Developing Teachers' Classroom Interactions: A Description of a Video Review Process for Early Childhood Education Students

This article describes a video review process for providing feedback to students and documents students' teaching practices using the CLASS in a practicum course and student teaching. Students videotaped themselves in their field-based settings and then met with the course instructors and classmates in small groups to review strengths and challenges of their teaching using the CLASS framework of teacher–child interactions. These videos were also coded by trained CLASS observers across 10 dimensions in the areas of emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. Results from preservice teachers' CLASS ratings indicate a pattern similar to national data sets using the CLASS, higher scores in the emotional support and classroom organization domains than in the domain of instructional support. Also, findings from the current study revealed that CLASS scores declined from students' practicum placement to the end of student teaching in the domain of emotional support and specifically in the dimensions of regard for student perspectives and behavior management. The process of using videos for providing feedback in field-based experiences is discussed as well as implications for teacher development in light of students' CLASS scores and changes in CLASS scores.     

Increasing the use of evidence-based strategies by special education teachers: A collaborative approach

This article describes a process developed to increase the use of evidence-based instructional strategies by teachers of students in special education programs in a middle school and high school. The project developed a working partnership between university researchers and parents, teachers and administrators of students in special education programs. The partnership produced manuals for the teachers that outlined effective strategies for teaching reading, encouraging family involvement, providing academic feedback, and engaging in positive behavior support in the classroom. The results of assessing implementation fidelity, implications of the study, and future research issues are presented.     

Effects of a Theory-Based Feedback and Consultation Process on Instruction and Learning in College Classrooms

This study examined how midterm student ratings feedback provided to teaching assistants via a theory-based ratings instrument, combined with consultation on instructional practices, would affect teaching practices, ratings of teaching effectiveness, and student learning and motivation. The student ratings instrument that was employed focused on a series of instructional activities derived from Gagné's theory of instruction and Reiser and Dick's instructional model. Thirty-seven teaching assistants in undergraduate computer science and chemistry courses were randomly assigned to either a feedback + consultation group or a no-feedback group. Results of this study indicated that the feedback and consultation process had a significant impact on instructional practices and ratings of teaching effectiveness. Student learning and student motivation were positively correlated with the frequency with which the various instructional activities examined in this study were utilized. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Effective pedagogical practices for online teaching: Perception of experienced instructors

Institutions have focused on providing faculty with technological training to enhance their online teaching, but many online instructors would like to learn more effective pedagogical practices. This phenomenological study determines what experienced, award-winning South Dakota e-learning instructors perceive to be effective pedagogical practices. This study identified effective pedagogical practices for online teaching that are reflective of theories and practices referenced in the college teaching literature.     

Comparing student,instructor, classroom and institutional data to evaluate a seven-year department-wide science education initiative

We compared seven unrelated data-sets to evaluate a major education improvement initiative. Perceptions of students in 54 course sections were surveyed regarding the helpfulness of 39 specific teaching or learning strategies, and relative workloads and enthusiasm were compared to their other courses. Classes were observed using an established protocol, instructors completed a teaching practices inventory, and their experience with evidence-based pedagogies was established. A graduation exit survey provided longitudinal indications of changes prior to the study, and institutional student ratings of instruction were obtained. This study sought to determine whether improvements were consistently revealed by these data, how perceptions depended upon class size, course improvement model and instructor experience, and whether student ratings captured consistent perceptions about effectiveness. Overall, results compared favourably. Student perceptions and observed effectiveness depended mainly upon class size and improvement strategy. Students found experiences more effective in courses taught by experienced instructors and in classes observed to be more active. Relative workloads were not correlated with any measure of effectiveness while relative enthusiasm was higher in courses perceived to be more effective. Student ratings were consistent with other data-sets, although they did not provide information specific enough for informing further improvements.     

