Curriculum variables,theory and goals: A comment on Begle's Critical Variables in Mathematics Education

The following text was prepared for the Begle Memorial Series on Research in Mathematics Education of the IV ICME Congress at Berkeley in August 1980. Several sessions of this series were devoted to Begle's¹ last book Critical Variables in Mathematics Education, and I was asked to discuss one of its chapters. However, in my view, the more interesting questions Begle's survey raises concern basic problems related to the study as a whole, though these may be identified in each of its parts. Therefore, I have divided my text into two parts: the first sticks more closely to the chapter on curriculum variables which I was to review, and the second is devoted to a more general view on the problems. This procedure may be justified beyond the original purpose: reconstructing one single part of the book may supply a concrete basis for the reflections subsequently explicated and may help in visualizing them.     

Evaluation of the Redesign of an Undergraduate Cell Biology Course

This article offers a case study of the evaluation of a redesigned and redeveloped laboratory-based cell biology course. The course was a compulsory element of the biology program, but the laboratory had become outdated and was inadequately equipped. With the support of a faculty-based teaching improvement project, the teaching team redesigned the course and re-equipped the laboratory, using a more learner-centered, constructivist approach. The focus of the article is on the project-supported evaluation of the redesign rather than the redesign per se. The evaluation involved aspects well beyond standard course assessments, including the gathering of self-reported data from the students concerning both the laboratory component and the technical skills associated with the course. The comparison of pre- and postdata gave valuable information to the teaching team on course design issues and skill acquisition. It is argued that the evaluation process was an effective use of the scarce resources of the teaching improvement project.     

浅谈机床液压系统研究与改进

本文分析了M1432A型外圆磨床液压系统的特点,指出了该液压系统的不足,结合先进的液压技术和理论,对磨床的工作台及砂轮架的液压控制部分进行改进设计,经过模拟验证和实际论证,证明该种机床在改进后,能在加工精度、平稳性、换向精度、响应时间等各方面有大幅度的提高,为原有机床液压系统的改进和完善提供了较好的思路。     

Design,implementation, and evaluation of an innovative anatomy course

Starting in 2004, a medical school gross anatomy course faced with a 30% cut in hours went through an extensive redesign, which transformed a traditional dissection course into a course with a clinical focus, learning societies, and extensive on‐line learning support. Built into the redesign process was an extensive and ongoing assessment process, which included student focus groups, faculty development, surveys, and examinations. These assessments were used formatively, to enhance the course from year to year, and summatively, to determine how well the course was meeting the new learning objectives. The assessments from focus groups and faculty development prompted changes in support structures provided to students and the training and preparation of faculty. Survey results showed that, after student satisfaction declined the first year, satisfaction increased steadily through the fourth iteration as the course gained acceptance by students and faculty alike. There was a corresponding increase in the performance of students on course examinations. An additional examination given to students one and a half and three years after their anatomy course ended demonstrated the redesigned course's long‐term effectiveness for retaining anatomical knowledge and applying it to clinical cases. Compared to students who took the original course, students who took the shorter, more clinical course performed as well, or better, on each section of the examination. We attribute these positive results to the innovative course design and to the changes made based on our formative assessment program. Anat Sci Educ, 2010. © 2010 American Association of Anatomists.     

Unfulfilled hopes in education for equity: redesigning the mathematics curriculum in a US high school

Mathematics education aimed at empowering students for economic and democratic participation must address two critical issues: the long‐standing function of mathematics as a gatekeeper, and the complicated nature of designing and implementing systematic reform at the school department level. The study reported here examines a curricular redesign implemented by teachers in one US high school department. The department was redesigning its curriculum to remedy high failure rates in targeted courses disproportionately populated by students of colour. Using a case‐study methodology, this study examines the process of curricular redesign and its influence on these students’ access to more advanced mathematics courses. It describes redesigned courses and department characteristics that aided or challenged the redesign process, and discusses the significance of the identified challenges in constructing placement policies that did little to increase students’ likelihood of taking additional, and more advanced‐ level, mathematics courses. The analysis revealed a department that, despite its intentions, implemented a curriculum design which perpetuated inequities. This study discusses the teachers’ expectations of their students and perspectives about the nature of mathematics as a partial explanation for the department’s failure. The resigned curriculum failed to promote mathematics course‐taking because it created more defined tracks with less rigorous courses for students in low‐level courses.     

