Education Commons^™

Evidence Of The Iste Standards For Educators Leading To Learning Gains, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) empirically designed and published educator standards to provide a roadmap for educators on effective technology integration. The purpose of this further study was to determine what empirical evidence demonstrates that the educator practices have a positive impact on student learning. Using a scoping review methodology, a transparent protocol was used for searching, identifying, and selecting articles that map to the practices within the ISTE Standards. The findings of this study reveal that all the practices in ISTE educator standards led to learning gains. This study is important for researchers, practitioners, funders, and …

Introducing Pre-Service Teachers To Computational Thinking At Scale, Aankit Patel, Ashleigh B. Thompson, Heidi Williams, Octavia Abell, Carolyn Sykora

Publications and Research

This paper describes a replicable partnership model developed by a graduate school of education that aims to improve elementary student performance in science and math through modifications to pre-service methods courses using computational thinking (CT) content and pedagogy. In collaboration with computational thinking subject matter experts at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), a team of childhood education faculty adapted methods courses and field seminars to integrate CT instruction and activities. Pre-service teachers (PSTs) were asked to draw on methods and seminar coursework to design and facilitate CT integrated lessons for grades 1-5 students during field work and …

Teaching Teachers How To Teach Hope, René Roselle

Education Faculty Publications

Can teachers teach hope? This article considers Synder’s hope theory as a rationale for the importance of teaching hope to students and teachers. Through a low and high hope example, the idea of agency and pathway thinking are explored. Resources and ideas are shared on how teacher preparation programs might take up teaching hope.

Documenting Undocumented Motives Influencing The Career Choice Of The First-Year Science And Math Student Teachers In Indonesia, Amirul Mukminin, Masbirorotni Masbirorotni, Lenny Marzulina, Dian Erlina, Akhmad Habibi, Fridiyanto Fridiyanto, Mia Aina, Nunung Fajaryani, Nurulanningsih Nurulanningsih

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The aim of this study was to investigate the motives that were instrumental in driving the first-year science and math student teachers to be a teacher at one public university in Sumatra, Indonesia. A questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. 378 participants completed questionnaires consisting of 318 females and 60 males while the interview data were collected from voluntary participants. The data of the fulfilled questionnaires were calculated as percentage of their whole results while the data of the interviews were carefully analysed by looking at the responses from all interviewees. Our results indicated that there …

Designing Authentic Learning Activities To Train Pre-Service Teachers About Teaching Online, Tian Luo, Alexander Murray, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Online learning is increasingly being used in K-12 learning environments. A concomitant trend is found towards learning becoming authentic as students learn with tasks that are connected to real-world occupations. In this study, 48 pre-service teachers use an online environment to engage in authentic practice as they developed online learning experiences for their future students. Using a design-based research methodology, the researchers were involved in planning, designing, implementing, and evaluating the higher education class across two macro cycles. An authentic learning framework was utilized in the development of the class. Findings explicate the design of the course and how it …

Creating A Positive Atmosphere In Online Courses: Student Ratings Of Affective Variables In Teacher Education Courses, Sarah Hamsher, Cynthia A. Dieterich

Education Faculty Publications

Instructors in higher education have to work to create a positive atmosphere. Yet, the behaviors instructors must exhibit to create such an atmosphere are different for online courses than face-toface (F2F) courses. The current study surveyed graduate and undergraduate students in a teacher education program to identify which affective variables identified in academic literature for creating a positive online atmosphere are most and least important. The results of this study suggest undergraduate and graduate students rank logistical behaviors (e.g., clearly described directions and expectations, constructive feedback) as most important and emotional-relational behaviors (e.g., interpersonal relationships, humor related to content) as …

Digital Poetry Practicum: Preservice English Language Arts Teachers’ Dispositions Of New Literacies, Katie Dredger Ph.D., Susanne Nobles Ph.D., Jenny M. Martin Ph.D.

Teacher Education Program Faculty Scholarship

This qualitative study investigated how graduate preservice teachers (PSTs) engaged in a digital practicum experience with a geographically distant secondary English Language Arts (ELA) classroom. The graduate PSTs, enrolled in a Masters of Arts, English Education program at a university in the mid-Atlantic United States, mentored the 9th-grade students in the online spaces of a course wiki and video conferencing. In this portion of a larger study, PSTs mentored the students during a poetry unit organized by the ELA cooperating teacher and housed in the ELA classroom. A goal of this practicum was building PSTs’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge (Shulman, 1986) …

Six Lesson Plan Formats, Andrew P. Johnson

Elementary and Literacy Education Department Publications

Good lessons and effective learning experiences do not magically appear. They must be planned. This chapter describes how to design and plan six different types of lessons: basic lesson plan, concept lesson plan, skills lesson plan, writing lesson plan, reading lesson plan, and discovery learning lesson plan.

