Education Commons^™

Identifying Characteristics Of Effective Small Group Learning Valued By Medical Students And Facilitators, Diana T. Robillard, Laura M. Spring, Susan J. Pasquale, Judith A. Savageau

Judith A. Savageau

Background: Small group teaching is an important part of undergraduate medical education, providing the ideal setting for learners to clarify misunderstandings, test hypotheses and evaluate ideas. Many schools undergoing curriculum reform have increased the time students spend in small group learning. However, there is an overall paucity of literature examining case-based small group sessions in medical school.

Objective: This study was designed to examine student and facilitator perceptions of effective case-based small group teaching in the pre-clinical years and compare results in order to identify similarities and differences and identify key areas of disconnect so that the small …

Moving Forward, Looking Back: Renewing The Struggle For An American Curriculum, Dave Powell

Dave Powell

Rationales for public school reform in the United States are often tied to historical perspectives on the birth and development of schools and are buffeted by the assumption that the history of public schooling says much about how reform efforts should proceed. This interpretive article explores 2 such perspectives on 21st century schools: those of Diane Ravitch, distinguished educational historian and commentator; and those of Herbert Kliebard, considered one of the preeminent authorities on the development of the American curriculum. This investigation reveals that Ravitch’s longstanding condemnation of progressivism and curricular differentiation as the source of what ails public schools …

The Quality Teaching Model: Does It Apply To Special Education Contexts In Nsw Public Schools, Roselyn M. Dixon, Leanna Formosa

Rose Dixon

In May 2003, the NSW Department of Education and Training introduced the Quality Teaching framework to NSW public schools for discussion and possible implementation. Principals and teachers were encouraged to use the framework for the twofold purpose of improving both teaching practice and student learning. While versions of the framework have been successfully used in USA and Australia, there is a paucity of research which reports on its merit, worth, or value for teachers of children with moderate intellectual disabilities. The aim of this study is to explore the degree of congruence and/or “fit” between the Quality Teaching framework and …

Interactive Whiteboards As A Tool For Teaching Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Irina Verenikina, Kathleen Tanner, Roselyn Dixon, Elleni De Graaf

Rose Dixon

This paper presents part of a research study on the affordances of digital technologies in the learning of students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) undertaken in the Faculty of Education, University of Wollongong. The study is framed around the understanding of modern digital technologies, and Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) in particular, as cognitive tools for teaching and learning based on the theory of social and cultural mediation of children’s development and learning (Vygotsky, 1978; Engestrom, 2001). The view of the IWB as a teaching and learning tool is twofold: firstly, the IWB is analysed as a tool that can be used …

The Nsw Det's Quality Teaching Framework And The Realities Of A Special Education Classroom, Leanna Formosa, Roselyn M. Dixon

Rose Dixon

In May 2003, the NSW Department of Education and Training introduced the Quality Teaching framework to NSW public schools for discussion and possible implementation. Principals and teachers were encouraged to use the framework for the twofold purpose of improving both teaching practice and student learning. While versions of the framework have been successfully used in USA and Australia, there is a paucity of research which reports on its merit, worth, or value for teachers of children with moderate intellectual disabilities. The aim of this study is to explore the degree of congruence and/or 'fit' between the Quality Teaching framework and …

New Technologies, New Pedagogies: Mobile Technologies And New Ways Of Teaching And Learning, Janice Herrington, Jessica Mantei, Anthony Herrington, Ian W. Olney, Brian Ferry

Jessica Mantei

This paper describes a major development and research study that investigated the use of mobile technologies in higher education. The project investigated the educational potential of two ubiquitous mobile devices: Palm smart phones and iPod digital audio players (mp3 players). An action learning framework for professional development was designed and implemented with a group of teachers from a Faculty of Education. Each teacher or team created pedagogies to implement appropriate use of a mobile device in different subject areas in higher education. This paper describes the project aims, design and implementation in four phases, together with a description of the …

Connect & Thrive: Perspectives Of A Newly Tenured Professor, Corey A. Ciocchetti

Corey A Ciocchetti

This essay encapsulates my perspective (newly-tenured and seven years into my career) on how average professors can become highly effective professors. The secret rests in the ability to genuinely connect with students. Connecting really matters - even if it takes some personality adaptation and thrusts academics out of their comfort zones. Many professors fail to connect with students in a meaningful way. My evidence for this assertion is simple and straightforward. In addition to teaching, I am blessed to travel the country and speak on college campuses.3 After extensive discussions on these trips, students consistently claim their professors are boring, …

Curriculum, Pedagogy, And Teacherly Ethos, Marshall W. Gregory

Marshall W. Gregory

In considering how curriculum and teaching influence education, it is revealing to note that most faculty members treat curriculum the way bankers treat investments. They generally spend much time, planning, and careful thought on curricular matters-reasoning here, analyzing there, relying on experience, and carefully considering both the long-term and short-term dividends of knowledge - but when it comes to teaching, many faculty members operate less like bankers and more like barnstormers, flying by the seat of their pants and guiding themselves primarily by instinct or by repeating whatever worked yesterday.