对幼儿园科学区角活动中教师提问方式的研究

对上海市一所科技特色幼儿园4个中班的4位带班教师在科学区角活动中的提问方式进行研究,结果表明,幼儿园教师在科学区角活动交流讨论环节中提出的开放式问题、推理性问题的比重有很大提高,提出的日常问题多于科学问题,提出的示范操作式问题明显少于言语陈述式问题.     

Designing effective,contemporary assessment on a flipped educational sciences course

ABSTRACT

Evidence shows flipped learning increases academic performance and student satisfaction. Yet, often practitioners flip instruction but keep traditional curricula and assessment. Assessment in higher education is often via written exams. But these provide limited feedback and do not ask students to put knowledge into practice. This does not support the tenets of flipped learning. For two years, the author flipped instruction but retained traditional curricula and assessment. However, on the author’s current course, all three aspects were redesigned to better support flipped learning. The aim of this research is to test the effectiveness of this redesign regarding student engagement and satisfaction. Thus, it is asked: How, on this course, can meaningful, continuous assessment be provided as well as effective, personalized feedback, while staying in line with the philosophy of flipped learning? Action research took place from September 2016 to June 2017. Quantitative data from a student survey, and qualitative data from a research diary and student focus group were gathered. What emerged is: a little-and-often assessment approach is effective for learning and engagement; tasks must be authentic and test demonstration of knowledge, not memory; quality, not quantity, is key for student learning; and students desire individualized feedback.     

The Effects of Training on Instructor Beliefs about and Attitudes toward Online Teaching

ABSTRACT

This study examines the relationship between one approach to training new online instructors and the ways in which the program influenced their beliefs about and attitudes about teaching online over time. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model serves as the theoretical framework for analyzing three primarily qualitative sources of data including (1) participants’ program application essays, (2) post-training program evaluation data; and (3) a follow-up survey of instructors after they delivered their redesigned course online. Findings reveal that, prior to and immediately following the training, instructors were highly optimistic about their course redesign and skill/knowledge development. After teaching the course online, participants were less optimistic and less satisfied with their training experience than they had been immediately prior to or following the training. Multiple instructors cited a need for additional or continued training and support.     

Assessing Cognitive Load Theory to Improve Student Learning for Mechanical Engineers

Abstract

A computer programming class for students of mechanical engineering was redesigned and assessed: Cognitive Load Theory was used to redesign the content; online technologies were used to redesign the delivery. Student learning improved and the dropout rate was reduced. This article reports on both attitudinal and objective assessment: comparing student performance on identical final exams and student reviews. Note is made of improved learning by female and other nontraditional engineering students. This article also reports on two additional teaching strategies that were deployed to improve learning.     

Improving Professional Relevance in the U.S. Army Armor Basic Officer Leader Course

Between 2012 and 2014, the U.S. Army's Armor School embarked on a comprehensive redesign of its core professional military education course. The 19‐week Armor Basic Officer Leader Course curriculum was redesigned to improve its professional relevance to students, instructors, and commands in the Army's operating force. This article focuses on one challenge inherent in the Armor School's effort: how to develop new performance‐based course assessment measures that meet key organizational requirements and stakeholder expectations.     

When it comes round to marking assignments: how to impress and how to ‘distress’ lecturers …

What do lecturers look for when marking essays? What impresses them and what frustrates them? In this paper, we present the results of a survey which asked lecturers to address these questions. Thirty‐two lecturers responded to an email survey in which they listed the problems they found most frustrating when marking essays and the factors which most impressed them. This resulted in 206 comments related to sources of frustration and 139 comments listing factors which impress them. The comments were then coded into themes and ranked in order of importance by 16 lecturers from the original sample. The results highlight a range of issues that may be useful for lecturers when discussing assignments, and instructive for students when writing their assignments.     

Student evaluations of teaching: perceptions of faculty based on gender,position, and rank

The current study explores the feelings and thoughts that faculty have about their student evaluations of teaching (SET). To assess the perceptions of SETs, all teaching faculty in one college at a western Land Grant University were asked to complete an anonymous online survey. The survey included demographic questions (i.e. gender; rank such as assistant, associate, and full professor; and positions like non-tenure track, tenure track, and tenured) as well as questions related to faculty's feelings while reading their SETs. While minimal differences were found in responses based on rank or position, several differences were found based on faculty gender. Overall, female faculty appear to be more negatively impacted by student evaluations than male faculty. These gender differences support previous research that suggests males and females receive and react differently to personal evaluation. Resultant suggestions include modifying surveys from anonymous to confidential and offering professional development training for faculty.     

