Collaborative development of anatomy workshops for medical and dental students in Cambodia

After Phnom Penh was liberated from the Khmer Rouge in 1979, health science education in Cambodia had to be completely rebuilt. In this article, the authors report the results of a teaching collaboration between the University of Melbourne (Australia), the International University (Cambodia), and the University of Health Sciences (Cambodia). The main objectives in this collaboration were to provide the opportunity for dental and medical students in Cambodia to attend resourced anatomy workshops and to provide an opportunity for anatomy teachers in Cambodia to gain experience in implementing anatomy workshops of the style that are routinely used in the medical and dental curricula at the University of Melbourne. Experienced anatomy educators from the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Melbourne, designed and resourced a series of workshops and then delivered these in collaboration with Cambodian teaching staff in Phnom Penh. The Cambodian students who participated in the workshops were incredibly engaged and enthusiastic. The students' evaluations (by questionnaire) indicated a very positive response to the workshops. All of the workshop resources were donated to the two universities so that the staff could continue to implement similar workshops, and plans were developed to continue our collaboration by developing more resourced workshops for this purpose in the future. Two staff members from Cambodia will travel to Melbourne to participate in anatomy workshops and dissection classes at the University of Melbourne. We hope that this extension of the collaboration provides further support and impetus for the development of anatomy education in Cambodia in the future.     

Effects of Integrating Hypermedia into Elementary Science Professional Development on Science Content Knowledge

Past research has indicated that a number of problems in the teaching of science in elementary classrooms are rooted in the preparation of inservice teachers. One continuing concern is elementary teachers' lack of science content knowledge. As indicated by numerous research studies reporting positive results, one method of addressing these problems is through inservice teacher professional development workshops. While improved content knowledge has been reported as a positive result of professional development workshops, elementary science workshops have not resulted in the same success levels as other subject areas. One method of addressing some of the deficiencies in elementary science professional development workshops is with the integration of hypermedia into the professional development environment. This study examined whether the integration of hypermedia into elementary science professional development workshops resulted in greater increases in the science content knowledge of elementary teachers of science than traditional methods of elementary science professional development workshops. Workshops that integrated hypermedia into the professional development environment resulted in a significant increase in inservice elementary teachers' science content knowledge, when compared to the control group. However, when compared to the experimental group that participated in workshops without hypermedia, however, there was no significant difference in increases of science content knowledge. Implications of these outcomes are discussed.     

名师工作室与教师专业成长实证研究——基于225个名师工作室的调查与访谈

名师工作室的实践探索已有10多年历史,让名师来引领未来名师已成为教师专业成长的共识。2008年开始,浙江省成立名师工作站,对225个名师工作室进行理论引领和实践指导。通过对1558位工作室成员问卷调查,表明名师工作室是教师专业成长的重要载体,其中最有效的活动形式是“名师引领”“共享交流”“主题研修”,文章还对工作室的进一步发展提出若干对策建议。     

SHORT‐TERM TRAINING VISION AND AGING PROJECT

The Pennsylvania College of Optometry, with funding from the Administration on Aging, conducted two series of “Vision and Aging” workshops. The project directive was to improve the knowledge of long‐term care and optometric professionals caring for elderly individuals. A total of 86 optometrists and 74 long‐term care professionals completed their respective 2‐day workshops. Evaluation data revealed that participants had little knowledge/skills about vision and aging; the workshops were informative and relevant; interactive strategies employed were favorably received; and participants' knowledge of vision and aging increased. Additional vision‐related training, services, and activities for the elderly have occurred since the workshops were conducted.     

Peer Tutoring for Anatomy Workshops in Cambodia

Historical loss of staff and teaching resources in Cambodia has resulted in significant challenges to anatomy education. Small group anatomy teaching opportunities are limited. A visit to Cambodia by a teaching team from the University of Melbourne in 2010 demonstrated it was possible to implement well-resourced anatomy workshops for this purpose. However, continuation of the workshop program was inhibited by the limited number of local teaching staff. In 2015, another team from the University of Melbourne returned to Cambodia to implement anatomy workshops that incorporated peer tutoring. The objective was to improve teacher-to-student ratios and to demonstrate that interactive anatomy workshops could be delivered successfully despite low staff numbers. The anatomy workshops were attended by 404 students of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, and Midwifery at the University of Puthisastra. Medical students were invited to act as peer tutors for nursing students. A five-point Likert scale questionnaire was used to determine student satisfaction with both the workshops and peer tutoring. The overwhelming majority were positive about the workshops and keen for them to continue. Almost all medical students who acted as peer tutors agreed or strongly agreed that this role increased their anatomical knowledge (98%) and confidence (94%). Most nursing students agreed or strongly agreed with statements that they would like peer tutoring to continue (94%) and that they would like to be peer tutors themselves (88%). This report demonstrates that peer tutoring could be an effective tool in educational settings where poor staff-to-student ratios limit delivery of interactive workshops.     

