Education Commons^™

The Apprentice Retention Program: Evaluation And Implications For Ontario, Catharine Dishke Hondzel, Ronald Hansen

Catharine Dishke Hondzel

Apprentice retention and completion focus of new study

The completion rates of Ontario’s apprentices remain a point of concern, prompting growing interest in programs to improve retention and completion. A new study from the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario examines the development, implementation and efficacy of the Apprentice Retention Program (ARP).

Project description

ARP was developed in a partnership with Western University, Fanshawe College, the local Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities’ (MTCU) Employment Ontario office, the Apprenticeship Network and the Elgin Middlesex Oxford Workplace Planning and Development Board. The program consisted of nine hands-on and two online workshops …

Teaching Culture Perception: Documenting And Transforming Institutional Teaching Cultures, Erika Kustra, Florida Doci, Kaitlyn Gillard, Catharine Dishke Hondzel

Catharine Dishke Hondzel

An institutional culture that values teaching is likely to lead to improved student learning. The main focus of this study was to determine faculty, graduate and undergraduate students’ perception of the teaching culture at their institution and identify indicators of that teaching culture. Themes included support for teaching development; support for best practices, innovative practices and specific effective behaviours; recognition of teaching; infrastructure; evaluation of teaching and implementing the student feedback received from teaching evaluations. The study contributes to a larger project examining the quality of institutional teaching culture.

Accountable To Whom? Teacher Reflections On The Relationship Between Creativity And Standardized Testing In Ontario., Catharine Dishke Hondzel

Catharine Dishke Hondzel

This paper describes teachers’ perceptions of the relationship between standardized testing and creativity. Using an interview guide format, eight teachers were asked to consider their perspectives on, and practices related to fostering creative behaviours in children, with regard to their own creative teaching methods in light of accountability legislation. The responses teachers provided indicated that standardized testing process often impacted their teaching by taking time away from learning material they considered to be more valuable. Teachers in this study also indicated a sense of incongruity, in that they believed creativity could not exist in a classroom focused on improving standardized …