Maternal questions while reading to deaf and hearing twins: a case study

This study examined the frequency and types of questions that a mother used during storybook reading sessions with her 3-year-old twin daughters. One had normal hearing and one was deaf. Results indicated that the mother asked almost twice as many questions of the hearing twin as she did of the deaf twin. The types of questions asked also varied. With the hearing twin, the mother primarily asked conventional test questions. While questions asked the deaf twin appeared to serve the same function as conventional test questions, they were asked in a form not examined in previous research. Differential changes in questions asked the twins across three reading sessions also were noted. Implications for the quality of language during book reading with young deaf children are discussed.     

Making sense and facing tensions: an investigation of core practice complexities

Recently, scholars have called for a practice-based framework for teacher education and some have argued more narrowly for a framework built around ‘core practices of teaching.’ These efforts, in part, are intended to make teacher education practice public and available for collective improvement. The purpose of this paper is to highlight challenges and possibilities that arose during a core practice-oriented course redesign. Despite attention to the literature, the teacher educators faced dozens of inherent tensions and contextual challenges that distinguish their understanding of core practices from other teacher educators operating with common principles. Based on lessons learned, the author argues for greater attention to the details of core practice redesigns, rationales explaining redesign decisions, and empirical investigation of teacher candidate outcomes of such redesigned courses and programs.     

对幼儿园集体教学活动中教师提问的观察研究

幼儿教师在教学活动中的提问是关乎教学质量的关键环节，但目前幼儿园教师的提问存在数量多、质量低、幼儿应答机会分布不均匀、教师回应方式机械等诸多问题。要改变这种现状，幼儿园教师必须认真设计提问。注意提问的适宜性与适时性以及教师的回应方式。     

Virtual design and performance prediction of a silencing air cleaner used in an I.C. engine intake system

INTRODUCTION The primary function of an intake system is firstly to efficiently channel fresh air to the engine,and secondly to minimize intake noise emissions.There are a number of current approaches for devel-oping a more realistic method to improve intake sys-tem design.The objectives include more effective silencing performance to meet increasingly severe legislative targets for reduced noise on the one hand,with optimized engine performance and fuel economy accompanied by improvements…     

Student engagement: students' and teachers' perceptions

This article addresses the question: To what extent do tertiary teachers and students have similar understandings of what engages students in classroom settings? It employs data from a funded research project in Aotearoa New Zealand that draws on selected questions from two surveys. One survey asked students how important nine selected teacher behaviours were in engaging them in learning, the other asked teachers what priority they put on these behaviours and how important they thought they were to students. The selected questions were drawn from an extensive research literature identifying teacher behaviours that engaged students. The article reports that teachers and students had some similar but more dissimilar perceptions about what engages students. Suggested reasons for the differences are discussed.     

Encouraging College Student Active Engagement in Learning: The Influence of Response Methods

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of two student response methods within selected college lecture halls. Kinesiology majors from three universities were asked to respond to questions during two consecutive lectures, one using “clickers” and the other using hand-raising. Participation and comprehension rates were statistically significantly different following the use of the different response methods. Participant survey responses revealed insight into student participation, question presentation, perceived cognitive engagement, and overall learning in traditional lecture settings using the response methods.     

Sixth grade mathematics teachers’ intentions and use of probing, guiding, and factual questions

This case study of a first-year and an experienced teacher presents an analysis of the place and frequency of three types of questions: probing, guiding, and factual. We examined the use of these questions in the course of five lessons, in order to study the relationship between the part of the lesson and types of questions asked. In addition, we interviewed the teachers to gain insights into their reasons for asking different types of questions. Both teachers asked many more factual questions than other types of questions regardless of their teaching strategies. Both asked more probing questions during the summary part of the lessons than in other parts. The first year teacher asked more probing questions overall than the experienced teacher, except in a lesson in which the experienced teacher engaged student with manipulatives. Guiding questions were rarely used by either teacher. In the interviews, both teachers said asking higher order questions was important for better students’ learning, even though they asked relatively few probing or guiding questions. Using the indicators we developed for question types, we found that the two teachers were aware of the functions of questions they used. Even after a considerable amount of time had elapsed, they were able to recall the lesson from a video clip and explain why they used questions with particular students or in a specific situation