Differentiated Instruction in Chinese Primary and Secondary Schools: A Systematic Literature Review

This study aims to probe into the concepts and use of differentiated instruction (DI) in Chinese primary and secondary schools by means of a systematic literature review from 1995 to 2019. Outcomes are presented in the form of thematic overview. Findings report that Chinese national conditions contributed to DI’ s definitions and theoretical basis from historical and realistic perspectives. Then, the selected articles show that Chinese teachers from primary and secondary schools are aware of the importance of student diversity, such as interests, learning style and abilities. Moreover, teachers can organize many teaching methods, like flexible grouping and collaborative learning, to build DI classrooms for satisfying various needs of learners. Results also point out DI’ s positive effect on students’ achievement, but Chinese large class size and teacher incapability are the main obstacles to the implementation of DI.

Perceived Influence of Large Class Size and Psychological Classroom Environment on Students’ Academic Performance in Senior High Schools in Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

This study investigated how large class size and the psychological class environment influenced students’ academic performance. Survey design was employed. Three hundred and twenty students were purposively selected from ten senior high schools in Kumasi Metropolis. Questionnaire was used to obtain data from the respondents with a reliability coefficient of 0.7. The study revealed that large class size influenced students’ academic performance and also limits their learning opportunities. It also came up that psychological class environment have a great influence on students’ academic performance. Furthermore, the study showed that students perform well in smaller class size and good psychological classroom environment. The study, therefore, recommends that small class size and good psychological class environment are better for good performance. Teachers and head teachers should make sure they conform to the required teacher to student ratio of 1:40 recommended by the Ghana Education Service. Teachers should create an enabling environment for students to participate in classroom activities. Government should, therefore, employ more teachers and build more classrooms to solve the problem of large class size in the senior high schools in Ghana.

Integration to Inclusion in Hong Kong: Not an Easy Progression

This article describes the evolution of inclusive education in Hong Kong, moving from segregation via integration to inclusion. The outside influence of education policies and trends from Britain, Australia, and the United States are identified, and the current situation is described. In particular, obstacles that are encountered on the route to inclusion are compared with those found in other countries. These obstacles include large class size, teachers’ often negative attitudes, parents’ expectations, teachers’ lack of expertise for adapting the curriculum and for providing differentiated teaching, and ongoing conflicts between the notion of ‘inclusive schooling for all’ and the ‘academic standards agenda’.

The Management and Coordination of Virtual Teams in Large Classes: Facilitating Experiential Learning

The management and coordination of classroom teaching continues to be a challenge, particularly as enrollment trends suggest that class sizes are growing. In the past, many faculty have divided their large classes into smaller groups to incorporate experiential exercises. In this article, we discuss the challenges of managing an experiential exercise featuring a large number of teams in a virtual setting. These challenges include (a) coordinating class communication with a large number of teams, (b) managing teams and facilitating team communication and trust, (c) managing virtual team performance and instructor feedback throughout the experiential exercise, and (d) managing and evaluating student engagement. We also provide practical suggestions for management educators on how to address each challenge based on insight gleaned from our years of experience using virtual teams in large classes. Finally, we highlight avenues for future research in the area of virtual teams and large class size teaching.

Class Size, Funding and Academic Performance

Available data indicate that academic performance among students in the United States has in many cases remained unchanged or has been declining over several decades despite concerted efforts at the state and federal levels in improve performance. With regard to public schools, the decline is commonly attributed to large class size and insufficient funding. Although numerous studies have examined funding and class size and their influence on student performance, many of these investigations did not consider the available longitudinal data. Consequently, they fail to provide a clear examination of both funding and class size effects. Close examination of these data from the US Department of Education, however, shows no significant funding or class-size effect. The present study involved data mining the vast store of education research produced at the US Department of Education to examine the role of class size and funding on public education.