A Campus-Wide Study of STEM Courses: New Perspectives on Teaching Practices and Perceptions

At the University of Maine, middle and high school science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers observed 51 STEM courses across 13 different departments and collected information on the active-engagement nature of instruction. The results of these observations show that faculty members teaching STEM courses cannot simply be classified into two groups, traditional lecturers or instructors who teach in a highly interactive manner, but instead exhibit a continuum of instructional behaviors between these two classifications. In addition, the observation data reveal that student behavior differs greatly in classes with varied levels of lecture. Although faculty members who teach large-enrollment courses are more likely to lecture, we also identified instructors of several large courses using interactive teaching methods. Observed faculty members were also asked to complete a survey about how often they use specific teaching practices, and we find that faculty members are generally self-aware of their own practices. Taken together, these findings provide comprehensive information about the range of STEM teaching practices at a campus-wide level and how such information can be used to design targeted professional development for faculty.     

IBSTPI教师能力标准与我国中小学教师专业标准研究

IBSTPL教师能力标准,从专业基础、计划与准备、教学方法与策略、评估与评价、教学管理等5个方面具体描述了教师专业发展的能力。以国际视野来审视和借鉴该标准。同时立足于我国教师教育的实践,着重从教师职业道德与教师教学能力两个方面来建构我国中小学教师专业标准,并关注城乡教师专业标准的差异性。     

The Best and the Worst

Faculty workload is based on the amount of time spent on teaching, research, and service. The workload varies according to institutional focus, teaching field, type of course, course level, and instructional format. Compared with traditional face-to-face courses, online courses require a disproportionate investment of time and effort by faculty, necessitating special consideration when calculating faculty workload. The authors examine the workload for faculty teaching online courses in community colleges, specifically, the number of online classes taught per semester, class sizes for online courses, incentives for online instructors and how the workload for online instructors is calculated. Results indicate inconsistent practices within and between institutions; the workload for online instructors based on class sizes is less than, equal to, or more than that of faculty teaching face-to-face courses. Further investigations into common practices at other institutions and dialogue between administrators and faculty to discuss workload issues are recommended.     

New Books

ABSTRACT

How can we best support instructors to learn, practice, and retain student-centered, active-learning teaching strategies in their undergraduate courses? While approaches like professional development workshops may inspire some, permanent adoption of new pedagogy is rare. Here, we investigate “paired teaching” to achieve adoption and continued use of evidence-based practices. In this model, an instructor with little or no experience in student-centered teaching is paired with an experienced instructor in a semester-long course that has established student-centered pedagogy. This study evaluates information from eight pairs of instructors over a three-year period. Data was collected before, during, and after the paired teaching semester through interviews, written reflections, and teaching observations. Results indicate that paired teaching is beneficial as a professional development model for new instructors who have little teaching experience. The teaching practice of these instructors evolved to be increasingly student-centered, and they continued to use this pedagogy in subsequent classes. More established instructors who were less familiar with active learning showed lower tendencies to incorporate new pedagogies into their existing classes. We suggest best practices to maximize benefits and mitigate challenges associated with paired teaching.     

The use of evaluative feedback for instructional improvement: A longitudinal perspective

Both the available experimental evidence and recent reviews are unclear regarding the effectiveness of student ratings feedback for instructional improvement. Provision of feedback has not consistently produced improvement. Feedback accompanied by consultation has resulted in more consistent instructor improvement. However, the literature on interventions for instructional improvements has failed to address the longitudinal nature of improvement and development. The present study examined follow-up data over a ten-year period on instructors who had participated in a quasi-experimental study of the effectiveness of consultation and feedback conducted in 1971 and 1972. The results obtained indicate that instructors who had originally received feedback with consultation maintained higher student ratings and used instructional resources more during follow-up than instructors who originally received feedback only. This result must be tempered by several interpretative considerations regarding sample size, power, and experimental control. A number of concerns were also expressed regarding the adequacy of the current literature for describing a developmental event, instructional improvement, through the use of short-term studies. Recommendations are made for increased durations of study and alternative tactics of experimental design and control.     

