Education Commons^™

One Teacher's Response To Literacy Learning And Teaching Using Technology, Lisa K. Kervin, Pauline T. Jones

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The federal government’s pledge for increased access to computers for students has been held up as “groundbreaking reform” as “digital schools” become a reality for more students. However, access to technology remains uneven across schools, student competency levels differ and teacher expertise varies considerably. Incorporating new technologies such as laptops, wireless connectivity, smartboards and mobile communication devices into interactive practices frequently requires rethinking configurations of curriculum, bodies and space.

Teachers are experts in pedagogy, but not necessarily in technology. It is vital that teachers are acknowledged for the considerable knowledge they have about their profession – what constitutes ‘good’ pedagogy, …

An Instructional Challenge Through Problem Solving For Physics Teacher Candidates, Samson Nashon, David Anderson, Wendy S. Nielsen

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The teaching of science, especially at pre-college and teacher education levels has undergone tremendous transformation over the years: from teacher-centred transmission to student-centred approaches rooted in constructivism. Whereas constructivism has been charged with all manner of shortfalls, it still can be of benefit to the way physics instructions are organized and implemented. In this paper, the importance of learners' prior knowledge in understanding physics concepts is discussed. This study comprised a case of two cohorts of physics teacher candidates who had strong content knowledge of physics, but lacked pedagogical knowledge as demonstrated by their struggles to implement appropriate grade-level strategies …