Education Commons^™

Bias And The Teachable Moment: Revisiting A Teacher Narrative, Darren Crovitz

Faculty and Research Publications

Such responsibility may be vital for English teachers, especially, as we strive to establish communities of writers and spaces for critical thinking and conversation. When I sat down to write about this experience, I saw it as an opportunity to discuss a taboo situation and its positive aftermath, with the aim of demonstrating how it might be possible to use such events as points of departure in creating engaging writing assignments.

Many Hands Can Lift The Heaviest Of Burdens: A Guide And Resource Book To Assist In Teaching And Learning About Africa In The Unites States - Revised Version #1, Prexy Nesbitt

Rozell 'Prexy' Nesbitt Writings and Speeches

Prexy Nesbitt, a Chicago-based anti-apartheid activist and educator, authored this draft version of a book designed to assist in the teaching of Africa in the United States. 17 pages.

Providing Students With Effective Feedback, Kathy Dale

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Feedback is a classroom process that has been under the researchers’ microscopes since the 1970’s to the present, and with good cause—it’s a teacher practice that works. Consistently, researchers have found that when teachers effectively employ feedback procedures, they positively and often powerfully impact the achievement of their students. In fact, Bellon, Bellon, and Blank note, “Academic feedback is more strongly and consistently related to achievement than any other teaching behavior….This relationship is consistent regardless of grade, socioeconomic status, race, or school setting….When feedback and corrective procedures are used, most students can attain the same level of achievement as the …

Simple Way For A Successful Path, Km. Nadeera

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Education is the basic path to create a complete person improving high thinking and analytical skills for solving problems. Certain defects of the science education would be observed in developing countries minimizing the nations’ strength towards the better development. Quality of the science education is the common fact to be considered in developing countries. Most of the developing countries are following western educational systems which are unsuitable for man’s strength in developing countries as a result of the colonization. Exam oriented teaching processes are going on without understanding and applications. Learner centered, activity based science education is unpracticed due to …

The Role Of Educational Leaders In Implementing A Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Designed To Increase The Learning Opportunities For Diverse Students, Frank Andrews

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

While there has been a dramatic shift in the demographic educational landscape of the United States, to a more culturally diverse student population, the characteristics of teachers and educational leaders have remained largely homogeneous. Classroom teachers and school principals remain predominately White, approximately 90%, and 84% respectively (National Center for Education Statistics, as cited in Taylor & Whittaker, 2003). According to many experts, the differences between school and home culture result in lower rates of academic achievement for diverse learners. This article focuses on the challenge facing educational leaders to respond to this demographic shift by leading the implementation of …

Volume 18, Number 01, G. William Hill Editor, Linda M. Noble Editor, Tom Pusateri Editor

Reaching Through Teaching

Full text of Volume 18, Number 01 of Reaching Through Teaching.

Engaging Students To Make Mathematics Interesting, Fun, Intriguing, Puzzling And Personally Satisfying, Dave Tout

David (Dave) Tout

The author asserts that making connections with the real world is the best way to engage most students in the middle years of schooling and to potentially provide a mechanism for making mathematics interesting, fun and personally satisfying. Traditionally, in secondary school mathematics classrooms, teachers start by teaching the abstract mathematics skills and processes and then they find some possible applications afterwards. The author believes this should be the other way around.

Faculty Ethics: Issues, Challenges, And Solutions (Professional Development Workshop), Susan R. Madsen

Susan R. Madsen

The Faculty Ethics event is a three-part workshop that will provide faculty, administrators, and doctoral students the forum to discuss current issues and challenges related to the ethical decision-making and behavior of faculty members within the higher educational arena. First, the facilitators will briefly outline some of the current issues, trends and supporting literature in this area (20 minutes). Areas of discussion may include work ethic, plagiarism, misrepresentation, authorship issues, grading, teaching effort, selection of service assignments, reporting contributions, evaluation, research standards/ethics, and such. Second, participants will be asked to help the list of narrow ethics issues to the three …

A Critical Exploration Of The Rhetoric Of Equity Belied By Practice In Postgraduate Teacher Education, Roisin Donnelly

