Orientations to teaching,induction experiences and background characteristics of university lecturers

This study of the orientations to teaching of academic staff used a sample of 32 new Lecturers matched in pairs on sex, initial tenure status, and discipline type. Interviews were conducted to obtain data on their early experiences in the university and on their orientations to teaching, including their conceptual repertoires, self-efficacy and attitudes to receiving and using student evaluations of their teaching. Findings were that orientations to teaching and early experiences were similar to those reported in an earlier study, though there was a greater participation in professional development activities in this later group. Induction experiences were found to be associated with the entering differences in background characteristics among the Lecturers. In particular, special consideration in workload varied according to sex, initial tenure status and discipline type, while participation in development activities varied according to discipline type. Induction experiences and background characteristics were found to be associated with self-efficacy measures.     

论大学教学的学术建制

美国的实践经验与理论研究已然证实,教学学术是教学质量得以保证和提升的黄金法则。然而,教学学术在我国仍停滞于理论探讨而无法落实。学术建制是重要制约因素。不仅既有的学术建制环境不平衡,而且大学教学自身的学术建制也不完善。这不利于大学教学学术性的彰显。为此,我们亟待建立适应于教学学术的学术评价制度、大学评价制度,构建平衡的学术建制环境,建立完备的教学学术人才培育制度、大学教学评价制度、大学教学管理制度、大学教学学术共同体,构建完善的大学教学学术建制体系,为教学学术思想在大学教学实践的顺利落实提供建制保障。     

University teachers' experiences of academic leadership and their approaches to teaching

The study examined associations between university teachers' experiences of academic leadership, their perceptions of a specific academic context and their approaches to teaching in a particular subject that was taught in that context. The sample consisted of 439 lecturers in Australian universities in four fields of study. Lecturers completed surveys of their experiences and approaches. Structural equation models derived from student approaches to learning theory were developed and tested. The experience of leadership for teaching and a collegial commitment to enhancing student learning were found to be associated with the experience of the context of teaching and to lecturers' approaches to teaching.     

Prospective Elementary Teachers' Science Teaching Orientations and Experiences that Impacted their Development

A large body of literature illustrates that many elementary teachers are reluctant to teach science and confess a lack of confidence to teach it. Nevertheless, a review of the literature indicates a few cases of elementary teachers who do well in science and offers rare examples of enthusiast elementary teachers. The question then becomes how those cases came to be? The purpose of this study is to document two such cases of prospective elementary teachers, illustrate their unique characteristics and shed light on how those came to be. The study was designed upon a narrative inquiry approach focusing on the collection of personal stories. Multiple sources of data were used in order to examine the participants’ science teaching orientations and the kinds of experiences that influenced their development: drawings, interviews, reflective assignments, and others. The analysis of the data was grounded within the Three-Dimensional Space Narrative Structure. The findings of the analysis illustrated that the participants perceived certain experiences they had during their university coursework as critical to shaping their orientations to science and science teaching: inquiry-based investigations, contemporary theoretical discussions, outdoors field study, friendly classroom environment and the characteristics of their instructors. These findings have implications for the design of teacher education courses that aim to engage prospective elementary teachers, especially females, in meaningful learning experiences and support them in developing science teaching orientations that are in line with reform recommendations.     

An assessment arms race and its fallout: high-stakes grading and the case for slow scholarship

This research questions the impact of assessment on university teaching and learning in circumstances where all student work is graded. Sixty-two students and lecturers were interviewed to explore their experiences of assessment at an institution that had adopted a modular course structure and largely unregulated numbers of internal assessments. Lecturers rewarded student work with grades and controlled study behaviour with assessment. In some situations it was possible to experience hundreds of graded assessments in an academic year. Students were single-minded when it came to grades and would not work without them. These conditions contributed to competition for student attention and a grading arms race between academics and subjects. In this context, the spaces for achieving certain educational objectives, such as fostering self-motivated learners, were marginalised. Both students and lecturers were unsatisfied with this situation, but neither group could envisage radical change. Students were generally happy to accumulate small marks, while being irritated and stressed by frequent grading. Lecturers were aware of better practices but felt trapped by circumstances. The idea of slow scholarship is introduced to encourage a re-think of such assessment practices, support a positive shift in assessment culture and contribute to the theories of assessment.     

Lecturers' approaches to teaching and their relationship to conceptions of good teaching

Previous research has established a close link between students'conceptions of learning, approaches to study and learning outcomes.Until recently, there have been few studies of lecturers' approaches toteaching in higher education and their relationship with conceptions ofteaching. This study aimed to characterise the alternative approaches toteaching of university lecturers, and to examine the relationshipbetween lecturers' approaches to teaching and their conceptions of goodteaching. This study adopted an open naturalistic approach. Seventeenlecturers in three departments in a university were selected forinterview based on their rank, years of teaching and industrial orprofessional experience. Lecturers were interviewed individually abouttheir conceptions of good teaching, motivational strategies andeffective teaching. The interview records were then content analysed bythe two researchers of the study. The study found that (a) it waspossible to characterise lecturers' approaches to teaching with onemotivation and five strategy dimensions; (b) the conceptions of teachingof the lecturers were best described by two main orientations oftransmissive and facilitative teaching; (c) lecturers who conceivedteaching as transmitting knowledge were more likely to usecontent-centred approaches to teaching, while those who conceivedteaching as facilitative tended to use learning-centred approaches. Thestudy concludes by suggesting that fundamental changes to the quality ofteaching and learning are unlikely to happen without changes tolecturers' conception of teaching.     

