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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

A Model For Professional Development Of Teaching Games For Understanding For Teachers In New South Wales, Australia, Paul I. Webb, Philip J. Pearson, Kim Mckeen

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

With the advent of a new syllabus for secondary schools (years 7-10) and a quality teaching focus in New South Wales schools the Australian Council of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER, New South Wales) determined that there was a need for the professional development of teachers in teaching games for understanding (TGfU) and relating this to the new syllabus. The result was a full day professional development workshop for teachers of which five have been held and which approximately 200 teachers have attended. This paper will address the content of the workshop and respondents comments about the workshop.

The …

Teaching Functionally Equivalent Replacement Behaviors To Students With Problem Behavior: What? How? Why?, Robert L. Morgan, E. Vasquez

Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Teaching Pretend Play Skills Toa Student With Autism Using Video Modeling With A Sibling As Model And Play Partner, K. A. Reagon, Thomas S. Higbee, K. Endicott

Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling Faculty Publications

We taught a four-year-old boy diagnosed with autism and his older brother to engage in four pretend play scenarios using video modeling. The older brother acted in the video models with a typically developing peer. Both the participant and his sibling successfully engaged in the four scenarios during intervention as well as maintenance and generalization probes conducted in their home. This case study illustrated that siblings of children with autism can perform in video models as well as engage in pretend play with their sibling with autism. In addition, the child with autism may benefit from sibling-oriented interventions as indicated …

Can Blending Face-To-Face Teaching With E-Learning Support The Development Of Phase 4 Apprentices In Mathematics: A Formative Evaluation Research Study, Peter Hinch

Theses

This thesis is a formative evaluation research study_ Its purpose is to establish if

blending face--to-face and e-leaming delivery methods can support the development of

Phase 4 apprentice plumbers in mathematics in the Department of Construction Skills in

the Technologicl University Dublin. The study also included the design, development

and evaluation of a mathematics web site called Plumatics 4 U which is grounded in

established theoretical criteria for effective blended delivery within third level

education. This web site is currently in use by Phase 4 apprentice plumbers and is

delivered through WebCT. The CD accompanying this thesis contains a short …

Teacher Autonomy : A Review Of The Research Literature, Jaime A. Usma-Wilches

Graduate Research Papers

This paper reviews conceptual and empirical research on teacher autonomy in the context of school reform across countries. Research shows that teacher autonomy can be conceptualized as a personal sense of freedom from interference or in terms of teachers' exercise of control in four different school domains: Teaching and assessment, curriculum development, school functioning, and professional development. Research also confirms that teachers' autonomy for decision making is shaped by a number of personal and contextual factors, and that teachers' directed professional development experiences may enhance their autonomy. This review clarifies the meaning of teacher autonomy and other related terms, and …