Collaborative Effort to Develop Middle School Preservice Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge

Abstract

This article describes reflections of two mathematicians and a mathematics teacher educator who collaborated on the development and implementation of courses (probability and statistics connections, number concept connections, and middle school mathematics methods) for middle school mathematics preservice teachers. The instructors of the courses, two in mathematics and one in mathematics education, worked together to more explicitly link course materials, assignments, and the pedagogical approaches. Collectively, the courses were designed to address the five components of preservice teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching (PT-MKT), and to model effective teaching practices. Using their collective experiences co-planning and implementing these course adjustments were made in the subsequent year. The instructors were pleased by their implementation and student outcomes in all three courses.

We describe how each component of the PT-MKT framework was approached in these courses and discuss challenges experienced by the instructors, who were part of a larger effort to develop and implement a middle school teacher preparation program. The information shared is based on data collected as part of a program evaluation effort, and is bolstered by the instructors’ recollection of events. Overall, the instructors enhanced the curricula and their instructional practices and found that the attention placed on developing PT-MKT support the mathematical development of middle school mathematics preservice teachers.     

Instructional Strategies to Promote Incremental Beliefs in Youth Sport

Implicit beliefs about the nature of human abilities have significant motivational, behavioral, and affective consequences. The purpose of this article was to review the application of implicit beliefs to the youth sport context and to provide theoretically derived and evidence-based instructional strategies to promote adaptive implicit beliefs about human abilities within this context. A narrative overview of theory and a review of research pertaining to implicit beliefs in education, sport, and physical activity are undertaken. Theoretically derived and evidence-based instructional strategies are outlined, and specific coaching behaviors are suggested. Six instructional strategies to promote adaptive implicit beliefs in these contexts are suggested: focusing on effort and persistence, facilitating challenge, promoting the value of failure, defining success as effort, the promotion of learning, and providing high expectations. It is concluded that instructional strategies may be used to facilitate positive motivational, behavioral, and affective outcomes for young people within a sport context.     

网络教学设计样式的研究与实践

网络教学对于习惯传统面对面教学的教师来说是一个新领域,由于缺乏可借鉴的原则、方法和网络教学设计支架,所以,传统教师面对网络课程建设与网络教学时常感到无所适从。针对这种情况,根据国际上网络教学设计领域的发展趋势,提出了网络教学设计样式的解决策略并对之进行了研究与实践。教学样式是获取教学实践中专家经验的方法,目的是以一种简洁的方式记录教学实践的专门知识,使得需要这些知识的人可以方便地获得。通过教育设计研究(EDR)方法,总结出七种典型的网络教学设计样式—理论导学型、技能训练型、问题研学型、案例研学型、情景模拟型、虚拟实验型和自主探究型,并将这些样式应用到了实践之中,将之应用于"网络课程"的建设中,有效提升了教师/教学设计人员间分享成功教学实践的格式和方法,保证了成功的实践经验可以被不同的人在不同的教学情境中以不同的方式使用,从总体上提升了网络课程建设质量。     

Beliefs about learning and enacted instructional practices: An investigation in postsecondary chemistry education

While research on and development of evidence‐based instructional practices (EBIPs) in STEM education has flourished, implementation of these practices classrooms has not been as prolific. Using the teacher‐centered systemic reform model as a framework, we explore the connection between chemistry instructors’ beliefs about teaching and learning and self‐efficacy beliefs, and their enacted classroom practices. Postsecondary chemistry faculty present a unique population for the study because of their role in teaching prerequisite courses, such as general and organic chemistry, which are key to many science major fields. A measure of teacher beliefs and self‐efficacy was administered to a national survey of postsecondary chemistry faculty members. Instructional practices used in a chemistry course were also collected via self‐report. While instructional practices were not directly observed, a cluster analysis of our data mirrors patterns of instructional practices found in observation‐based studies of chemistry faculty. Significant differences are found on teacher thinking and self‐efficacy measures based on enacted instructional practices. Results support the hypothesized connection between beliefs and instructional practice on a larger scale than in previous studies of this relationship, bolstering the evidence for the importance of this relationship over previously criticized results. These results present a call for reform efforts on fostering change from its core, that is, the beliefs of those who ultimately adopt EBIPs. Dissemination and design should incorporate training and materials that highlight the process by which faculty members interpret reformed practices within their belief system, and explore belief change in the complex context of education reform.     