Articles

This paper presents the initial results of an investigation into the current awareness and perceptions of equity issues amongst academic staff working on a postgraduate learning and teaching course for teachers in tertiary education in the Republic of Ireland. The study is set in the contemporary landscape of discourses around equality, egalitarianism and equity in education generally. The Irish White Paper on Adult Education Learning for Life (2000) recommends that adult education should be underpinned by three core principles, one of which is to promote equality of access, participation and outcome for participants in adult education, with pro-active strategies to …

Aloha To Social Studies: An Integrated Curricular Unit, Olivia E. Dejana

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

In recent years teachers have struggled to find the time to dedicate to teaching social studies concepts. However, social studies instruction is an integral part of a balanced educational program. In addition to imparting factual information, social studies curricula encourage critical thinking skills and help to prepare students to become responsible members of society. This research project was intended to provide educators with a model of how to integrate social studies with other academic areas to maximize instructional time and the amount of content covered. The unit was reviewed by master teachers to ensure that the project goals were attained. …

Changing Maine, 1960-2010: Teaching Guide, Richard Barringer, New England Environmental Finance Center

Maine History & Policy Development

Unlike forty years ago, none of us is now certain what the future holds for Maine – except that it will be different. Maine has been transformed by the events of the recent decades. We have come into a new world, a new time – a new historical era, if you will. This new era, like previous eras in Maine history, will require of us new ways of thinking, new ways of understanding, new ways of organizing ourselves as a community of people, if the values and culture we share and cherish are to endure and flourish.

Ways Of Knowing, A Quantitative Analysis Of The Intersection Between The Women’S Ways Of Knowing Model And Perry’S Scheme Of Intellectual Development, Carol Eichholz Baron Phd

Adult Education Research Conference

This quantitative study looks at the intersection between two epistemological theories: (1) the Women’s Ways of Knowing Model and (2) Perry’s Scheme of Intellectual Development. Findings confirm the existence of ways of knowing structures and show that the theories largely address different meaning making constructs. Some demographic differences were found.

Testing The Test: Item Response Curves And Test Quality, Gary A. Morris, Lee Branum-Martin, Nathan Harshman, Stephen D. Baxter, Eric Mazur, Suvendra Dutta, Taha Mzoughi, Veronica Mccauley

Faculty and Research Publications

We present a simple technique for evaluating multiple-choice questions and their answers beyond the usual measures of difficulty and the effectiveness of distractors. The technique involves the construction and qualitative consideration of item response curves and is based on item response theory from the field of education measurement. To demonstrate the technique, we apply item response curve analysis to three questions from the Force Concept Inventory. Item response curve analysis allows us to characterize qualitatively whether these questions are efficient, where efficient is defined in terms of the construction, performance, and discrimination of a question and its answer choices. This …

How Have Teachers Affected The Disinterest Towards Mathematics?, Amy Brown

Senior Honors Projects

In our school system today there is a collective disinterest and lack of enthusiasm towards mathematics as a whole. This apathy is prevalent as early as elementary school and continues through higher education. It is disheartening that so many students avoid mathematics because of their misconception that it is too difficult and has little value in their future. How well prepared are our teachers to deal with this? I began my research by looking at the past perceptions of mathematics and how the reform movement has changed this perspective. I also looked at the changing standards and how the Principles …

Learning About Teaching : Using Video, Hilary Hollingsworth

Dr Hilary Hollingsworth

This article describes some Australian research and professional development projects that use classroom video data, and explains some of the positive outcomes, as well as some of the challenges, of these projects. A variety of methodologies have been used to collect, store, retrieve, code, navigate and analyse classroom video data. These include CD-Rom, DVD and web streaming to dedicated software platforms. Video is used to preserve classroom activity so that it can be 'slowed down' to enable detailed examinations of teaching and learning from multiple perspectives, reveal alternatives through comparative analysis, and stimulate discussions about choices related to teaching learning. …

Innovative Teaching In Hrd Graduate And Undergraduate Education, Susan R. Madsen, Wendy E.A. Ruona