Population education in the USA

By the late 1960s, universities and private organizations began to develop population education programs and courses in the wake of the warning of demographer Philip M. Hauser about the lack of demographic information in the school curriculum. In the early 1970s, the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare provided limited funding for teacher training workshops and classroom materials. Baltimore City's district wide population education program proved successful in 1975 after 10 years of work, population education materials were adopted in the official social studies curriculum, and this model was accepted later by other school systems. In 1979 not quite 15 US colleges and universities taught population issues at graduate-level training or by offering workshops and materials. By the mid-1970s, universities and private organizations were conducting conferences and workshops for secondary school teachers. In the 1970s, these included the Center for Information on America. Environment-Population Education Services, Planned Parenthood, Population Institute, Population Reference Bureau (PRB), the World Bank, and Zero Population Growth (ZPG). In the 1970s and early 1980s various other organizations contributed to population educations, e.g. the University of Cincinnati by organizing institutes, the National Catholic Educational Association representing 8200 schools ZPG with teacher-training workshops, and PRB with meaningful materials for students and teachers. The state of population education in 1992 means that PRB staff lead 15-30 workshops each year and provide workshop materials for teachers. ZPG emphasizes hands-on learning. Pet Net, a network of volunteer teacher trainers leading workshops, and ZPG staff conducted 88 workshops in 1991.     

The impact of educational development workshops on teachers’ practice

Abstract

Workshops are common practice as a staff and educational development tool in higher education around the world, yet while it is common to seek participants’ immediate reactions there been little attempt made to measure their impact. This paper reviews the available literature on the effectiveness of workshops and reports the findings of a study in to the effectiveness of 33 workshops delivered by the Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development over a four month period. The study used questionnaires at the end of the workshops and four months later, and these were followed up by telephone interviews with a sample of participants. The study demonstrates that workshops can lead to changes in practice, and that these changes are themselves deemed to be successful by those involved. In addition, where at the end of a workshop participants report that they are likely to make changes this can be used as a reasonably accurate predictor of subsequent change. The features of workshops identified in end‐of‐workshop questionnaires which are linked with likelihood of subsequent change are also reported.     

Replacing Lecture with Peer-led Workshops Improves Student Learning

Peer-facilitated workshops enhanced interactivity in our introductory biology course, which led to increased student engagement and learning. A majority of students preferred attending two lectures and a workshop each week over attending three weekly lectures. In the workshops, students worked in small cooperative groups as they solved challenging problems, evaluated case studies, and participated in activities designed to improve their general learning skills. Students in the workshop version of the course scored higher on exam questions recycled from preworkshop semesters. Grades were higher over three workshop semesters in comparison with the seven preworkshop semesters. Although males and females benefited from workshops, there was a larger improvement of grades and increased retention by female students; although underrepresented minority (URM) and non-URM students benefited from workshops, there was a larger improvement of grades by URM students. As well as improving student performance and retention, the addition of interactive workshops also improved the quality of student learning: Student scores on exam questions that required higher-level thinking increased from preworkshop to workshop semesters.     

'I Would Have Worried About Her Being A Nuisance': Workshops for children under three and their parents at Tate Britain

This article reports on a series of eight workshops for children under three and their parents. The workshops took place at Tate Britain, London, and they were collectively known as 'Big and small; short and tall'. The article outlines the approach used to evaluate the workshops, particularly the way in which parents' experiences, and their views on children's experiences, were given prominence. Despite the potential difficulties of taking very young children into an art gallery, most parents said they were pleased with their children's engagement. Parent feedback suggests that the structure and content of the workshops did much to enable them and their children to learn about art and artists together. Moreover, some confirmed that their joint involvement had stimulated further learning at home and life-wide learning more generally.     

Manifestations of Greek-Cypriot teachers' discomfort toward a peace education initiative: Engaging with discomfort pedagogically

This study sought to understand how teachers' discomforting emotions were manifest in a teacher education setting and how teacher educators might engage with discomfort pedagogically. A qualitative perspective was used with a group of teachers who participated in a series of peace education workshops in Cyprus. All of the workshops were audio- and video-recorded; in-depth interviews were also conducted with seven focal participants before and after the workshops. The findings show the manifestations of discomfort, the sources of discomfort, and the ways of handling teachers' discomfort pedagogically. The paper discusses how this study may inform teacher education.     

The development and evaluation of workshops for parents and carers of people with profound and multiple impairments

SUMMARY

The MENCAP Profound Retardation and Multiple Handicap Project conducted a national survey of the needs of parents and carers of children and adults with profound and multiple impairments. The survey identified a number of areas of priority in which parents and carers requested support and advice. A programme of workshops in each of these areas has been established. This paper briefly describes the development and evaluation of these workshops. The materials from the workshops will be disseminated on a wider scale to make them available to anyone involved in service provision for people with profound and multiple impairments.     

