The structure and goals of a student teaching program and the character and quality of supervisory discourse

This study compares the form and substance of supervisory discourse between university supervisors and elementary student teachers during postobservation conferences in two teacher education programs with similar organizational structures but with very different ideological orientations. One program represents a traditional-craft orientation to teacher education while the other represents an inquiry-oriented approach. The findings indicate a great deal of similarity with regard to both the form and substance of supervisory discourse in the two programs and suggest the need for changes in the organizational context of student teaching if innovations in the curriculum of student teaching are to be realized.     

Student Teaching Feedback and Evaluation: Results From a Seven-State Survey

Recent surveys have provided some guidance and recommendations for the student teaching component in early childhood teacher preparation, but specific information on the focus of supervision and evaluation of student teachers is limited. The current study surveyed 128 early childhood programs in 2- and 4-year institutions of higher education across seven states. The study collected data in areas such as which students receive feedback, how students are supervised and evaluated, and what types of assessment tools contribute to the evaluation. Results indicate that across 2- and 4-year institutions, language and literacy are a strong focus of feedback for student teachers, as well as child development, planning, and adult–child interactions. Student teachers are typically supervised through on-site visits that range in number and length fairly dramatically across 2- and 4-year institutions. Finally, the use of specific tools for evaluation varies across programs; about a quarter of programs surveyed use a published tool to evaluate student teachers. The majority of programs use an evaluation tool that is based on local, state, or national standards. Findings are discussed in terms of early childhood teacher preparation programs and the continuing discussions of recommendations for student teaching.     

高职院校中外合作办学项目英语教学的特点及实践教学研究

近年来,国内很多高职院校都纷纷开展中外合作办学项目。中外合作办学项目的英语教学不同于普通大学英语教学。从培养目标、教学师资和项目生源三个方面着重分析高职院校中外合作办学项目英语教学的特点,并对实践教学中存在的种种问题进行反思,提出提高合作办学项目英语教学质量的几点建议。     

“I Won't Last Three Weeks”: Preservice Science Teachers Reflect on Their Student-Teaching Experiences

In many teacher preparation programs, student teaching serves as a culminating event that bridges academic coursework and the realities of classroom teaching. Therefore, it represents a significant aspect of preservice teacher education. This study explored student teaching as it was experienced by 13 middle and secondary science preservice teachers. Qualitative techniques were used to analyze individual interviews, group seminar sessions, and written reflections to construct a phenomenological account of student teaching as experienced by the preservice teachers. The aim was to construct a picture of the shared experiences of these student teachers to help understand how they struggled, succeeded, and learned as a part of their classroom practica. These findings are then used to draw implications for science teacher education.     

Practice in Teacher Education: an Israeli perspective

This paper describes prevailing models of teacher education programs in Israel and tries to explain their variability regarding the student‐teaching component. It is argued that this variability is the result of holding different views regarding three core factors: professional (the way teaching is perceived as a profession), epistemological (the way the knowledge base of teaching is created and acquired), sociopolitical (ownership claims regarding this knowledge base). The combined effect of these three factors is a variety of teacher education programs especially in terms of their practical components. These differ in timing, organization, location, intensity in actual student teaching and reflection, amount of supervision and control. Different modes of practicum emerge, ranging from technical ones deriving from competency based approaches to constructivist reflective ones. Among the constructivist practicums some are based on interactionist modes of meaning construal, some are social or dialectical type of knowledge construction and some emphasize the collective structuring of meaning within the community of practice. The many types of teacher education and student‐teaching programs in existence in Israel, reflect this variability of approaches.     