Susan R. Madsen

There have been few forums within the Academy of Human Resource Development (HRD) to discuss HRD education. We have had limited opportunities to share innovative teaching and learning techniques, pedagogies, projects, assignments, technologies, and ideas. As a dynamic discipline it is important that current and future HRD faculty continuously learn and change teaching methods and curricula to parallel the latest pedagogical knowledge and research, as teaching goals should focus on effectively facilitating student learning in our own courses and programs. Clearly since our field is strongly based on adult learning and training and development, we (as faculty) should be utilizing …

Dewey's Epistemology: An Argument For Warranted Assertions, Knowing, And Meaningful Classroom Practice, Deron R. Boyles

Educational Policy Studies Faculty Publications

In an effort to navigate the treacherous path between professionalism and social relevancy, this essay takes up an area of professional philosophy - epistemology - with the intention of reclaiming the integrative role John Dewey held for philosophy and classroom practice. Deron Boyles asserts that epistemology can and should represent an area of inquiry that is relevant and useful for philosophy of education, especially as it develops classroom practices that foster inquiry. He specifically seeks to revive Dewey’s conception of warranted assertibility in an effort to show the value of fallibilist epistemology in practical and social teaching and learning contexts. …

The Experience Of E-Learning: Progress Towards A New Learning Paradigm, Audrey Martin, Eugene Mcgovern, Kevin Mooney

Conference papers

This paper reviews the use of E-Learning in the spatial information science programmes of the Technological University of Dublin (DIT).

The spatial information science programmes are placed within the context of the use of E-Learning across the Institute and this paper draws on the experiences of the DIT Learning Technology Team (LTT). The LTT has just completed the initial brief given to it by the DIT strategic planning group charged with ensuring the implementation of E-Learning as a resource in support of the change from a teacher-centred to a learner-centred paradigm.

E-Learning was first introduced in the Department of Spatial …

Towards Non-Prescriptive Issues: A Teaching Framework For Selecting Marketing Dissertation Topics, Conor Horan

Conference papers

There is a significant absence in academic literature, textbooks and practical teaching tools for advising or guiding student learning, in a practical non-prescriptive manner, toward topic selection and development. Prescriptive or rational approaches, taken by many research methods textbooks, are not adequate or sufficient when teaching this important first stage in the research process. Non-prescriptive approaches describing manageable steps should be researched more to fill this pedagogic gap. This paper attempts to promote academic discussion on a pedagogic gap that is broadly overlooked, and to examine how marketing and business academics can better instruct dissertation students in the area of …

Case Studies Of Good Practice In The Assessment Of Student Learning In Higher Education, Roisin Donnelly

Books/Book Chapters

There are two modules on the certificate programme. Module one is entitled ‘Learning and Teaching in Higher Education’. The aim of this module is to provide teachers in higher education with a wide range of practical learning and teaching methods, including the use of relevant learning technologies that will help their students learn more effectively. They will gain solid background knowledge in recognised theories and national and international best practices in learning and teaching in higher education so that they understand the reasons for choosing certain teaching strategies.

The Tutor’S Role As Academic Developer In Blended Problem-Based Learning In Higher Education, Roisin Donnelly

Books/Book Chapters

This chapter is written from the perspective of an academic developer engaged in blending e-learning and problem-based learning as a means of delivery of professional development for academic staff in higher education. There is undoubtedly a wider range of e-learning technologies that are available for use with the more traditional teaching and learning / instructional strategies, but the challenge faced by today’s academic developers is the development of e-learning technologies to support constructivism and social constructivism in learning approaches amongst the academic staff with whom they work, so that this is, in turn, is carried forward into their own classrooms …

Teacher Empathy And Its Relationship To The Standardized Test Scores Of Diverse Secondary Students, Timothy Bruce Bostic

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to ascertain whether there is a relationship between teachers' cognitive role taking aspect of empathy and the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL); English, Reading scores of their students. A correlational research design using hierarchical multiple regression was used to look for this relationship. In order to control for what previous research has shown to contribute to student achievement, a teacher's years of experience, degree level, self-efficacy beliefs about managing classroom behavior and a teacher's expectations for her students were measured and placed into the regression equation. The empathy measure was taken from the …

Mashing Maps, Rachael E. Barlow

Social Sciences Faculty publications

No abstract provided.

