The Great Media Debate and TPACK: A Multidisciplinary Examination of the Role of Technology in Teaching and Learning

This article bridges the fields of instructional design and teacher education, presenting and modernizing the media influence debate and synthesizing it with the technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) framework. Five modern technologies are presented as media comparison studies, analyzed from both the medium-as-variable and medium-and-method-as-variable perspectives, and highlighted in an example teaching and learning scenario analyzed for TPACK. The media debate is newly synthesized with TPACK, acknowledging the teacher as a critical variable in instructional success, and implications for research and teacher education and professional development are presented.     

DCG + GTE: Dynamic Courseware Generation with teaching expertise

This paper discusses the place of GTE as an approach for bridging the gap between CAL and ITS systems. DCG is our architecture for dynamic courseware generation, which allows dynamic planning of the contents of an instructional course with a given goal. Finally, a further development of DCG by combining it with GTE is described which includes explicit representation of generic teaching knowledge. This allows dynamic planning of how a selected contents will be presented to the student.     

A methodology for characterizing computer-based learning environments

This paper presents a methodology for characterizing computer-based learning environments, focusing on the cognitive, pedagogical, and interactive features. The framework for this characterization is explained in relation to the relevant theories and findings in cognitive and instructional research. The methodology is illustrated by a characterization of computer-based learning environments developed by student teachers and professionals. The usability of these environments is analyzed along the dimensions of the framework presented. The results showed that this methodology can systematically and precisely characterize the cognitive, pedagogical, and interactive features of computer-based learning environments. It can be used to predict and explain the success or failure that a given software program promotes for learning particular types of knowledge. The applications of this methodology for the evaluation and design of computer-based learning environments, for instructional research in various instructional contexts, as well as for the study of expertise in the development of computer-based learning environments, are discussed.     

Professional knowledge affects action-related skills: The development of preservice physics teachers' explaining skills during a field experience

Professional knowledge is an important source of science teachers' actions in the classroom (e.g., personal professional content knowledge [pedagogical content knowledge, PCK] is the source of enacted PCK in the refined consensus model [RCM] for PCK). However, the evidence for this claim is ambiguous at best. This study applied a cross-lagged panel design to examine the relationship between professional knowledge and actions in one particular instructional situation: explaining physics. Pre- and post a field experience (one semester), 47 preservice physics teachers from four different universities were tested for their content knowledge (CK), PCK, pedagogical knowledge (PK), and action-related skills in explaining physics. The study showed that joint professional knowledge (the weighted sum of CK, PCK, and PK scores) at the beginning of the field experience impacted the development of explaining skills during the field experience (β = .38**). We interpret this as a particular relationship between professional knowledge and science teachers' action-related skills (enacted PCK): professional knowledge is necessary for the development of explaining skills. That is evidence that personal PCK affects enacted PCK. In addition, field experiences are often supposed to bridge the theory-practice gap by transforming professional knowledge into instructional practice. Our results suggest that for field experiences to be effective, preservice teachers should start with profound professional knowledge.     

Is teacher knowledge associated with performance? On the relationship between teachers’ general pedagogical knowledge and instructional quality

Researchers have identified general pedagogical knowledge (GPK) as a relevant category of teacher knowledge. However, hardly any study has examined the relationship between GPK of teachers and the instructional quality delivered to their students. This article therefore investigates the relationship between teachers’ GPK assessed via a standardised paper–pencil test and the quality of their instruction rated by their students. A sample of 246 in-service teachers at vocational schools in Austria is used. Teachers’ GPK positively correlates with students’ perceptions of effective classroom management, generic teaching methods/teacher clarity and teacher–student relationships. Regression analysis shows that GPK is a significant predictor for instructional quality even when controlled for teacher education grades, teacher personality (Big-Five) and teaching experience. Implications of teachers’ GPK as a resource for their teaching, limitations of the study and perspectives for future research are discussed.     

The role of epistemology in instructional design

The Generic Tutoring Environment (GTE) is an authoring environment for the development of courseware. Claims with regard to GTE's epistemological foundations are analyzed and explored. GTE's assumptions are thereby shown to reveal a somewhat reductionist bias, which is to say that GTE has placed emphasis on computational approaches to instructional modeling. Nevertheless, pragmatic concerns with regard to GTE's utility and effectiveness are of interest to the developers and to other researchers in the fields of courseware design and instructional modeling. In general, GTE is seen to be both ambitious and powerful. While GTE does not truly provide an epistemology of instructional design, it does provide a powerful framework within which effective tutors can be efficiently generated.     