An analysis of conditions and trends in student teaching in the United States

Arguably, the student teaching experience is the single most powerful learning experience in preservice teacher education in the United States. Although influenced by the current and past policy context, it is perhaps the oldest as well as the most common partnership between K-12 schools and teacher preparation programs. Despite the centrality of this experience to learning to teach, limited research has been conducted on the nature or characteristics of student teaching in our institutions of higher education or how it has changed over the years. This analysis examines two national samples assessing the status of student teaching experiences in the United States, taken 40 years apart. Its purpose was to analyze conditions and trends in student teaching partnerships. Results indicate that although the experience is now more uniform and intense, fewer supervisor visits are required. Based on the comparison of themes, additional recommendations for narrowing the research-to-practice gap in student teaching practices are proposed.     

Data-driven assessment of teacher candidates during their internships in deaf education

Deaf education teacher training programs have received criticism for graduating students with gaps in knowledge and skills required for specific placements. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) requires that accredited programs engage in self-study, and NCATE guidelines require programs to collect valid, reliable evidence of teacher candidate performance and candidates' effect on student learning. In the present study, an ecobehavioral assessment computer program, MS-CISSAR (Mainstream Code for Instructional Structure and Student Academic Response), was used in evaluations of 8 teacher candidates during internship experiences. Results were mixed. Some of the instructional arrangements, teaching behaviors, and student responses resembled those found in studies using in-service teachers as subjects; however, some data revealed a need for changes in instruction. Data gathered with MS-CISSAR could be added to evaluations to help training programs meet NCATE requirements for evidence on teacher candidate performance and candidates' effect on student learning.     

Examining Features of Teacher Education in Norway

Drawing upon recent research in the United States, this paper proposes that there are three key features undergirding powerful teacher education programs. The research suggests that in order to be powerful and effective, teacher education programs need to have a vision, be coherent, and provide opportunities to learn that are grounded in teaching practice. The author uses these features as a lens to examine programs in Norway – a country in which teacher education has been relatively under-examined. The analysis reveals several challenges for the Norwegian teacher education programs examined, such as a lack of shared vision among faculty responsible for teaching subject content and those teaching pedagogy, as well as few opportunities for student teachers to learn in the context of practice. Implications for strengthening programs are discussed.     

Speech and drama training for lectures as a means of improving university teaching

Although considerable resources have been invested in programs for the improvement of college and university teaching, there is little data available on the effectiveness of these programs. The present study assessed the value of speech and drama training as a method of improving lecturing skills in university teachers. It was found that teachers who received speech and drama training showed significant improvement in student ratings of classroom teaching relative to control teachers. Rival hypotheses involving greater motivation to improve in experimental teachers and generalized placebo and self-help effects were ruled out on the basis of student rating data from previous courses and differential findings for target and nontarget rating scales. It is concluded that speech and drama training can make a small but significant contribution to the improvement of university teaching.     

试析团队式教学在电子设计类课程中的运用

电子设计类课程是一门综合性、应用层次的课程。这类课程要求学生结合硬件并编写程序实现对各种硬件的智能控制,最后实现具有实际应用价值的电子作品。一个学生完成作品难度很大,通常需要多人协作;而传统的"教师讲、学生练"的教学模式是不能够满足培养学生综合能力这一最终教学目标要求的,团队任务式教学是一种行之有效的教学模式。     

思想政治理论课“课题探究式实践教学模式”的实施路径与价值维度

＂课题探究式实践教学模式＂最大的特点是引入系统科学研究理论,以专家带团队的形式,在教师集体备课基础上,结合课程内容和大学生实际,将那些与课程内容相关的思想理论热点、难点问题确定为项目课题,根据任教班级学生的实际兴趣进行分组,选取项目课题实行任课教师指导下的学生集体调研、研讨,最后形成课题报告。项目的实施能够调动学生的自主实践能力,激发学生的学习兴趣,对于推动师生合作学习、合作教学,推动教师研究教学、确立研究兴趣有重要的启示作用。     

专业学位硕士研究生课程教学现状及改革建议——基于研究生教育满意度调查的分析

结合2013年度研究生教育满意度调查数据,分析专业学位硕士研究生课程教学现状,发现当前课程体系、课程教学、课程内容三方面都还存在一些问题;提出了专业学位硕士研究生课程教学应遵循的原则,并以此构想了今后课程教学的改革思路。     