The effect of integrated course and faculty development: Experiences of a university chemistry department in the Philippines

It is widely recognized that lectures continue to dominate college chemistry instruction, especially in developing countries, and that lectures limit student intellectual engagement. To address this concern, a General Chemistry course in a Philippine university was reconstructed to implement an instructional cycle consisting of three phases: a plenary or mini‐lecture, seatwork activity, and a summary or closure. An expert instructor coached the instructors to improve their teaching. Two instructors were involved in pilot implementation and 13 instructors in a large‐scale implementation. This article describes the instructors’ adoption of the instructional cycle using qualitative and quantitative methods that involved multiple data sources. The instructional cycle and intensive coaching enabled most instructors to change their practices, shift their focus from teaching to learning, and enhance their knowledge of student learning difficulties. Nine instructors were able to significantly change their teaching and apply meaningful student seatwork in their lessons. These nine instructors used student seatwork and activities 30–70% of the time, whereas previously 90% of the time involved lectures. Videotape records showed that more than 70% of the students were continuously on task. Four instructors had considerable difficulties in applying the new approach but also had difficulties with conventional lectures. The project constituted the start of a departmental reorientation with a focus on effectiveness of teaching and learning. Subsequently the faculty and course development model developed in this study was used to revise other courses. The theory of Rogan and Grayson proved useful in describing the change processes.     

Instructional Strategies to Help Online Students Learn: Feedback from Online Students

Increased enrollment in online programs and courses has prompted a plethora of research on instructional strategies that impact online students’ learning. Most of these strategies came from instructors, and others were solicited from students. While the literature notes that students who have more university experience tend to provide more substantive responses when solicited, there seems to be limited representation of online master’s students’ preferences on what instructional strategies work for them. There is paucity in the literature on how these preferred instructional strategies inform existing theoretical and practical frameworks that could impact online learning performance. This article discusses the Top Ten Instructional Strategies preferred by master’s students who responded to a dissertation survey question - What specific things would you like your online instructors do to help you learn successfully? - and relates these strategies to the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education and the Quality Matters Rubric.     

Sources of Instructional Feedback, Job Satisfaction, and Basic Psychological Needs

This study examined college instructors’ utilization and perceived value of sources of instructional feedback (institutional student ratings, consultation with an instructional specialist, soliciting feedback from students, self-assessment, self-observation, peer/administrator observation, and peer coaching). We examined relationships between the utilization of each source of feedback with job satisfaction and psychological needs satisfaction. We solicited instructors (N?=?126) via email. Results revealed self-assessment was the most utilized source of instructional feedback, and instructor-solicited feedback from students was perceived as the most useful. Job satisfaction was significantly correlated with basic psychological needs. We discuss qualitative findings, implications, and suggestions for future research.     

Lessons from Alternative Grading: Essential Qualities of Teacher Feedback

One critically important step in the instructional process is providing feedback to students, and yet, providing timely and thorough feedback is often lacking due attention. Reasons for this oversight could range from several factors including increased class sizes, vast content coverage requirements, extracurricular responsibilities, and the generally hectic daily schedules of teachers. This article synthesizes the findings from a year-long qualitative study investigating the alternative grading practices of five high school teachers and gives particular attention to the nature of the feedback these teachers provided to their students. Teachers' feedback is pared down to its essential qualities in order to offer manageable and practical strategies to current classroom teachers for providing effective feedback to their students.