Education Commons^™

Reforming Elementary Science Teacher Preparation: What About Extant Teaching Beliefs?, Julie A. Thomas, Jon E. Pedersen

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

A common maxim in the educational profession is that one teaches the way one is taught. Indications are that preservice teachers' beliefs, attitudes, and practices may be linked to previous experiences. Calderhead and Robson (1991) underscored this concern by asserting that teachers use good teachers as models for developing their own images as teachers. Others have argued that the images held by teachers are used as frames of reference for their own teaching practices. In this article, preservice teachers' perceptions of themselves as science teachers are examined. The assertion is made that a long history of stereotypical science learning experiences—in …

Claiming Opportunities: A Handbook For Improving Education For English Language Learners Through Comprehensive School Reform, Maria Coady, Edmund T. Hamann, Margaret Harrington, Maria Pacheco, Samboeun Pho, Jane Yedlin

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

For the last decade, the national comprehensive school reform movement has been a focus of efforts to make public education accessible and effective for all students. Comprehensive reform strives to improve schooling for all children through integrated, well-aligned, school- wide changes in instruction, assessment, curriculum, classroom management, school governance, professional development, technical assistance, and community participation. As a sign of its continuing support for comprehensive school reform, Congress formally incorporated the Comprehensive School Reform program (CSR) into the Elementary and Secondary Act (No Child Left Behind, or NCLB) of 2001.

The last decade has also seen a dramatic increase in …

The Call To Play, Margaret A. Macintyre Latta, Karl Hostetler

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This article explores the nature of play and its presence and potential in teaching and learning encounters. Play is portrayed as a movement that can characterize the process of learning and teachers’ reflections on their practice. The exercise of techne and phronesis are found to be key but problematic elements in this movement. The paper is in the form of a conversation, a medium calling the authors themselves to play with the play that might occur in classrooms. Thus, the authors’ play is itself a subject for inquiry. Their interplay warrants considering play to be an elemental activity for reconceptualizing …

Bumble Boosters: Doing Science As A Community Of Learners, Douglas A. Golick, Marion D. Ellis

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Bumble bees are an excellent organism for engaging high school students in research. They are a recognizable insect and an important pollinator, and much remains to be discovered about the biology of many species. Bumble Boosters was a teaching and research project funded by the Nebraska Lottery’s Educational Innovation Fund. The project began in June 1999 and ended in June 2002.

The National Honors Report Vol. Xxiv, No. 2 Summer 2003

The National Honors Report

LEARNING COMES TOGETHER

1. The Age of Discovery and the Age of Transition: Discovery and Research in the New Millennium by William Knox ... l Knox asks us to rethink the idea of discovery in an age when a new discovery one minute becomes old news in the next. What will the future hold in an age of accelerated contact? How are honors programs to respond to such rapid change?

2. Travels with Noah by Brian Adler ... 5 Several journeys with Adler's son, Noah, lead to a discovery about monuments of the intellect as well as existing, physical monuments. …

Home/School/Community Collaboration: Connections For Kids, Susan M. Sheridan

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools: Posters, Addresses, and Presentations

“Community”
The Importance of Connections for Kids
Relationships & Engagement
Parent Engagement
Indicators of Parent Engagement
Beyond Parent Engagement: The Importance of Continuity
From an “Engaged Parent” to an “Engaged Partnership”
Defining Characteristics of Engaged Partnerships
Role of the School Psychologist

Nefdc Exchange, Volume 14, Number 1, Spring 2003, New England Faculty Development Consortium

NEFDC Exchange

Contents

Message from the President - Jeff Halprin, Nichols College

Keynote speaker, fall conference 2003: Parker Palmer, American Association of Higher Education; theme: The Courage to Teach

Teaching In Community at Northern Essex Community College - Judith Kamber, Northern Essex Community College

6th Annual Faculty Development Roundup, June 6, 2003. Nichols College

Universal design - Lisa Isleb, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Board of Directors

The National Honors Report Xxiii, No. 4, Winter 2003

The National Honors Report

ASSESSMENT

Figuring It Out

Introduction

1. "Just a Buzzword?" by Margaret Brown ... 1 In the next article by Ron Dotterer he asks if assessment will still be a hot topic in 2008-and he was writing in 1988. What is the answer?

Why Do It?

2. "Assessment: A Retrospective Look" by Ron Dotterer ... 2 In this article, Ron Dotterer, at that time honors director at Susquehanna University and a member of the NCHC Executive Committee, provides an overview of assessment, which he calls "a new and improved brand name" for evaluation. Assessment, Dotterer asserts, focuses too much on outcomes. …

The National Honors Report Vol. Xxiv, No. 1, Spring 2003

The National Honors Report

THE GEOGRAPHY OF HONORS

1. Think, Believe, Act on a Himalayan Scale by Rosalie Otero … 1 In Rosalie Otero's Presidential Speech, she reminds us that we learn through the quest for learning. Setting our sights higher is the challenge of honors: finding a new and different view of the world and getting there with groups more and more diversified and through means expanding to include virtual journeys.

