‘I guess it scares us’ – Teachers discuss the teaching of poetry in senior secondary English

This article reports on a participant‐centred research project with English teachers in a senior secondary college in Melbourne, Australia. It builds on previous research (Weaven and Clark 2009, 2011), which showed a low take‐up of the opportunities to teach poetry in Victoria's senior secondary English curriculum. This study explores the reasons why teachers of English are unwilling to use poetry texts in their senior classes. The teachers who participated in this study discussed and documented their attitudes towards the teaching of poetry and explored with each other the pedagogical challenges associated with teaching poetry. Their discussions – an analysis of which forms the empirical core of this article – reveal a range of explanations for teachers' reservations about offering poetry to their students. Importantly, these teachers were able to use professional discussion as a means to consider what changes in teaching practice could be successfully developed to facilitate more time spent on the teaching of poetry in senior secondary classes.     

Finding the common ground: Teachers' and employers' representations of English in an assessment context

There has been a long‐standing debate about how ‘English’ can be defined. Educational policy changes have typically been driven by differing representations of the subject, and have ranged from broad ‘aesthetic’ definitions to more narrow ‘functional’ views. The present study aims to analyse areas of consensus and contention in stakeholders' discourse regarding English. A questionnaire‐based survey and focus groups were used to explore how teachers and employers viewed English as a subject. Their views were conceptualised into three themes: the importance of functional English; English as atomistic versus holistic study; and English as critical thought. These themes are discussed in relation to historical definitions of ‘English’, and their implications for the future reform of English qualifications.     

What future teachers believe about democracy and why it is important

This paper analyses pre-service education student perceptions and perspectives related to education for democracy in Australia. Using a critical pedagogical framework datum from an online survey, it presents both quantitative and qualitative responses of contrasting understandings of democracy. It begins by outlining the concepts of thick and thin democracy and why this is important in relation to contemporary debates about the state of civics and citizenship education, and then explains the conceptual framework of critical pedagogy and methodology. The datum analysed is discussed in relation to neoliberalism and indicates that the pre-service teachers in this study view democracy in a narrow or thin way that may impact on their classroom practice where they would be teaching about but not for democracy. A more critical and thicker understanding of democracy is suggested as essential if we desire our students to become active and transformative citizens.     

Web‐based Learning in Corporations: who is using it and why,who is not and why not?

Web‐based learning (WBL) is synonymous with on‐line learning, and is defined as learning that is delivered wholly or in part via the Internet or an Intranet. This paper first covers the advantages and concerns of using WBL in the corporate environment. It then examines the acceptance of WBL in American corporations, revealing who is using it and why, and who is not using it and why not. Finally, this paper discusses issues, challenges, and opportunities presented by WBL to corporations, the instructional designers and researchers.     

Headteachers’ readings of and responses to disadvantaged contexts: evidence from English primary schools

Existing research demonstrates the impact of context on school organisation and management, curriculum and pedagogy and on student peer relations. New developments in English education policy will devolve more responsibility for dealing with these issues to headteachers. Headteachers' readings of their contexts and the responses that they make are thus of increasing interest. This paper draws on interviews with eight headteachers of less advantaged English primary schools to explore how they understand and articulate the contexts in which their schools operate and how this knowledge is translated into strategies for organising curriculum, pedagogy and other school processes. These headteachers observed context through the lens of the behaviour of parents and children in relation to school, contrasting it with an assumed middle‐class normality. More critical perspectives on families' social and economic position or on the contribution of school practice to educational exclusion were largely absent. School responses were many and varied but, given the constraints of budgets, market and performative pressures, were unlikely to substantially transform the educational experiences and outcomes of disadvantaged students. We point to the continuing need for more contextualised funding mechanisms and policies to improve schools in disadvantaged areas and also, in the light of devolution to schools, to the need to develop mechanisms of support to headteachers to help them to develop critical understandings of context and to reflect on school process and practices in the light of these understandings.     

Interpretive responses to images in picture books by primary and secondary school students: Exploring curriculum expectations of a ‘visual grammatics’

As well as maintaining the central role of literature, the new Australian Curriculum: English emphasises the multimodal nature of literacy and requires students in primary and secondary schools to develop explicit knowledge about visual and verbal grammar as a resource for text interpretation and text creation. This study investigated the use of visual grammatics in interpreting picture books by students across Years Four, Five, Seven and Ten following an intensive professional learning programme undertaken by their teachers. A proposed framework describes variation in students' interpretive stance from tactical to diegetic to semiotic. Levels of student semiotic understanding are differentiated and differences between students' oral and written interpretations are discussed in relation the need for explicit teaching of written interpretive responses to multimodal literary texts, drawing on an articulated visual and verbal grammatics appropriate to the teaching of English in primary and secondary schools.     