美国高校教师工作量和业绩数据的分析与思考

文章依据美国NSOPF-93报告中工作量和研究业绩的调查统计数据,对美国全职教师的工作量和研究业绩进行了较为深入的分析与思考,对了解美国高校教师的平均工作精力投入、敬业精神和业绩水平具有重要的参考价值。同时,通过对工作量与研究业绩、业绩各要素之间数量关系的研究,得到了教学计划学时与教学准备、教学工作量与研究工作量、研究业绩(如学术论文)与教学计划学时之间的关系,对均衡教学与科研的关系具有参考性,对推进教师业绩的定量评价具有重要意义。     

高校教师绩效评价的院校研究与思考

文章以某普通高校某学院全部专任教师为研究对象,以教师1个聘期的教学工作量、科研工作量和教学效果评价3项指标为观测点,分别从职称、学历、年龄段和教研室4个维度对3项指标进行分类统计研究。研究结果表明,教学工作量的主要差异在于学校(教研室)的安排;职称和学历两个因素是影响科研工作量的敏感因素;基础教研室教师的教学效果评价总体高于专业教研室;36～40岁的教师的教学、科研及教学效果均较好。     

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.     

论新形势下高校贫困大学生心理健康教育的途径和方法

高校贫困大学生是我国高校改革后出现的特殊群体,做好新形势下贫困大学生心理教育的途径和方法主要有:帮助贫困大学生改变贫困地位,对贫困大学生进行心理健康教育,为贫困大学生营造良好的人文关怀氛围。     

DELINQUENCY AND THE SCHOOLS

Primary teachers in their first year of teaching, and two groups of students in their final year of university, were surveyed in order to determine the nature of attitude changes during teacher education and in the first teaching year. One group of students was followed into its first year of teaching. The attitudes of the trainee teachers and novices were contrasted with those of experienced teachers and non‐education students over a two‐year period, using a semantic differential instrument.

The overall finding was that Lortie's contention that the attitudes of American teachers are based on their own early experiences as pupils in school holds for Australian teachers also. While there was some change in student attitudes during the final university year, towards the ‘progressive’ orientations of the university course, this orientation did not persist far into the first year of teaching.     

Newly Qualified Teachers in Post-primary Schools in Northern Ireland: the support provided for their needs and their own vision for induction

This paper reports research on the needs of newly qualified teachers in post-primary schools in Northern Ireland. The views and experiences of newly qualified teachers who were awarded qualified teacher status in 1997 were sought on the effectiveness of their Initial Teacher Education programme, and on teaching and support in their induction year. The results showed that they were generally satisfied with initial training and enjoyed the rewards of seeing pupils learn, but they had concerns about discipline and the pressure of time. The Head of Department emerged as a crucial figure and the role of teacher tutor was important. The Career Entry Profile was not extensively used by either the newly qualified teachers or members of senior management to set targets. An ideal induction programme should include greater internal and external support tailored closely to newly qualified teachers.     

基于创新力导向的大学校本教学评价模式构建

创新力逐渐成为大学校本教学评价制度设计的重要因素。其中,回归教育本质是其主要特质,创新力维度是其构建的基本原则,而要构建以创新力导向的大学校本教学评价模式则需要树立大学自主的特色办学理念,营造以创新为价值取向的校本评价文化,组建合格的校本教学评价团队,建立有效的校本教学评价监控机制等。以创新力为导向的大学校本教学评价模式在推动大学自治与大学自由,形成鲜明办学特色;实施有效教学管理,提高教学质量;优化教学过程,培育大学创新力等方面也有着重要的意义。     

Teaching criteria that matter in university academic promotions

While many universities have taken steps to recognise teaching in academic promotions, debate continues on the teaching criteria to be used and their evaluation. This article analyses the 10 criteria that inform the evaluation of teaching and eventual promotion decisions at a South African university: rationale for teaching, teaching methods, postgraduate supervision, assessment, student evaluations, peer evaluations, ongoing study of higher education, developing courses, sharing teaching experiences and special recognition of teaching. The study investigated which criteria, if any, were significant in the overall evaluation of teaching and in academic promotion outcomes for different rank levels. The unexpected key finding was that each of the criteria demonstrated statistically significant correlations and differences with both teaching evaluations and promotion outcomes. While all 10 teaching criteria mattered in the evaluation of teaching and academic promotion outcomes, postgraduate supervision and sharing teaching experiences were especially important for those who were successful at the rank of full professor. A multidimensional approach that rigorously assesses multiple criteria in evaluating teaching at all rank levels, including the professoriate, contributes to its credence and currency in academic promotions. Analyses of actual assessments of teaching criteria and their relation to promotion outcomes can contribute to consensus on evaluating teaching.     