Putting History Teaching 'In Its Place', Keith A. Erekson

Keith A Erekson

Recent literature on history teaching has emphasized "doing history"—whether as "active learning," "historical thinking," or reading photocopies of primary sources. This paper extends the discussion of a "signature pedagogy" of history teaching and learning to include attention to the places where historians do history--in the archives and at the presenter's podium. It presents a case study of effective teaching from the 1920s and 1930s and provides recommendations for helping students to research in nearby archives (such as the home) and present their findings to public audiences.

Teaching Hrd Theory With Toys: Creative Tools For Educators And Trainers, Susan R. Madsen, Kathi Tunheim

Susan R. Madsen

The purpose of this experiential workshop is to offer a variety of innovative tools (toys) that both academics and practitioners can use with adult learners to help them further develop leadership knowledge, competencies, and skills through engaged learning activities. Each tool presented will be taught, practiced, and discussed.

Working To Recover The Essence Of Education For The Sake Of Teaching And Teacher Education: Towards A Phenomenological Understanding Of The Forgotten, Ontological Aspects Of Learning, James Magrini

James M Magrini

The current definition of a good teacher is grounded in sets of pre-determined competencies established and imposed upon schools by bureaucratic organizations that are, proximally and for the most part, removed from the foundational elements of education, namely, the existential, embodied conscious experience of teaching and learning as it unfolds in the lived world of schools and universities. As Pinar (2004) observes, contemporary American education is deterministic, and "in its press for efficiency and standardization,' has the effect of reducing "teachers to automata" (p. 28). Thus, the subject-hood, or authentic identity, of both teachers and students is not of their …

Wikis Work: Enhancing Student Engagement With Collaborative Technology, Cathy Moulder, Carolyn Eyles, Michael Mercier

Cathy Moulder

This paper documents experiences using a wiki in teaching large undergraduate classes. A wiki is a web-based tool used to enhance student engagement and collaboration. This paper presents experiences using wikis as the major term assignment for two senior classes; one in human geography, the other in earth sciences. The advantages of using wiki technology are examined, as well as some of the challenges presented, including evaluation. While some of these challenges were significant, the experiments were successful enough to warrant further use. The paper concludes with some recommendations for others considering using wikis in their courses.

The Future Of Teacher Education: Reflections On Innovations, David E. Lynch, Richard Smith

David Lynch

This article is about teacher education reform. At the time of writing, teacher education (which is predominately the domain of universities in Australia), has undergone numerous critical reviews with little change effect. The teaching profession's struggles to cope with a changing world has been documented and an increasing push from Australian governments, at both the state and federal level for improved school outcomes are regular pieces in the national Australian press. A cadre of teacher education commentators call for are think on teacher education. This article showcases a disruptive model in teacher education and answers some of the ponderings around …

Thinking Critically About Diagrams: A Theoretical Framework For General Diagrammatic Literacy, Brad Jackel

Dr Brad Jackel

Diagrams are used heavily throughout contemporary society, yet there is little guidance for educators on teaching students to think critically about diagrams in general. Because of this there is almost no systematic guidance for learners on how to approach unfamiliar diagrams with some degree of confidence, particularly in terms of their ability to think critically about the visual ‘rhetoric’ of a given diagram. This is a crucial ability to foster in students, given society’s increasing reliance on forms of graphical communication which encourage the use of diagrams (internet, PowerPoint, tablet computing, smart phones) and the decision-making contexts in which diagrams …

Let's Focus On Forms For Teaching, Jalae Ulicki

Jalae Ulicki

An Ant's Eye View : Some Pluses And Minuses, Dave Tout

David (Dave) Tout

This article provides a history of adult numeracy teaching, looking back at the rise and development if adult numeracy provision, mainly in Victoria, from the perspective of an ANT (adult numeracy teacher), beginning in the late 1970s. The author then describes what lies on the horizon, what lessons adult educators can learn, and what opportunities might lie ahead for adult numeracy in the next decade or so. The article contains an exposition on the benefits of explicitly recognising and supporting numeracy within the language, literacy and numeracy equation. The author argues that, given the Australian data from ALLS, there is …

Tpck For Impact: Classroom Teaching Practices That Promote Social Justice And Narrow The Digital Divide In An Urban Middle School, Savilla I. Banister, Rachel A. Reinhart

Savilla I Banister

US schools have long struggled with what has recently been identified as the “achievement gap.” While the debate ensues in regards to an explicit definition for this phenomenon, research overwhelmingly demonstrates that students of marginalized populations remain on the lower end of most measures of school success. Accordingly, advocates of social justice point to the disparities of resources, including quality teachers, experienced by students in poverty. As a part of this movement, access to appropriate technological resources in schools has become an issue, commonly labeled the “digital divide.” This study reviews evidence of teaching for social justice and impacting the …

Teaching Grammar And Writing: A Beginning Teacher's Dilemma, P. Smagorinsky, Amy A. Wilson, C. Moore

Amy Wilson-Lopez