2. Earl Brown: Colleague, Leader, and Friend by Bob Spurrier … 6 A tribute to former Executive Secretary Treasurer Earl Brown upon his reaching the top of his profession, thanks to the …

Reflections On The Field: Imagining The Future Of The Anthropology Of Education If We Take Laura Nader Seriously, Edmund T. Hamann

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

The large corpus of scholarship of cultural anthropologist Laura Nader is relevant to the contemporary practice of the anthropology of education. In particular, her work is relevant to contemporary debates about methodology and what constitutes “scientifically based” education research; to the prospect and need for more cross-fertilization within the discipline of anthropology; and for the proud assertion of anthropology’s distinctive suitability for understanding and responding to many contemporary educational challenges, including how to have anthropologically derived insights more favorably compete in the “marketplace of ideas” against less empirically grounded claims and strategies.

Standards For Science Teacher Preparation, National Science Teachers Association

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Any project intending to write education standards for national dissemination and implementation is immediately confronted with the fact that education is a state function, and that the fifty states, plus Puerto Rico, each have their own ideas about what should be taught to their children. Education, unlike many professions, is a highly political act: parents and guardians are concerned about what their children are taught; and various stakeholders have their own ideas about what constitutes a good education. Whether or not they are directly engaged in setting standards, they want to know why a particular set of standards has been …

Falling Into It: Novice Tesol Teacher Thinking, Mark K. Warford, Jenelle Reeves

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

The authors conducted a qualitative study in order to understand the preconceptions novice TESOL teachers might have about teaching English language. Long interviews were conducted with nine students (six native English Speakers and three non-native speakers (NNS)) enrolled in one of two courses offered in a TESOL teacher education program. None of the participants had experience as an in-service teacher. Inductive analysis of tape transcripts suggested the presence of several conceptual themes discussed in the teacher thinking literature. Findings suggest that novice TESOL teachers, like their more experienced counterparts, have a system of metaphors to conceptualize teaching. The apprenticeship of …

The Risk Of Intelligent Design, Lawrence C. Scharmann

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Alternative explanations to evolution are very popular these days. An articulate advocacy exists for the Intelligent Design (ID) theory, led nationally by the Seattle-based Discovery Institute and academicians like Michael Behe (1996), Phillip Johnson (1997), and William Dembski (1998). In many U.S. communities science teachers are besieged with requests by local boards of education to include ID and evidence against evolution. Whether national or local, those representing the latest attacks on biological evolution demand such alternatives out of fairness, for religious reasons, or to protect a basic freedom of choice. The motives of individuals making these demands notwithstanding, the consequences …

Ethnic Identity In Transition: Chinese New Year Through The Years, Elaine Chan

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Multiculturalism has been identified as the key educational issue of the epoch. However, despite studies acknowledging the importance of multiculturalism and multilingualism in school contexts and research that attests to the importance of teachers learning about individual students’ experiences of culture rather than generalizing knowledge about culture groups to individual students, there exists only a small, and mostly recent, literature examining ethnic identity experientially. In the spirit of work done by Phillion (1999, 2002), He (1998, 2002a, b), and Hoffman (1989) examining the complexities of factors shaping a sense of ethnic identity, I examine here the experiences of first-generation Chinese …

Constructivism: Defense Or A Continual Critical Appraisal – A Response To Gil-Pérez Et Al., Mansoor Niaz, Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, Alicia Benarroch, Liberato Cardellini, Carlos E. Laburu, NicoláS Marín, Luis A. Montes, Robert Nola, Yuri Orlik, Lawrence C. Scharmann, Chin-Chung Tsai, Georgios Tsaparlis

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Abstract. This commentary is a critical appraisal of Gil-Pérez et al.’s (2002) conceptualization of constructivism. It is argued that the following aspects of their presentation are problematic: (a) Although the role of controversy is recognized, the authors implicitly subscribe to a Kuhnian perspective of ‘normal’ science; (b) Authors fail to recognize the importance of von Glasersfeld’s contribution to the understanding of constructivism in science education; (c) The fact that it is not possible to implement a constructivist pedagogy without a constructivist epistemology has been ignored; and (d) Failure to recognize that the metaphor of the ‘student as a developing scientist’ …

Preservice Elementary School Teachers’ Understandings Of Theory Based Science Education, Edmund A. Marek, Timothy A. Laubach, Jon Pedersen

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Undergirding the science education program examined in this study is a theoretical foundation based upon four cornerstones that reflect scientific inquiry. These four cornerstones are best represented by four key questions: (a) What is science; (b) What are the goals or standards for elementary school science education; (c) What theory describes how elementary school children construct knowledge; and (d) What teaching approach represents the discipline of science, achieves the goals of elementary school science education and accommodates to how children construct knowledge? The learning cycle (Barman & Kotar, 1989; Bentley, Ebert,& Ebert II, 2000; Lawson, Abraham, & Renner, 1989; Marek …

Unlearning: A Critical Element In The Learning Process, Virginia S. Lee

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Research has shown that prior knowledge is a critical determinant in learning. This essay explores the role of student misconceptions and how instructors should address them during the learning process.

