Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Teachers' Perspectives And Suggestions For Improving Teacher Education To Facilitate Student Learning, Dina Linkenhoker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to give teachers a voice to express their self-efficacy beliefs, their opinions about the content and the effectiveness of their teacher preparation programs to facilitate student learning, and to hear their suggestions for improving teacher education to enable future educators to achieve that goal. The advent of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 2002, referred to as No Child Left Behind, has reframed the debate on teacher quality. Across the board, from scholars to government officials to private foundations, there is a call for reform of schools of …

The Impact Of Teacher Attitudes And Perceptions Of Direct Instruction On Student Achievement In Reading, Sharon Collum

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2004), 37% of America's fourth graders are not reading at grade level. This statistic has remained unchanged for over a decade (NCES, 2004). Findings from multiple studies indicate more research on successfully implementing reading interventions is needed (Begeny & Silber, 2006; Begeny, Krouse, Ross, & Mitchell, 2009). Barnyak and Paquette (2010) suggested that although teachers learn new methods, they return to the strategies they are most comfortable using. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to determine if teacher attitudes and perceptions of direct instruction impacted student achievement in reading. Elementary …

A Heuristic Inquiry Into The Stress That Home Educators Experience, Jennifer Rathmell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the stress that families incur when they choose home education as their primary educational method. Extensive studies exist regarding stress that traditional education teacher's experience. However, the research on stress experienced by parents who are the primary educators of their children is limited. This study endeavored to provide insight and add to the home-education body of research. Using a heuristic inquiry research design, nine home educators participated in four data collection methods: a homeschool questionnaire, The Occupational Stress Inventory - Revised (OSI-R), a focus group, and individual interviews. …

A Phenomenological Study Of Teacher And Administrator Experiences In The Analysis And Interpretation Of Student Assessment Data, Matthew Ross

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative empirical phenomenological study was to examine the experience of analyzing and interpreting student assessment data from the perspective of both teachers and administrators in order to identify: (a) those aspects of the experiences which are similar or dissimilar among the two groups, (b) the priorities and influences which affect those experiences, and (c) the most critical issues expressed by the participants. Ten teachers and five administrators participated in three in-depth individual interviews, online reflective journaling, and follow-on focus group interviews. This study revealed that the experiences of teachers and administrators can be characterized and described …

An Examination Of Newbery Medal Books From The 1920s Through The 2000s: Biblical Perspective, Kimberly Fleming

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Content analysis was conducted to determine the frequency of the presence of positive Biblical virtues and paired opposite traits across 18 Newbery Medal books from the 1920s through the 2000s because the Newbery Award is a prestigious honor bestowed upon children's literature, and the criteria for selection among books specifically precludes the necessity of good character. The fruit of the spirit listed in Galatians 5:22 served as the rubric by which the characters' thoughts, dialogue, and actions were measured. Consensus data was recorded, and chi-square tests of independence were conducted after three readers examined the presence and frequency of each …

Enhancing The Team Experience In Service Learning Courses, Audrey Falk

Education Faculty Publications

Service learning is pervasive in higher education today, with 31 percent of students at Campus Compact member schools engaging in service activities (Campus Compact, 2009) and universities’ missions and strategic planning documents increasingly aimed at developing engaged citizens. Service learning has many potential benefits for college students; among those benefits is the opportunity to develop and practice teamwork skills. The present paper describes the strategies used in a team-based service learning course to support positive team experiences for students.

The Eastman Scholar Mathletes: A Collaborative Partnership, Ryan Andrew Nivens, Jack Rhoton, George Poole, Hugh Imboden

ETSU Faculty Works

Excerpt: Professional development has been of central importance throughout the mathematics education reforms in our educational history. Recognizing that math teachers represent the major link between the curriculum and student learning, expert practitioners, researchers, and policy makers emphasize professional development as an essential mechanism for deepening teachers’ content knowledge and developing their teaching practices.

Teaching About Global Debt In Social Studies Classrooms, Anand Marri, Timothy Patterson, Scott Wylie

Education Faculty Publications

The article offers guidelines in teaching high school students about global debt in their social studies class in the U.S. It outlines various ways on how to infuse discussions about global debt into social studies classrooms which include connecting the topic of global debt on a student's personal finance, providing of instructional materials, and focusing on public policy dilemmas. The author suggests teaching students about global debt through student-centered pedagogy.

The Value Of Nj School Distict Demographic Data In Explainining School District Nj Ask Grade 3 Language Arts And Mathematics Scores, Peter G. Turnamian

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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I-Stem Summer Institute: An Integrated Approach To Teacher Professional Development In Stem, Louis S. Nadelson, Anne Seifert, Amy J. Moll, Brad Coats

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The importance of STEM education to societal developments provides justification for assuring K–12 teachers are prepared to teach the related content. Inservice teacher professional development is critical to achieving the goal of enhanced student knowledge of STEM. Combining the need for increased capacity to teach STEM and the extant literature on teacher development, we created a four-day residential summer institute for 230 grade 4–9 teachers. The institute was designed to enhance the participants' content knowledge, use of inquiry for instruction, and efficacy for teaching STEM. A combination of content strands, plenary sessions, field trips and planning time were augmented by …

Teacher Evaluation Systems And Multi-Cultural Commonalities And Challenges: England, Mexico, Portugal, Finland, Ireland, And Turkey, Jacqueline P. Kelleher, Sandra Kase