Evaluation of Video-Based Instructional Coaching for Middle School Teachers: Evidence from a Multiple Baseline Study

Thomas M. SkrticDepartment of Special Education, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USABarbara A. BradleyDepartment of Curriculum and Teaching, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USAJim KnightCenter for Research on Learning, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA We designed a multiple baseline study to evaluate an instructional coaching model in which coaches use video recordings of collaborating teachers’ classrooms to inform their coaching practices. In this model, teachers and coaches use video evidence to co-construct a student-based goal and identify best practices to reach their goal. We found that the instructional coaching model is associated with greater use of effective pedagogical strategies among teachers and increased student engagement in the classroom.     

GTE: An epistemological approach to instructional modelling

The instructional competence of an Intelligent Tutoring System lies in its instructional model. Such a model has been approached in the ITS field from a theoretical and from a computational point of view. GTE approaches the instructional model from an epistemological point of view by making it reflect the instructional knowledge and expertise that underlies human teaching. The underlying assumption is that such knowledge and expertise has a generic nature, and that it can be modelled. The central component of the GTE architecture is therefore a large generic instructional knowledge base that is capable of dynamically generating a huge variety of instructional plans. It enables to flexibly adapt the teaching performance to the requirements of the individual teaching context. In this paper we describe the formalism that was developed for the representation of the instructional knowledge, the interpretation engine that can generate instructional processes based on the knowledge in the knowledge base, and the actual content of the knowledge base. It illustrates the feasibility of the assumption that was made, and the impact this may have on authoring instructional strategies.     

Teachers’ beliefs, instructional behaviors, and students’ engagement in learning from texts with instructional pictures

This study investigated the relations between teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and students’ self-reported engagement in learning from texts with instructional pictures. Participants were the biology, geography, and German teachers of 46 classes (Grades 5-8) and their students. Teachers’ instructional behaviors and students’ engagement in learning from texts with instructional pictures were assessed by means of student ratings. Teachers’ beliefs about using texts with instructional pictures in their teaching were assessed by a self-report questionnaire. Results showed that the more teachers believed that students should be taught clear strategies on how to learn from texts with instructional pictures the more engagement was reported by their students. A multilevel mediation model showed that the association between teachers’ beliefs and students’ self-reported engagement was mediated by teachers’ perceived instructional behavior.     

General pedagogical knowledge,self-efficacy and instructional practice: Disentangling their relationship in pre-service teacher education

Teachers’ professional competence is composed of cognitive (professional knowledge) and affective (professional beliefs) components. These components are generally assumed to be related and to impact instructional practice. However, studies simultaneously relating cognitive and affective components to instructional practice are scarce. The present study investigates the relationship between general pedagogical knowledge (GPK), self-efficacy beliefs (SE), and reported instructional practice based on a sample of 342 pre-service teachers. No significant association was observed between GPK and SE. Furthermore, SE significantly predicted all investigated reported instructional practices, although GPK only predicted reported instructional practices that dealt with student support and provision of structure.     

系统教学设计在“数学物理方法”教学中的应用

教育学理论与教学实践的有机结合,是高等教育研究和建设中的重要内容。"数学物理方法"是工科院校的基础课程之一,在教学实践中面临着"繁、难"两大困境。本文应用系统教学设计中"为学习设计教学"的理论,结合工科类专业的学习特点,提出了该类专业"数学物理方法"课程建设的基本原则、构建了课程框架、总结了系统备课过程中的教学经验。教学效果显示,将系统教学设计理论应用于教学实践,较好地解决了"数学物理方法"的教学难题。     

Computers on wheels: an alternative to 'each one has one'

Four fifth‐grade classrooms embarked on a modified ubiquitous computing initiative in the fall of 2003. Two 15‐computer wireless laptop carts were shared among the four classrooms in an effort to integrate technology across the curriculum and affect change in student learning and teacher pedagogy. This initiative—in contrast to other one‐to‐one programmemess and stationary labs—offers public schools alternatives to budget constraints and instructional‐space overhead. Results indicate positive teacher technology competence and confidence, as well as instructional strategies that were student‐centred made meaningful uses of technology. Teacher technological knowledge and efficacy, pedagogical knowledge, and a supportive school community seem to be strong indicators for impacting technology integration in this context.     