Cross‐cultural Collaboration in Special Teacher Education: An arena for facilitating reflection?

The present study explored how cross‐cultural collaboration involving university lecturers from Norway (the North) and Egypt (the South), and student‐teachers from Egypt, can be an arena for facilitating student‐teachers’ reflection and for challenging student‐teachers’ preconceived beliefs and perspectives about disability and education. The findings, based on interview data, showed that an emphasis on reflection, exploration and evaluation rather than on drills and repetition was both unexpected and unfamiliar for most of the Egyptian student‐teachers. Some of the Egyptian and some of the foreign lecturers were able to encourage student‐teachers to reflect, although some of the foreign lecturers had a tendency to lecture as they had done at home. Lecturers who wanted to pursue teaching methods that enhanced reflection needed to prioritise time for this, even if the majority of the student‐teachers asked for more information, more facts and for presentations of “the right methods” for teaching learners with disabilities. As the findings in this study illustrate, the partner in the North carries a major responsibility for critically considering the request for expertise because the participants in the South may not necessarily question and challenge the authority of well‐educated professionals from the North. It may not be sufficient for lecturers and supervisors to be well‐qualified practitioners within their home culture. They should be context sensitive, have an inquiring and accepting attitude, and experience challenges, encounters and exposures in the project country over time. Competence in approaches in teacher education is also required, although this meta‐competence may not be explicitly requested by those concerned.     

Becoming a teacher of early reading: charting the knowledge and practices of pre‐service and newly qualified teachers

Education policy in England requires student teachers to demonstrate effective teaching of early reading, including systematic synthetic phonics, in order to qualify to teach. Although there is a range of literature about initial teacher education, little is documented about how pre‐service or ‘student' teachers develop specific knowledge and practices for teaching early reading and how they apply these in their first term as newly qualified teachers (NQTs). This research used a primarily qualitative longitudinal, collective case study design involving seven lower primary (3–7 years) postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) students enrolled at one university in the East Midlands of England. Semi‐structured interviews, classroom observations and documentary analysis with the students and their teacher mentors were used to gather data from entry onto the course to the participants' first term as qualified teachers. A thematic analysis was applied in conjunction with deductive observation codes developed from a previous study. Findings indicate a broad continuum of progression in student and newly qualified teacher knowledge and practice for teaching early reading which could be used to inform university organisation, mentoring and school participation. They highlight the influence of school cultures on the experiences of student and pre‐service teachers.     

Distance Language Teacher Education: New challenges for Hong Kong

An urgent need for a relatively large number of qualified Putonghua language teachers in Hong Kong has led the Open University of Hong Kong to establish a distance education programme for in-service language teachers, most of whom are non-native speakers. The programme designed by the university involves distance study coupled with regular face-to-face tutorials, and is designed to enable the in-service teachers to apply their learned knowledge directly in their daily teaching. The article explains how evaluation of the first presentation of the course in 1996 showed that the course alone could not fully address the actual deficiencies in the teachers' Putonghua listening and speaking skills while, additionally, there was also a need to restructure the teaching methodology component of the course. The basis upon which these judgements were made is explained, and the steps taken to strengthen the course to meet these perceived deficiencies, while not adding to the students' workload, are outlined.     

新建本科高校图书馆迎接本科教学评估策略研究——以毕节学院图书馆2012年迎接本科教学工作合格评估为例

本科教学工作合格评估是国家依法开展的旨在促进高校包括图书馆在内的各教学、服务部门提高教学、人才培养质量的一项制度化工作.迎评促建,要敢于正视存在问题,做到组织保障,提高认识,抓住机遇,知难而上.迎评要有平常心,工作要靠正常态,才能使图书馆做到迎评促建和服务教学科研两不误、双促进,提升为学校教学科研和人才培养服务的能力.     

Towards a methodology to determine standard time allocations for academic work

An online survey of workload activities was circulated to academics across Australia seeking estimates for the time to undertake a range of academic-related tasks associated with teaching, research and service. This article summarises the most important findings from the teaching data of the 2059 respondents. This detail of workload data has not been reported before across the Australian university sector. The findings showing that most academics work more than 50 h per week are consistent with previous studies. Although the estimates of the individuals varied greatly, statistical inquiry indicated the median time required does not vary by experience and online teaching generally requires more preparation time than on-campus teaching. The paper proposes this methodology as a credible means to derive realistic time-based standards for other aspects of academic work and will assist university managers by providing an external benchmark upon which to develop local academic workload models.