A Bookstore for Bailey: A Novel Approach to Teaching a Small‐Business Management Course

This article presents the development of an online, student‐centered, introductory small‐business management course that uses an educational business novel, hypertext graphic‐design features, an interactive workbook, and a student‐authored final chapter. Student learning was assessed through the use of a pre‐ and posttest survey. Student reflection was incorporated to make students consider the impact of learning. Results showed that student learning and understanding increased in two separate courses.     

Applying Mass Customization Concepts to Core Courses: Increasing Student‐Centered Customization and Enabling Cross‐Functional Integration

This conceptual paper suggests a methodology for increasing student satisfaction in core courses by applying the principle of mass customization to increase student satisfaction. It proposes that customization can be increased by increasing course flexibility along three dimensions: content flexibility, schedule flexibility, and course length flexibility. The increased flexibility provides opportunities for both student‐centered customization and the cross‐functional integration of the core course with other disciplines. Core courses were targeted because of their high volume of students specializing in something other than the core course being taught and the associated general disinterest of these types of students. There are two main sections. The first section provides an overview to the proposed course structure while the second provides suggestions about computer‐based technology that can be used to support the structure presented in the first section. Examples are presented that pertain to a core course in statistics, but the technology and course structure presented are easily adaptable to core courses in any discipline.     

Intrinsic Factors for Continued ERP Learning: A Precursor to Interdisciplinary ERP Curriculum Design

Unilateral enterprise resource planning (ERP) curriculum improvements from the instructor's perspective are likely to generate only limited success. Understanding student motivations and beliefs with ERP systems is the missing link to effective ERP education. Relatively little attention in the ERP literature has been given to student learning associated with ERP experience, and almost none to factors influencing current and expected student beliefs and behaviors relative to ERP. The complexity of ERP systems demands that beliefs and behaviors be considered when planning ERP curricula. In the present study, the Theory of Planned Behavior was extended to examine students’ intentions to explore additional aspects of ERP after their class exercises. When considering all students, attitude and subjective norm had positive and significant effects on intentions to continue ERP learning. Subjective norm also affected attitude, and availability of support materials had a positive effect on subjective norm. Distinctive patterns are found for the construct relationships between student groups who valued ERP education (the engaged) and those who placed little or no value on ERP education (the undecided). Results from competing model analyses indicate that support materials influenced the engaged and undecided groups differently. Strategies for ERP curriculum design are provided.     

MBA Program Trends and Best Practices in Teaching Sustainability: Live Project Courses

This study offers a model for incorporating live sustainability consulting projects in an MBA curriculum to nurture cross‐functional faculty collaboration while offering students proving ground for solving contemporary challenges related to ethical management of all forms of capital. We attempt to first lay a foundation for the recent evolution of sustainability within business schools, and then provide evidence that an opportunity exists for decision science scholars to play a key role as facilitators of this wave of pedagogy. Our research is based on publicly available data that rank business schools relative to their integration of sustainability within MBA programs, our experiences with 39 project clients over a 3‐year period, an analysis of client and student feedback, and anecdotal evidence of success in the development of live project‐based consulting courses. The case study highlights the potential and scalability of this proposed pedagogy to deliver live projects as either a stand‐alone course or an integrated part of the curriculum.     

The Relationship Between Undergraduate Attendance and Performance Revisited: Alignment of Student and Instructor Goals

We revisit the relationship between attendance and performance in the undergraduate university setting and apply agency theory in the instructor–student context. Building on agency theory propositions in the educational setting advanced by Smith, Zsidisin, and Adams (2005) , we propose that the student and instructor must align goals to promote the student's achievement of performance learning outcomes, and attendance functions as a behavior‐based alignment mechanism to encourage the convergence of faculty and student interests. Further, we propose that attendance does not equally affect lower‐ and higher‐performing students and that absences are also negatively related to students' cumulative grade point average. We test these hypotheses with data from undergraduates enrolled in management courses at a state university in the southeast. Our results show that attendance is positively related to exam performance, there are more pronounced negative effects of an absence for lower‐performing students than for higher performers, and absences are negatively related to a student's cumulative grade point average. We discuss the implications of our findings for students, instructors, and universities as well as practice in teaching and learning.     