Teac 908e: Critical Conversations In U.S. Teacher Education Policy And Practice—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Lauren Gatti

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Since compulsory school began in the early 1900s, there have been lively and at times intense debates regarding how teachers ought to be prepared. Current debates are particularly pitched as the achievement gap persists and teacher attrition remains high, made more intense by the level of polarization in the country. Debates in the field of teacher preparation, like the country writ large, are often characterized more by heat than light. Given this reality, I opted to use this peer review of teaching opportunity to think about my graduate course as a place where students could practice perspective-taking and dialogue around …

Re-Imagining Pre-Service Teacher Education In Ontario, Canada: A Journey In The Making, Janette Hughes, Jennifer Laffier, Ami Mamol, Laura Morrison, Diana Petrarca

Stream 5: Curriculum 2

In this paper/presentation, faculty members from the Faculty of Education at UOIT share their experiences and challenges of redesigning a teacher education program, against the backdrop of provincial funding cuts and a mandatory reduction of student enrolment in all Faculties of Education, as Ontario moves from a 10-month consecutive Education program to a required 2-year BEd program. In June, 2013, the Ministry of Education, Ontario announced that effective September, 2015, universities offering teacher certification would be required to double the length of their programs, moving from two semesters to four semesters, and the length of the practicum will change to …

Teacher Education Pedagogies Related To Preparing Preservice Teachers As Leaders In Pakistan, Meher Rizvi

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

An analysis of traditional authoritarian preservice teacher development approaches in Pakistan demonstrates that they develop teachers as technicians who carbon copy the same authoritarian training model in their classrooms. The more contemporary approaches to teacher education with leadership development focus are mostly limited to in-service teacher education programs. The key dilemma with in-service education is that once the teachers have received higher qualification they tend to move out of the classrooms to assume management positions. What Pakistan requires is classroom teacher leaders who have the capacity to initiate and sustain school improvement. I propose the pedagogy of transformation, which is …

Service-Learning With Young Students: Validating The Introduction Of Service-Learning In Pre-Service Teacher Education, Nancy M. Arrington

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

Founded on experience as a practitioner and teacher action-researcher in an elementary school setting, the author shares this study as a validation for introducing the methodology of service-learning in teacher preparation programs. Multiple methods were used in this action research to analyze the effects of participating in a service-learning experience on the self-effi cacy for self-regulated learning of a class of third-grade music students as they participated in an intergenerational project—sharing music and writing with residents in a local nursing home.

The quantitative data included the results from the Children’s Self-Effi cacy Scale (Bandura, 2006) and progress rating scales administered …

Teac 921b: Seminar In Literacy Studies (Special Topics: Schooling And The Multilingual Mind)—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Theresa Catalano

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio will document the creation and implementation of a new doctoral seminar in my department. This introductory course to multilingualism and schooling (TEAC 921B) will cover topics related to teaching and learning in the multilingual classroom. The key goals for creating this portfolio are to aid me in creating this new doctoral seminar that reflects and builds on departmental goals for graduate students. In particular I would like to document and address the implementation of two new activities to my teaching ; a language study/journal, and the creation of a documentary film. I foresee using this course portfolio as …

Integrating Interactive Technology To Promote Learner Autonomy: Challenges And Rewards, Marie A. Hulme, Jaya Kannan, María Lizano-Dimare, Pilar Munday

English Faculty Publications

In an increasingly complex and interconnected world, students and faculty must understand and harness the power of technology to synthesize, analyze, and communicate ideas and information. A multi-modal, multidisciplinary approach of teaching and learning is critical. This presentation will examine how to best leverage the technological strengths of 21st century learners in an interdisciplinary networked community, utilizing on-line tools such as Twitter and e-portfolios. This will be anchored within a context of a larger discussion of current education theories, including cognitive, social constructivism, and connectivism. Four presenters will address recent research on the impact of technology tools on teaching and …

Using The Globe Program To Educate Students On The Interdependence Of Professional Development?, Sherry S. Herron, Jennifer L. Robertson