A Deliberate Practice Approach to Teaching Phylogenetic Analysis

One goal of postsecondary education is to assist students in developing expert-level understanding. Previous attempts to encourage expert-level understanding of phylogenetic analysis in college science classrooms have largely focused on isolated, or “one-shot,” in-class activities. Using a deliberate practice instructional approach, we designed a set of five assignments for a 300-level plant systematics course that incrementally introduces the concepts and skills used in phylogenetic analysis. In our assignments, students learned the process of constructing phylogenetic trees through a series of increasingly difficult tasks; thus, skill development served as a framework for building content knowledge. We present results from 5 yr of final exam scores, pre- and postconcept assessments, and student surveys to assess the impact of our new pedagogical materials on student performance related to constructing and interpreting phylogenetic trees. Students improved in their ability to interpret relationships within trees and improved in several aspects related to between-tree comparisons and tree construction skills. Student feedback indicated that most students believed our approach prepared them to engage in tree construction and gave them confidence in their abilities. Overall, our data confirm that instructional approaches implementing deliberate practice address student misconceptions, improve student experiences, and foster deeper understanding of difficult scientific concepts.     

Opening up the black box: Teacher competence,instructional quality,and students’ learning progress

Existing research indicates inconsistent or at best weak predictive effects of teacher knowledge on student achievement. Data from Germany were used to examine the relation between teachers' content and pedagogical content knowledge, their perception, interpretation, and decision-making skills, the instructional quality implemented in class, and students' learning progression in mathematics. Rather than direct effects of teacher knowledge on students, we hypothesized an effect chain with multiple mediation processes while controlling for school type and student background. Multi-level modeling with 3496 students from 154 classrooms revealed a mediating role of teachers' skills and their instructional quality for the relation between teacher knowledge and students' learning progress. Effect sizes were medium to strong, and the model explained a large amount of variance. No direct effects of teachers’ knowledge on student progress were found. We discuss our findings with respect to the teacher-competence-as-a-continuum model and with respect to future research.     

Logo and Geometric Thinking

Abstract

Some educators take the view that instructional technology may be an end in itself rather than a means to a greater conception of education. However, like any other educational practice, the use of instructional technology will be most effective when it is placed within a theoretical context. This article examines the use of instructional technology within the framework of anthropologist Gregory Bateson's theory of learning, which views learning as a function of expectation and engagement of the student within the context of the learning experience.     

Embracing the Complexity of Instruction: A Study of the Effects of Teachers' Instruction on Students' Reading Comprehension

The purpose of this study was to determine whether third-grade teachers' instructional actions during reading comprehension lessons contributed to their students' reading comprehension achievement. Our framework focused on teachers' emphasis on three dimensions of instruction (pedagogical structure, teacher-directed instruction, and support for student learning), as observed in comprehension lessons across a year. Third-grade teachers' instruction was analyzed first by measuring their latent propensity to engage in instructional actions in the three dimensions and then by using these latent variables in a multilevel model to examine their students' gains in reading comprehension. Results provided support for the theoretical dimensions, taking into account contextual variables including lesson, student, and teacher characteristics; teachers' engagement in teacher-directed instruction and their support for student learning significantly contributed to their students' reading comprehension. Results suggest that analysis of teachers' instructional actions within and across lessons is a promising approach for the study of effective reading instruction.     

Teachers’ use of Facebook and teacher quality: developing a ‘Facebook Effect Scale on Teacher Quality (FESTQ)’ from the perspective of PCK,TPACK, and lifelong learning frameworks

The main purpose of the study is to develop a Facebook Effect Scale on Teacher Quality (FESTQ) based on the pedagogical content knowledge, technological pedagogical content knowledge and lifelong learning frameworks. Study participants comprised 556 teachers. Explanatory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted in the development and testing of the FESTQ. The results showed that the FESTQ is reliable and valid to measure Facebook effect on teacher quality. The FESTQ consists of 40 positive six-point Likert-type items along with six factors, instructional knowledge for in-class applications, general culture knowledge, individual characteristics, instructional knowledge related to student characteristics, instructional knowledge for preparing an assessment tool and special content area knowledge. The psychometric properties of the FESTQ, the study limitations and suggestions for future studies are discussed.     

Enhancing pedagogical content knowledge in elementary science

In this study, five elementary teachers and a university researcher developed and implemented problem‐based learning (PBL) experiences in the context of science teaching and learning. Collaborative inquiry was adopted as a methodology, while a variety of qualitative methods were used to examine the engagement and development of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). A PCK model is used as a framework to examine teachers’ professional knowledge growth in areas such as orientations to teaching science, knowledge of science curriculum, knowledge of students’ understanding of science, knowledge of assessment, and knowledge of instructional strategies. Implications for how teachers may be supported when adopting instructional innovations are discussed.