Concept maps of Korean EFL student teachers’ autobiographical reflections on their professional identity formation

This study utilizes a concept mapping method to explore the underlying structure and dimensionality of Korean student teachers’ autobiographical reflections on their professional identity formation. Participants consist of 90 students enrolled in bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in English teacher education. The study results imply core concepts (backgrounds for career pursuit, conceptualizations of a good English teacher/teaching, and confidence/aspirations) that constitute professional identity development of Korean EFL student teachers. Dimensionality analysis suggests that the impetus for guiding student teachers’ professional development is their knowledge and experiences related to teacher qualities and teaching practices.     

Voices in Education: Politics and Teacher Education

Abstract

This research examined the legal climate regarding admissions and retention in teacher preparation programs as well as the current practices of selected programs. The study utilized legal/archival research and an on‐line survey of 27 universities. Findings indicated that the legal parameters regarding admission and retention fall under the expectations established for other types of professional training. University officials have great latitude to make professional judgments. The survey found that most institutions have formal admission and retention policies, though the admission policies are more fully developed. Many universities reported having formal policies to consider student dispositions for teaching, though no single policy is used by more than one third of the universities surveyed (most employ informal means). Conclusions include that teacher preparation programs have more legal latitude than is being employed for admission and retention decisions, and it is recommended that the field establish professional norms for retention policies and assessing student dispositions for teaching.     

高职《电子技术基础》课程体系设计

从高职教育重在培养学生岗位所需求的实践操作技能这一主要任务出发,根据理论知识"够用"的原则,对《电子技术基础》课程内容进行整合和重新编排,形成以项目为载体,建立包含实验、项目、综合实训等环节的"教学做于一体"的课程教学体系[1]。     

Undergraduate Research and Service-Learning Programs in a Kinesiology Program at a Teaching University

High-impact practices foster student success, but faculty faced with heavy teaching loads and lack of resources and infrastructure are challenged to implement such practices. Kinesiology faculty at California State University, East Bay collaborated to implement two student programs: Kinesiology Research Group and Get Fit! Stay Fit! The Kinesiology Research Group, a faculty–student research group, and Get Fit! Stay Fit!, a service learning experience, partnered to consolidate human and structural resources. Student–faculty mentoring circles were used to support this innovative partnership. Here, we report student perceptions of the value of these programs to their academic and professional development.     

Computer-Mediated Communication Environments in Teacher Education: Computer Conferencing and the Supervision of Student Teachers

The use of computer conferencing environments with student teachers and their supervisors was implemented during teaching practice and evaluated for four teacher education programs. Computer conferencing can be contrasted with the more common supervision methods, such as face-to-face conferences between the student teacher and the cooperating teacher, or between a group of student teachers and their supervisor at the teacher education institute. In our evaluation, we focused on participants' opinions of computer conferencing and their participation, activities and educational outcomes. During their field experiences, student teachers used computer conferencing primarily to exchange emotional support when they recognised similar experiences among their peers. It was less used for reflecting on their teaching and exchanging pedagogical content knowledge, including instructional methods and designs, classroom management strategies, general and instructional theories, and aspects of the teaching profession. This finding led to the conclusion that more attention should be paid to the structure of student teachers' learning environment, because more coaching and instruction of student teachers in their systematic and reflective use of computer conferencing leads to more varied and extensive communication     

Teaching Philosophy of Education: The Value of Questions

The teaching of foundations courses, and in particular philosophy of education, is frequently under siege in teacher education programs across Canada, as these programs struggle to meet other demands on student teachers. This article results from a panel discussion addressing the context of a variety of undergraduate philosophy of education courses across the country, and the principles and practices instructors take in teaching their discipline. The result of the discussion is a strong argument in favour of teaching philosophy of education as an important means of achieving many of the other aims Faculties of Education and teacher education programs have for their teacher education students, in an atmosphere of reflective thought about the profession and its challenges.