Education Faculty Publications

Our hope is that policymakers, educators, and concerned citizens will focus on teacher evaluation (in the United States) as a way to ensure high quality teaching and to promote both professional development and reflective self assessment. We advocate for credible tools and appropriate preparation of evaluators conducting the assessment of teachers and school-based staff. Further, we argue for time - time allocation for school leaders to observe and evaluate in meaningful ways, followed by targeted, rich dialogue about practice and professional growth. District level policies will need to be developed and 17 implemented to ensure this exchange can occur right …

Why Western Australian Secondary Teachers Resign, Tony Fetherston, Geoff Lummis

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In recent years, Western Australian school have faced a significant increase in the number of secondary school teacher resignations. By analysing qualitative data gathered from interviews of 11 recently resigned secondary teachers, and three senior level administrators, the researchers sought to begin to understand the reasons behind a teacher attrition rate that has increased markedly since 2003. By placing the teachers’ experiences within a framework of critical social theory, the paper outlines how collisions with power and the negative discourse encountered by teachers established their subsequent pathway to resignation. In outlining these pathways, we have provided an anthology of their …

The Influence Of An Activity-Based Explicit Approach On The Turkish Prospective Science Teachers’ Conceptions Of The Nature Of Science, Suat Celik, Samih Bayrakceken

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an activity-based explicit nature of science (NOS) instruction undertaken in the context of a “Science, Technology and Society” course on the prospective science teachers’ (PSTs’) understandings of NOS. In this course, social science based inquiry activities were used to as a context to lead reflection and explicit discussions and project based learning approach (PBL) was used to model an active student centred NOS teaching and learning. Participants were 36 senior PSTs. An adopted form of VNOS questionnaire along with semi-structured interviews was used to assess participants’ conceptions before and …

Student And Staff Engagement: Developing An Engagement Framework In A Faculty Of Education, Sharon M. Pittaway

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Student engagement is emerging as a key focus in higher education, as engagement is increasingly understood as a prerequisite for effective learning. This paper reports on the development of an Engagement Framework that provides a practical understanding of student (and staff) engagement which can be applied to any discipline, year level or course. The Engagement Framework proposes five non-hierarchical elements: personal engagement, academic engagement, intellectual engagement, social engagement, and professional engagement. As well as describing these elements, the paper also explores the theoretical foundations of the Engagement Framework, including a recognition of the importance of conation as one of three …

Developing The Vision: Preparing Teachers To Deliver A Digital World-Class Education System, Jenny M. Lane

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In 2008 Australians were promised a ‘Digital Education Revolution’ by the government to dramatically change classroom education and build a ‘world-class education system’. Eight billion dollars have been spent providing computer equipment for upper secondary classrooms, yet there is little evidence that a revolution has occurred in Australian schools. Transformation of an education system takes more than a simplistic hardware solution. Revolutions need leaders and leaders need vision. In this paper, I argue that we must first develop educational leaders by inspiring future teachers with a vision and by designing our teacher-education courses as technology-rich learning-spaces. A multi-layered scenario is …

Service-Learning: A Valuable Component Of Pre-Service Teacher Education, Dianne J. Chambers, Shane Lavery

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

There is recognition that involvement in service-learning can impact positively on the development of pre-service teachers professionally, culturally and academically (Billig & Freeman, 2010; Anderson, 1998). This article explores and describes the experiences of pre-service teachers in the School of Education at the University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) who are undertaking two service learning units as part of their teacher education. This research is based on qualitative data collected from pre-service teachers on completion of their service learning units. Initially, service-learning as a concept is explored with particular reference to four basic elements identified in the literature (Jacoby, 1996; …

Elementary Teacher Education In Papua New Guinea: Towards A Culturally Connected Perspective Of Teaching, Casper Hahambu, Joanne M. Brownlee, E. Anne Petriwskyj

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Global and national agendas for quality education have led to reforms in Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) elementary education, but criticism of the learner-centred Western pedagogies has emerged. One key influence on quality teacher education relates to perspectives of teaching. Existing research shows teachers’ beliefs and perceptions of teaching influence their practice, however to date little research has investigated perspectives of teaching for elementary education in PNG. This single exploratory case study investigated the perspectives of teaching for eighteen elementary teacher trainers as they studied for a Bachelor of Early Childhood (Teacher Education). The study, drawing on an interpretivist paradigm, analysed …

Eportfolio Implementation In The Master's Program Of Business Educaiton And Development, Michaela Stock, Anna Winkelbauer

International Journal for Business Education

The introduction of the new Master’s Program of Business Education and Development in the winter term of 2009/10 also marked the ePortfolio-initiative’s kick-off. At the same time the companion research was started to accompany the initiative for a period of at least six terms. This article gives insights into the initial results of the companion research, which has the purpose to examine the ePortfolio-initiative’s effectiveness.

2012 Ijbe Front Matter, Tamra Connor

International Journal for Business Education

1. Editorial Board
2. President's Letter
3. SIEC-ISBE International

How To Become A Good Business Teacher: Developing Competences Of Prospective Business Education Teachers, Elisabeth Riebenbauer, Michaela Stock

International Journal for Business Education

The mission of teacher education is to equip prospective teachers with the knowledge, skills, attitude and behaviour they need to deliver their best performance in the classroom and at school. This paper presents ideas for optimizing teacher education using the example of the master's program of Business Education and Development at the University of Graz, placing a special focus on the acquisition of teacher competences. The biggest milestone in the curriculum is the teaching practice, the success of which strongly depends on good cooperation among students, teachers, schools, university, and school authorities. The second part of this article will be …