Leadership for team learning: the case of university teacher teams

Teacher team involvement is considered a key factor in achieving sustainable innovation in higher education. This requires engaging in team learning behaviors that should result in new knowledge and solutions. However, university teachers are not used to discussing their work practices with one another and tend to neglect any innovation in their tasks. Team leadership behavior is often considered essential for stimulating team learning behavior, but it is unclear how this transpires. Therefore, the present study explores university teacher team members’ perceptions of team learning behavior, their assigned task, and leadership behaviors in their team. Interviews were conducted with 16 members of different teacher teams at a university of applied sciences. Findings included that the vast majority of the team learning behaviors only involved sharing ideas; engaging in constructive conflicts and co-constructions was not observed. Only a few teams combined all three team learning behaviors. In these teams, members observed that existing methods and solutions were no longer adequate, with leaders appearing to combine transformational and transactional behaviors, but operating from a distance without actively interfering in the process. Furthermore, these team members shared leadership behaviors while focusing on the team as a whole, instead of solving problems at individual level. This strongly indicates that task perception and specific vertical and shared team leadership behaviors play a role in stimulating teachers in seeking controversy and co-constructing new knowledge.     

“专业群经理负责制”的课程组运行实践

在建筑工程技术专业群建设中,依据学生就业岗位能力需求划分课程组,对“专业群经理负责制”下实施课程组形式的教学管理模式进行了尝试,形成了几方面的优势,但在师资队伍、教材、工程项目教学资源组织等方面还有待于进一步研究探讨．     

Transition from clinical manager to university lecturer: a self-reflective case study

This paper is a case study exploring the author's use of reflective practice to facilitate the transition in role from a clinical manager with teaching responsibilities in a critical care unit to university lecturer. The similarities and differences in the roles with respect to learner characteristics, teaching contexts and effective teaching strategies are discussed. Brookfield's model provides the methodological framework for the process of critically reflective practice undertaken to support and inform the transition. This case study describes a novice academic's reflection through the four lenses of autobiography, the theoretical literature, student feedback and the perspectives of colleagues as she seeks to optimise student engagement and learning using the large lecture as the teaching and learning activity. The author suggests that the use of a framework such as Brookfield's model that supports critical reflection may be of significant benefit to accelerate the personal and professional growth of new academic staff in their teaching practice.     

Instructional design approaches for improving a course in productivity and work measurement

This article explores the teaching styles of the professor, learning styles of the students, characteristics of the students, comparisons of Pearson's correlation coefficients between student grades earned in the course versus their cumulative grade point averages, and factors to consider for future Web‐enhanced courses. The objectives of the course were to develop students' understanding of productivity and work measurement. It also explored the ability to understand and apply systems thinking and innovative planning for the purpose of improving personal productivity, the productivity of other people, and the productivity of systems and organizations.     

From course assessment to redesign: a hybrid-vehicle course as a case illustration

Assessment has become a central aspect of engineering education for evaluating student learning, attaining accreditation, and ensuring accountability. However, the final step of the assessment process, which requires assessment results be used to redesign courses and programmes, is appreciably underdeveloped in the literature. As such, this work suggests a process, based on the engineering problem-solving method, to analyse and act on problems and successes identified in the assessment results. The process is illustrated through an application to Colorado State University's new programme for Hybrid-Electric Vehicle Engineering, for which the redesign process was originally created. Readers will benefit by simplifying and systematising the essential aspect of the assessment process – application to course redesign – for use in both research and practice applications.     

Age and productivity of university faculties: a case study

This article is a case study of the relationship between the age of persons who are members of the two academic finance associations and the number of articles that they wrote during the period 1975 through 1978. Many of these persons are also known as economists. Attention was focused on articles written in four leading finance journals. Some articles appearing in these journals were written by persons who were not members of finance departments. Their articles in refereed journals other than the leading finance journals were counted also. Productivity of those publishing reached a peak of 0.92 articles per person per year for those able to publish in the four leading finance journals. This peak, which was for the 36- to 40-yr-old group, declined to about half that rate for the 56- to 60-yr-old group. The proportion of the membership who did not publish rose irregularly as a function of age and was above 0.90 for the 61 yr and older group. The reasons for the declining productivity are summarized from a survey of business school deans. Suggestions that have been made for maintaining productivity are reviewed.     

Developing mathematical knowledge for teaching in a methods course: the case of function

This study describes teacher learning in a teaching experiment consisting of a content-focused methods course involving the mathematical knowledge for teaching function. Prospective and practicing teachers in the course showed growth in their ability to define function, to provide examples of functions and link them to the definition, in the connections they could make between function representations, and to consider the role of definition in mathematics and the K-12 classroom. Written assessments, interview data, and class discourse analyses illustrate how the course supported the development of mathematical knowledge that built on individual teachers’ prior knowledge as well as the development of a stronger collective understanding of function.     

