On Application Of Knowledge Visualization Tools In Senior High School English Reading Courseware

In English classes,knowledge visualization tools(KVTs)are frequently employed.With the advent of information-based education in recent years,multimedia courseware has become a primary knowledge carrier in teaching practice,thus ushering in new opportunities for the use of KVTs.This thesis aims to investigate the current status of KVTs in senior high school English reading courseware for better application.Research questions are as follows: 1)What’s the current status of KVTs application in senior high school English reading courseware concerning the situation,the attitude,the effects and the strategies? 2)Is there any problem in the application of KVTs? 3)What are possible solutions to the problems,if any?In this study,the author has distributed questionnaires to students from two senior high schools in Jiangxi and Fujian province in order to fully understand the status quo of KVTs application in senior high school English reading courseware,and identify potential problems in the use of them.At the same time,12 reading lessons were chosen for classroom observation.As a supplement to the questionnaire and classroom observation,ten senior high school English teachers were interviewed.The results of the investigation show that: 1)Teachers and students have a good understanding of common KVTs and are willing to utilize them because of their positive educational impacts,but the tools do not seem to boost thinking ability obviously;2)There aren’t many different sorts of tools used in reading instructions,and the most prevalent ones are pictures,tables,and mind maps,which are sometimes inappropriately used in the courseware.The advantageous tools in the courseware like animation are not sufficiently utilized;3)KVTs have various functions in reading teaching,and have been found to be used throughout the whole teaching process,but the forms of one single tool used in class are often limited and conventional;4)Teachers have a sense of activating students’ subjective initiative through the use of the tools,but the effect is not always satisfactory.In response to the above problems,this study,based on the cognitive load and knowledge visualization theories,puts forward three principles concerning the use of KVTs: 1)process the tools in the courseware appropriately for a better teaching effect;2)be creative in finding various forms of using the tools;3)arouse students’ subjective initiative when using these tools at most.The teacher may build appropriate scaffolds for students to achieve independent language output and improve their thinking ability.In addition,this study also summarizes the application strategies of common tools such as tables and pictures,and demonstrates the design and use of courseware assisted by KVTs in a teaching case.The author hopes that her efforts may provide some references for teachers who expect to use these tools better.