Reimagining the role of mentor teachers in professional experience: moving to I as fellow teacher educator

New accreditation requirements for Australian initial teacher education programs require that universities and schools establish quality partnerships to ensure strong links between pre-service teachers’ university-based learning and school-based professional learning experiences. This paper focuses on the shifts of identity, thinking and practice that occurred for five school-based mentor teachers as they co-created new professional experience practices alongside university-based teacher educators in a Teaching Academies of Professional Practice (TAPP) project. Interview data was analysed through the theoretical framework of Dialogical Self Theory to examine how the repositioning of mentor teachers as fellow teacher educators allowed for expansion in the understanding and enactment of their role. The findings of this study suggest that partnerships between schools and universities can enhance learning opportunities for all participants when commitments are made to creating collaborative and dialogical spaces to support new approaches to teacher education.     

Learning in work: perceptions from working teenagers

Research within the United Kingdom has shown that it is common for school students to combine full-time education with part-time employment. Attention has tended to focus on the negative impact this may have with limited consideration to the potential benefits. Some studies have indicated that skill acquisition may be one such benefit, but studies typically pay little attention to the views of young employees and fail to explore potential variations in skill development between age groups and job sectors. This study addresses this gap. Younger (14 and 15 year olds) and older (16 to 18 years) school students working in the retail and catering industries participated (n = 35). Two interviews were carried out facilitated by workplace observation and on-the-job event recording. Results suggest that opportunities for acquiring skills are common for both younger and older workers in both retail and catering jobs. Differences in perceptions between age groups and job sectors were small with the exception of the areas of future learning and the types of skills. In addition, retail workers tend to see more opportunities for learning than those in catering. These results support those who see such employment as potentially valuable.     

Teacher perception of professional skills in a project-led engineering semester

This study explores the perceptions of teachers with regard to professional skills in project-led engineering education experiences for first year engineering students at the University of Minho, Portugal. Their perception on which professional skills to include, how to develop these skills and how to assess them is studied through six semi-structured interviews with experienced teachers of the first year programme, who served as tutors as well as teachers in at least four projects. Analysis of their perceptions reveals a strong commitment to professional skills for engineering students, and also a lack of confidence in the support they can offer to help students develop these skills.     

Evaluating engineering thinking in undergraduate engineering and liberal arts students

ABSTRACT

This study explored if it is possible for liberal arts students to develop engineering professional competencies without detailed engagement with the engineering sciences. Students on a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences programme were compared with their undergraduate peers in Civil Engineering. A new method for evaluating such competencies was developed. Two one-hour individual problem-solving exercises were devised to assess capabilities against 14 criteria, based on the Institution of Civil Engineers’ Competency framework for professional development (2011 The BASc cohort’s scores for each criterion improved notably from the start of term to the end. This cohort rated their capabilities more highly at the end of term and was more satisfied with the answers they gave. Engineering students showed a slight decline in performance against the criteria. Self-evaluation in this group revealed a smaller increase in perceived capability but increased dissatisfaction. Both cohorts felt more anxious about the assignment at the end of the term. PBL environments can improve student competence in attributes associated with professional engineering. The scope of the study is constrained by the small cohort but the findings and evaluation method provide the basis for further development, including detailed statistical evaluation and validation of the evaluation instrument.     

从职业岗位群的角度思考网络工程虚拟实验室的建设

高职院校培养网络管理员、网络工程师应立足该职业岗位群的职责和能力要求.这就必须建设真实场景的网络实验室,强化实践性教学.通过仿真软件建立的虚拟实验室可以解决由于实验设备匮乏等诸多方面的原因而产生的实践教学问题,为该职业岗位群的实践教学提供新的途径和方法.     

工科学生英语听说能力培养方法的建构

21世纪人类生存与发展的基本技能为外语和计算机操作能力。对于工科学生来说,应用英语进行基本交流已不能满足其就业需求,教师在进行课程设计、建立课程目标时,要注意所选内容的时代性、职业性和实用性,教师应建立规范的教学体系并选择丰富的课程资源,最大限度的调动学生的学习积极性,提高学生的英语综合应用能力,注重培养学生的职业英语交流能力,在强调英语的趣味性和情节性的同时,更侧重于其实用性和职业性。本文旨在对工科学生英语听说能力的培养方法进行研究与探讨。     

Long-term retention of basic mathematical knowledge and skills with engineering students

This study focuses on the long-term retention of basic mathematical techniques in a first-year calculus course, involving a sample group of engineering students at the University of Pretoria. The study investigates which and how much of the basic mathematical knowledge and rote skills acquired in the first year of study is retained after a further two years of study. A quantitative and qualitative investigations show that, in general, there is a significant decline in performance over a two-year period. There are, however, areas in which students still performed reasonably well after the elapsed period or even showed improvement. The research is of diagnostic value in that it assists course designers in determining what basic mathematical skills and knowledge are retained after a period of two years in their teaching approach to and emphasis of different topics.     

Learning to become graduate students: Japanese women's experience in the research unit in engineering

Based on the analysis of 16 interviews with women first-year master's students at two national engineering schools in Japan, this article examines the socialisation role of compulsory undergraduate research experience in Japanese women's decisions to pursue graduate education and choices of the programme. The findings suggest that research experiences in a small independent research unit within the major department convinced Japanese women engineering students of their academic and social success as graduate students in the current environment. Although participants generally adapted themselves to the research unit through their research, there is a variation in the degree to which they were smoothly integrated into the research unit, reflecting organisational and individual differences.     

Aligning professional skills and active learning methods: an application for information and communications technology engineering

Engineering education is facing new challenges to effectively provide the appropriate skills to future engineering professionals according to market demands. This study proposes a model based on active learning methods, which is expected to facilitate the acquisition of the professional skills most highly valued in the information and communications technology (ICT) market. The theoretical foundations of the study are based on the specific literature on active learning methodologies. The Delphi method is used to establish the fit between learning methods and generic skills required by the ICT sector. An innovative proposition is therefore presented that groups the required skills in relation to the teaching method that best develops them. The qualitative research suggests that a combination of project-based learning and the learning contract is sufficient to ensure a satisfactory skills level for this profile of engineers.     

应重视高等职业院校新生的起始教育

高职院校学生存在着文化基础差、自卑心理严重、缺乏职业意识等问题.为此,起始教育应注意营造良好的校园文化,树立正确的人才观,培养职业意识,建立合理的基础课课程体系.