The Use of Coffee Spoons in the Assessment of Teaching

This article reports on In‐Service Education and Training (INSET) workshops offered in Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces in the field of environmental education. The purpose of these workshops is to assist practising teachers to enhance their teaching skills, to infuse environmental education in their teaching and to participate in solving environmental problems in their communities. Aspects of the workshops were assessed using a questionnaire which was completed by teachers on conclusion of the workshops. These data are provided as well as recommendations provided by the attendees. Although this is a case study report where findings are usually not perceived to be generalisable, it is believed that the participants' perceptions of and recommendations for improving INSET opportunities could substantially inform similar INSET initiatives.     

The Future of the Liberal Arts

For the past year, we have been co-facilitating Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) workshops across Pittsburgh, tailored specifically toward local educators and educational activists. The overarching intentions of these workshops were twofold: (a) to cultivate educators’ understanding of and response to how power and privilege operate in educational systems; and (b) to provide useful tools for educators to continue these conversations and dismantle systems of oppression in their places of practice. As a collective of facilitators and in our workshops, we attempt to create, even if briefly, a beloved community where participants are invited to bring their full, human selves and engage in nuanced reflection in the hopes of creating a more compassionate, just, and equitable society. Like our workshops, the purpose of this article is both practical and theoretical: (a) to provide tangible tools to those readers interested in facilitating TO workshops for educators; and (b) to contribute to our understanding of how TO can serve to cultivate educators’ analysis of oppression.     

Creating Aliens: The Ultimate Life Sciences Activity

All-girl engineering workshops are increasing in popularity as a means to attract females into the male-dominated field of engineering. However, the effectiveness of such workshops as a recruitment tool is unclear. This report summarizes several research studies on this topic with the intent of showing the effectiveness of such workshops and other novel methods of introducing and retaining females throughout the schooling years. The analyzed literature identifies the most effective means of encouraging females into the field of engineering as ones that incorporate the following factors: true knowledge of profession, building a network of support, and realizing relevance to personal goals. Suggestions for increasing participation of women in nontraditional occupations are provided.     

基于网络教学平台的高职翻译作坊教学模式研究

21世纪的翻译工作坊教学需与信息化媒介相结合。文章探讨了基于网络教学平台的高职翻译工作坊的总体构建,从课前研讨和协同式翻译、课中成果交流、课后项目总结和经验分享等三个教学阶段,介绍了具体实施方案,并辅以相应的案例教学。实践表明,坚持师生双方的角色和作用,注重翻译实践与理论知识的紧密融合,做好对学生的过程化监控,能最大程度地发挥信息化翻译工作坊教学效果。     

中学政治学科名师工作室的实践探索与理性思考

中学政治学科名师工作室是指由某一地区中学政治学科首席名师领衔,多名中学政治学科骨干教师组成,以政治学科研究和青年政治教师培养为主要内容,以提高中学政治教师教育教学、教育研究能力和促进中学政治教师专业成长为目的的研修共同体,是名师工作室的重要组成部分.它既具有名师工作室的共性,又具有自身的特点.随着实践的不断深入,中学政治学科名师工作室在具体实施过程中,暴露出了不少问题,如定位不准、方向不明,自主专业发展的意识不够,持续性发展的后劲不足,评估手段繁琐、效果差等,这些问题严重影响着中学政治学科名师工作室作用的充分发挥.因此,为实现中学政治学科名师工作室的高效、科学运行,必须要采取转变观念、明确自我定位、树立“政治名师服务工作室”思想;大力发展政治名师工作室“草根化”经营道路;进一步强化政治名师工作室的区域辐射功能;完善政治名师工作室考核评估体系等有效措施,推进中学政治学科名师工作室的建设与发展.     

‘I'm a dancer’ and ‘I've got a saucepan stuck on my head’: metaphor in helping lecturers to develop being-for-uncertainty

University lecturers need to help their students to develop ways of being that will allow them to flourish amidst uncertainty. Professional development workshops involving artwork and reflection provide a space where lecturers themselves can hold, examine and develop tolerance for uncertainty. Artwork and exploration of metaphors enable them to reflect on who they are as teachers, and what teaching means to them; two enquiries that are likely to involve some encounters with uncertainty. Two series of art workshops were offered to 11 nurse educators over two periods of three months. The workshops were characterised by exploration of metaphors, which allowed participants to draw on and move beyond naïve inquiry. Photographs of their artwork are presented, which demonstrate that participants were enabled to make a restorative space in their workplace, stay with ambiguity and re-embody their thinking.     

Teacher Professional Development and Informal Learning Environments: Investigating Partnerships and Possibilities

To provide meaningful science experiences for students, educators need quality science experiences themselves from which to draw. Informal learning contexts, such as museums, are well positioned to provide educators with these professional development experiences. We investigated the impact museum-created professional development experiences had on 54 elementary teachers. Quantitative data were collected through an exit survey and qualitative data through survey questions and interviews. We found a significant difference between how teachers rated these workshops and how they rated other workshops. Teachers reported that the workshops helped them to (a) increase science content knowledge, (b) understand the process of science-scientific fieldwork, (c) change instructional methods, (d) connect natural science content with formal instruction, and (e) learn about museum resources for the classroom.