Teaching Games For Understanding (Tgfu); A Model For Pre Service Teachers, Gregory J. Forrest, Paul I. Webb, Philip J. Pearson

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) has been present in the Australian sporting community for the last ten years and more recently as the focus of physical education lessons in some Australian schools’ curriculum, especially in NSW. However, the effectiveness of TGfU as a teaching method is limited by the skill of its practitioners in developing the appropriate games and questions to generate understanding opportunities for their students. If practitioners do not develop these skills, there may be limited opportunities for their students to gain skills in critical analysis, deep knowledge and deep understanding, essential in any productive pedagogy.

Linking Teaching Games For Understanding And Quality Teaching In Nsw Secondary Schools, Philip J. Pearson, Paul I. Webb, Kim Mckeen

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

A discussion paper entitled Quality teaching in NSW public schools (Department of Education and Training, 2003) has been developed to improve teaching practice and hence student learning outcomes. The model of pedagogy outlined in this document focuses on the three dimensions of intellectual quality, quality learning environment and significance.

Elements associated with these dimensions such as deep understanding, higher order thinking, student direction and inclusivity can be difficult for teachers to implement into practical lessons. When effectively implemented TGfU is one strategy that allows teachers to address these elements when teaching games in physical education and sport. TGfU places an …

Use Of Visualisation Software To Support Understanding Of Chemical Equilibrium: The Importance Of Appropriate Teaching Strategies, Anula Weerawardhana, Brian Ferry, Christine A. Brown

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper describes the results of a study in which a group of science pre-service teachers used computer-based visualisation software resources to develop teaching strategies and lessons that would support the development of students’ conceptual understanding of chemical equilibrium. They used SMV: CHEM, VisChem and chemistry software packaged with textbooks. The goal was to assist science/chemistry teachers to design lessons that would overcome known difficulties in developing students’ understanding. Four teaching strategies of one teaching team are described in detail to illustrate the multifaceted nature of the way in which the software resources were used in lessons. Such a process …

Teaching Science Concepts In Higher Education Classes With Slow Motion Animation (Slowmation), Garry Hoban, Brian Ferry

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Clay animation is a form of stop motion animation but is rarely used as a teaching approach in higher education classes because it is too tedious and time consuming. “Slow Motion Animation” (Slowmation) is a simplified form of clay animation that is different in four ways and can be completed in 1-2 hour tutorial or workshop: (i) models of science concepts are made and manipulated in the horizontal plane; (ii) a range of materials can be used; (iii) the animations are played at 2-6 frames per second; and (iv) science concepts are annotated with factual text. This study demonstrates how …

The Use Of A Visual Learning Design Representation To Document And Communicate Teaching Ideas, Shirley Agostinho

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

A learning design is a representation of teaching and learning practice documented in some notational form so that it can serve as a model or template adaptable by a teacher to suit his/her context. This paper presents a work-in-progress of a research study that is examining how a learning design representation developed in an Australian federally funded project known as the Learning Designs project (www.learningdesigns.uow.edu.au) is being used. Eleven participants were interviewed to investigate how they are using the learning design representation and how such a representation could be improved. Preliminary findings indicate that the visual characteristic of this learning …

Fostering Imaginative Expression In Elementary Art Students: A Descriptive Study Of Teacher Strategies, Julia Robinson Bargo

Theses and Dissertations

The students in my elementary art classes did not seem to be creating for themselves. They seemed to have the understanding there was only one correct answer in art class, and the art teacher knew what that answer was. By way of research I have found ways to create an atmosphere in my art room that promotes imagination and self expression in children, thus fostering a free and creative reaction from my students. Through understanding how and why one uses their imagination, an art teacher can enhance a student's ability to build and use his or her knowledge base. I …

Teaching Games For Understanding - 10 Years In Australia, Philip J. Pearson, Paul I. Webb, Kim Mckeen

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

TGfU was introduced to the Australian sporting community in 1996, through workshops presented by Rod Thorpe who was visiting from Loughborough University, England. Now, 10 years on, with the concept having been the focus of many coaching workshops and professional development sessions for physical education teachers and sports coaches, one would expect that TGfU would be well known and utilised among these groups.

This paper reports on the knowledge, understanding and experience that first year physical and health education students at an Australian university have on TGfU. Seventy students were surveyed by questionnaire and then actively engaged in a variety …