Faculty Publications

We present how we have used GLOBE protocols and programs in a college undergraduate English course for science and non-science majors, “Writing in the Sciences”, and in a graduate-level field course for in-service teachers. Collecting land cover data and determining biomass in conjunction with a series of writing assignments allowed the English students to connect their work to research done in ecosystems throughout the world, and to specific environmental concerns such as carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and the impact of controlled burning on ecosystems. Teachers demonstrated increased knowledge of ecology, natural histories of various organisms, and awareness of environmental resources. A …

Addressing The Research/Practice Divide In Teacher Education, Ryan Flessner

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

Educational scholars often describe a research/practice divide. Similarly, students in teacher education programs often struggle to navigate the differences between university coursework and expectations they face in field-based placements. This self-study analyzes one researcher's attempt to address the research/practice divide from the position of a teacher educator. Teaching in a university-based mathematics methods course during the academic year and an elementary classroom during the summer recess provided opportunities to make connections between research and practice. This article examines the effects this study had on the researcher's instruction at the university level. Specifically, the article suggests ways for teacher educators to …

Using Blogs To Promote Literary Response During Professional Development, Jaime Colwell, Amy Hutchison, David Reinking

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) The blogging has, I don’t want to say forced, but kind of made me read books that I haven’t necessarily read before, and I don’t think I would have. I’ve read lots of children’s books just through student teaching and everything, but it makes me look outside the box and maybe at other genres that I wouldn’t look at necessarily. (Sam, a pre-service teacher, blogging in a children’s literature course)

Communities Of Practice And Teacher Development – Lessons Learnt From An Educational Innovation In Pakistan, Sajid Ali

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Communities of Practice (CoP) is a novel idea that highlights the importance of informal learning and working groups in an organization. Organizations need to nurture informal spaces of learning so as to enhance overall organizational success. This article builds on this idea and applies it to educational context of Pakistan, particularly towards the issue of teacher training. The paper presents the example of an educational improvement programme in KPK province of Pakistan titled ‘Primary Education Project – Improvement of the Learning Environment (PEP-ILE)’. It is highlighted that PEP-ILE created cluster based training model around subject areas. Such configuration allowed for …

How To Teach The Art Of “Doing” Research: Lessons Learnt From Teacher Education Program In Pakistan, Nilofar Vazir, Rashida Qureshi

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

A Reading Apprenticeship Model For Improving Literacy: A Pre-Service Teacher Case Study, Divonna M. Stebick, Diana J. Pool, Jonelle Pool

Education Faculty Publications

A major challenge of today's standards-based assessment movement targets the need to address and improve the achievement of struggling readers. As teacher education programs must prepare content teachers to address the challenges of teaching students who lack reading skills, we need to prepare out pre-service teachers to help students make meaning while reading any text. To accomplish such a goal, comprehension instruction must be explicit, direct, and effective. As VanDeWeghe (2004b) notes, even though students may still need development as readers at the secondary level, there may be confusion surrounding where reading instruction is addressed in the secondary curriculum. After …

Enhancing Institutional Capacity Building Of Non-Governmental Organizations (Ngos) And Community Based Organizations (Cbos): Impact Of An Innovative Initiative, Muhammad Memon, Shahzad Mithani

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

This paper attempts to unpack the notion and process of institutional capacity building of NGOs / CBOs in rural and semi-urban areas if the Sindh province. Several NGOs / CBOs and other organizations tend to take initiatives embedded in the ‘first order’ changes which are of incremental nature and have failed to contribute substantially towards enhancing their institutional capacity building. In 1999, the AKU-IED was engaged in enhancing institutional capacity building of selected NGOs and CBOs in Sindh through ‘second order’ changes for promoting education in general and female education in particular. The process of the transformational development of these …

Challenges And Learning Opportunities Involved In The Professional Development Of Mathematics Teachers Within The Government Sector, Sardar Ahmed Khan, Nadeem Asghar Kirmani

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

As Professional Development Teachers (PDTs), we have been working in the government sector for the last several years to improve the profile of Mathematics teachers within the sector. Our experience of the Professional Development of teachers suggests that working in the government sector is not an easy task. However, neither is it an impossible one. The government’s system faces varied challenges in tackling the professional development needs of teachers. The most important one is the capacity of the professional staff to undertake this mammoth job. Secondly, there is a strong need to change the perceptions of policymakers to consider the …