Learning at a distance: the case of the community pharmacist

The article, written jointly by a provider and an evaluator of distance learning, begins by highlighting recent increased interest in continuing professional development. In particular community pharmacists' needs for continuing education are examined against a background of their changing role. The authors then report the findings from a one-year evaluation of distance learning materials produced and distributed by the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education at the University of Manchester. The evaluation, undertaken by a team from the Scottish Council for Research in Education, was conducted in two phases: first, a national survey of registered pharmacists, and second, a series of focus group meetings with practising pharmacists. By separating high, low and non-users, a picture of professional use of distance learning, the influence of mediating factors and the inter-relationship between personal motivation and design emerge. Some of the findings challenge the current orthodoxy (see for example, Lewis 1995, Burt 1997, Burt and Simpson 1998, Bennett 1998) which underpins distance learning. Finally, changes made as a consequence of the evaluation are indicated, showing how research can influence practice.     

Mainstream assistance teams: a scientific basis for the art of consultation

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether a consultant-driven prereferral intervention may be shortened in duration, thereby improving its efficiency, without reducing its effectiveness. Subjects were 60 general educators; their 60 most difficult-to-teach pupils without disabilities; and 22 consultants, representing 17 elementary schools in a large metropolitan school system. The teachers were assigned randomly to a short (n = 24) and long version (n = 24) of the prereferral intervention and to a control group (n = 12). Analyses indicated that the two variants of the prereferral intervention improved teacher perceptions of their difficult-to-teach students and decreased referrals for testing and possible special education placement. Moreover, results suggested that the short and long versions were equally effective. Implications for consultation-related activity are discussed.     

Learning to teach mathematics specialists in a synchronous online course: a self-study

This article uses a self-study research methodology to explore teaching an online course for mathematics specialists. The course included weekly videoconferencing sessions and focused on supporting their development as mathematics coaches working with K-8 teachers to enhance mathematics teaching and learning. The central question for the self-study was about the design of the course and the characteristics of the learning environment that resulted from the design. The study included journal reflections and survey data. Three themes emerged in the analysis of the instructional decision making for the course: student autonomy and engagement, authenticity and practicality, and fostering community.     

Application of cognitive apprenticeship model to a graduate course in performance systems analysis: A case study

This article reports a case study describing how the principles of a cognitive apprenticeship (CA) model developed by Collins, Brown, and Holum (1991) were applied to a graduate course on performance systems analysis (PSA), and the differences this application made in student performance and evaluation of the course compared to the previous semester. I analyzed the requirements for the CA learning environment and identified the contributions of instructor, students, and the course based on those requirments. I then applied the findings to create an authentic learning environment based on CA principles. In this case the students became performance consultants, immersed in practical application of the PSA content and methodology to authentic organizational performance issues provided by real clients. Finally, I compare student evaluation of the course to student evaluations in the previous semester, and report their responses to a set of open-ended questions concerning the application of CA principles.     

Engaging associates and unleashing productivity: The case for Simplified GainSharing

Simplified GainSharing is a blue‐collar incentive plan that is geared to a distribution center (DC) environment and is based on sliding scales with no caps. It has returned millions of dollars over the years in increased performance in every DC that has used it. This article illustrates the easy techniques that will make the execution of pay‐for‐performance plans significantly more successful. When the principles discussed here are properly applied, any workforce can come alive with profitability. The material in this article is paraphrased from our book, Warehouse Productivity, published in 2005 by Alexander Communications Group.     

Partnership with Schools: a case study of a geography field course

British teacher education institutions are being encouraged by the Department of Education and Science to develop a partnership with schools by involving teachers in the design of courses and in selecting, teaching, supervising and assessing students. However, as partnership is a two‐way process, there should be reciprocal action with tutors helping teachers in school activities.

This case study describes a programme of work devised for a geography field course in which a group of PGCE students teach 120 third form pupils from a local comprehensive school. The evaluation provides evidence that the exercise, apart from being an enjoyable and stimulating experience, fulfils DES expectations of the value of genuine partnership to all concerned—tutor and students, teachers and pupils. The author is indebted to the geography staff at Ulverston Victoria High School for their help in organising this course.     

以学为中心的网络课程设计——以《土木工程材料网络课程》为例

网络课程设计要体现网络学习的自主性.本文以<土木工程材料网络课程>为例,讨论如何结合课程特点进行以学为中心的网络课程设计.把课程内容重新整合为新的课程体系,每个知识点由逐层深入的基本知识、观察与讨论及工程实例分析三个栏目组成;加强其交互性,设置智能自检测和参与式试验等栏目;把培养创新能力贯穿其中,实现知识、能力、素质教育的有机统一.