2), 169 - 178. 3. Vogelgesang. G. R., Clapp-Smith, R., & Palmer, N. (2009). The role of authentic leadership and cultural intelligence in cross-cultural contexts: An objectivist perspective. International Journal of Leadership Studies, 5(2), 102-117. As the effects of globalization permeate the hitherto unreachable corners of the world with rewards that have, without a doubt, improved the quality of human lives in many aspects, doubts abound as to whether life has become better, challenging or even riskier. With the acquisition of cultural codes from the incessant global supply of symbols serving the role of substituting signifiers of modernity, personal beliefs summing up individual identities has been conjoined in the dilemmas. Vogelgesang, Clapp-Smith and Palmer (2009) argue that adapting to differing cultural situations without appropriate countervailing internal standards [cultural intelligence] inhibits morally grounded cultural adaptation. They, thus, propose a framework through which global leaders faced with the challenge of external environment influences on their behaviors can both meet the demands for adaptation to global cultures, while remaining true to their inner values. It is a normative business practice, as pointed out by the authors, for organizational employees at all levels to accept orders and/or behaviors from/of their superiors. Indeed, negating such norms carry heavy penalties in certain settings. Nonetheless, sacrificing personal values by not reporting a superior’s misconduct, for instance, also has consequences of self-devaluation and anxiety (Vogelgesang, Clapp-Smith, & Palmer, 2009, pp. 106-107). The authors, thus, suggest the inculcation of cultural intelligence in leadership to moderate the pitfalls of mere imitation of foreign cultures; a precedent that has not only bred misunderstandings, but lots of unintended insults in work places solely because of the inability of leaders to find common ground on diverging behavioral norms (Vogelgesang, Clapp-Smith, & Palmer, 2009, p. 113). Reference Vogelgesang. G. R., Clapp-Smith, R., & Palmer, N. (2009). The role of authentic leadership and cultural intelligence in cross-cultural contexts: An objectivist perspective. International Journal of Leadership Studies, 5(2), 102-117. 4. Gopal, A. (2011). Internationalization of higher education: Preparing faculty to teach cross-culturally. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 23(3), 373-381. While the allure of lucrative business ventures is pushing many universities around the world to internationalize their degrees and programs in order to tap the experiences of international learning dynamics through the numerous transnational education initiatives, it is emerging that many such institutions of higher learning lack the requisite capacity to accomplish their mandate in diverse cultures. To be certain, Gopal (2011) argues that many of the faculty members contracted and subsequently flown from one country to the next receive little or no formal preparation to teach in cross-cultural, globally diverse settings, and thus are culturally incompetent in terms of pedagogical strategies to sufficiently handle students from diverse populations. Using Darla Deardorff’s process model of intercultural competency, Gopal presents a framework that basically fills the knowledge gap in terms of attitudes, knowledge and comprehension, and skills; the core elements of intercultural competency needed by faculty members for transnational teaching. Noteworthy, a survey aimed at ascertaining intercultural competency skills of lecturers from three North American universities confirms that majority of those engaged in transnational teaching actually do not possess the competencies needed to navigate other cultures (Gopal, 2011, pp. 373-374). Citing Leask’s study conducted in 2004, Gopal stresses the point made by the transnational faculty members from Adelaide, Australia sent to a Hong Kong campus about appreciating foreign cultures; a case that Robin Crabtree, a female tutor from America, meets head-on in Brazil when a male student approaches her and subsequently “supports himself on her shoulder, gazing directly at her, then fires a question about one of her course assignments” (Gopal, 2011, pp. 375-376). References Gopal, A. (2011). Internationalization of higher education: Preparing faculty to teach cross- culturally. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 23(3), 373-381. Read More