Improving Teaching Through Classroom Action Research, Gwynn Mettetal

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

This essay discusses how to conduct small, in-class research projects on student learning in order to document teaching effectiveness and select appropriate teaching strategies.

Helping Students Help Each Other: Making Peer Feedback More Valuable, Linda B. Nilson

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Student peer feedback can be emotionally biased, misinformed, and/or superficial. This essay discusses two types of feedback that yield neutral, valid, and detailed information and enhance students’ audience awareness.

Teaching Circles: Making Inquiry Safe For Faculty, Laurel Black, Mary Ann Cessna

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

How can I improve my teaching? Pressured by a need for high student ratings and administrative demands for excellence in teaching, faculty find a haven and room to learn in teaching circles.

Creating A Culture Of Co-Learners With Problem-Based Learning, Kristi L. Arndt

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Problem-based learning requires a significant shift in the roles and responsibilities traditionally assigned to teachers and students. This essay examines the challenge of truly empowering students as self-directed learners.

Achieving Teaching And Learning Excellence Through Faculty Learning Communities, Milton D. Cox

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

The impressive learning outcomes of student learning communities can be replicated for faculty learning communities (FLCs). This essay describes FLCs and ways they enhance faculty and student learning.

Team Teaching: The Learning Side Of The Teaching-Learning Equation, Mary Jane Eisen, Elizabeth J. Tisdell

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Emphasizing shared ownership of teaching and learning through collaboration, this essay explores the multi-directional process of adult learning in different types of learning situations including on-line education.

Leading Culturally Sensitive Classroom Discussions Following September 11, Devorah Lieberman

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

his essay focuses on strategies for facilitating successful classroom discussion related to the events of 9/11. These suggestions are based on strategies implemented on several campuses across the country.

Proven Faculty Development Tools That Foster The Scholarship Of Teaching In Faculty Learning Communities, Milton D. Cox

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Faculty learning communities have played a key role in the development of the scholarship of teaching and learning at Miami University for over 20 years. This chapter describes a sequence of developmental steps, evidence of success, and supporting documents and artifacts that can guide faculty developers in a community approach to the development of this scholarship.

Embracing A Philosophy Of Lifelong Learning In Higher Education: Starting With Faculty Beliefs About Their Role As Educators, Carolin D. Kreber

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Recent events on the international political scene point to a need to teach course content and learning skills that focus on issues of equity and diversity, understanding of the local culture and differences among cultures,· learning for ethics, citizenship, and democracy. interpersonal skills; and an ability to make informed and responsible value judgments. These, among others, are important aspects of lifelong learning. To embrace a philosophy of lifelong learning in higher education it seems paramount to focus on faculty beliefs about teaching to encourage a critical interrogation of course and program goals. The chapter concludes with several suggestions for the …

A Matrix For Reconsidering, Reassessing, And Shaping E–Learning Pedagogy And Curriculum, Laura Bush, Barry Maid, Duane Roen

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Educational stakeholders are increasingly engaged in discussions about the effective design, distribution, and evaluation of e-learning. We invite educators to build on already existing scholarship as they make future e-learning decisions. Specifically, we combine four categories of academic scholarship from Boyer (1990) with six assessment criteria from Glassick, Huber, and Maeroff (1997) to construct a matrix that may be applied to any post-secondary learning or teaching context. We argue that while each medium in which faculty might find themselves teaching differs from others, the teaching itself, and effective teaching in general, is definable and, therefore, can be evaluated using the …

Using Cooperative Games For Faculty Development, Barbara J. Millis

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Learning through games has been going on for centuries. Faculty developers, however, are only now realizing the impact of well-structured and well-planned games. They not only “educate” engaged faculty members, but they can also motivate them. This chapter discusses the educational value of games, reveals their key underlying principles, and offers two examples of successfal faculty development games (scavenger hunt and Bingo) that can be replicated on any campus.

Bibliography, Volume 21 (2003)

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Bibliography for volume 21 (2003) of To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development.

Establishing A Teaching Academy: Cultivation Of Teaching At A Research University Campus, Patricia Kalivoda, Jodef Broder, William K. Jackson

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

The University of Georgia (UGA) has worked hard over the last 22 years to increase the respect and reward for teaching through the faculty development programs of the office of instructional support and development and through the establishment of two campus-wide teaching awards. Looking for a means to extend a celebration of teaching beyond one-time recognition or one-time participation, the university established a campus-wide teaching academy. The purpose of this chapter is to chronicle the evolution of the teaching academy that was founded at the University of Georgia in 1999. The mission, goals, membership, funding, and programs and activities of …