Course Management Systems and Blended Learning: An Innovative Learning Approach

This article utilizes Rogers ’ innovation‐decision process model (2003) and Beckman and Berry's innovation process model (2007) to create an innovative learning map that illustrates three learning methods (i.e., face‐to‐face learning, online learning, and blended learning) in two types of innovation (i.e., incremental innovation and radical innovation) that exhibits the behavior and dynamics on a two‐dimensional area of learning changes (i.e., change in learning model and change in technological infrastructure). The behavior and dynamics of face‐to‐face, online, and blended learning are depicted in the innovative learning map. Blended learning is identified as a radical innovative learning method in the innovative learning map. A course management system (CMS) is an information and communication technology (ICT) tool that can be used to facilitate and balance communication channel within a blended learning environment. Two propositions are proposed in this article: (1) CMS facilitates communication channel, enhances learning practice for learners and instructors, and is an enabler for blended learning; and (2) adopting CMS is suitable for blended learning practice. A case study to a college System Analysis and Design (SA&D) course reflects that the adoption of CMS in a blended learning environment is acceptable.     

From objects to subjects: Repositioning teachers as policy actors doing policy work

Within policy discourses, teachers are positioned as objects of reform who enact policies under rational systems of observation and accountability and are, therefore, situated as de-professionalized actors lacking expert knowledge. This research project asks relatively straight-forward questions: If practicing teachers were given a voice in political debates over urban education policy and reform, what would they say? What macro-level policy problems would they identify as being important? Findings indicate the primary policy problems include Systemic Inequity and Bad Policy. The primary policy solutions include, Schools as a Community Resource; Shared Decision-Making; Contextual Goals; and Time, Space and Resources.     

A Comparative Study of Student Math Skills: Perceptions,Validation, and Recommendations

A study was conducted at a southern university in sophomore level production classes to assess skills such as the order of arithmetic operations, decimal and percent conversion, solving of algebraic expressions, and evaluation of formulas. The study was replicated using business statistics and quantitative analysis classes at a southeastern university. The intent of the study was to determine math deficiencies among college students and to ascertain whether or not these deficiencies impact grades. Data analyses compared students’ test results and grades from the different classes at the two universities and identified surprising patterns across classes, universities, and professors.These results support the need for curriculum modifications to address the identified deficiencies.     

Methods of Instruction and Learning Outcomes: A Theoretical Analysis of Two Approaches in an Introductory Information Technology Course*

In introductory information technology (IT) courses, communicating technical concepts so that they can be comprehended by all students, technical and nontechnical, has been a concern. Another challenge in such courses is to teach the real‐world applicability of technical concepts. In this conceptual article, we focus on a relatively unexplored issue in IT education—which instructional method is more effective in improving the learning outcomes of all students taking introductory IT courses. In doing so, we consider two instructional methods, lecture and multimedia case studies, and argue that either of these instructional methods, adopted singly, will be perceived by students as less effective in accomplishing learning outcomes than adopting a combination of the two instructional methods. Our arguments both augment existing knowledge about the differential influence of lecture and multimedia case studies on students’ learning outcomes and questions the wisdom of adopting either of these methods singly in introductory IT courses. We derive insights from the literature and anecdotal evidence, presented as four propositions, which illustrate the relationship between the two instructional methods and the specific learning outcomes students perceive they affect.     

In the workplace mathematics does not announce itself: towards overcoming the hiatus between mathematics education and work

After improving enrolment rates significantly, many developing countries such as Peru are facing the challenge to increase learning levels among students. Over the past few years, many researchers have turned to teacher-related variables as a way to better understand classroom processes that may help increase learning levels among students. In this study, we analyze one of these, that falls under what Shulman (Educational Researcher, 15 (2), 4–14, 1986) called pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Specifically, in this study, we analyze one of the areas of PCK which is knowledge of content and students. This was measured through a test where teachers were asked to explain students’ mistakes and predict responses in similar mathematics exercises. We explore if PCK is associated with the socioeconomic status of children and if it has an effect on children’s achievement. Additionally, we analyze which teacher characteristics are associated with higher scores in PCK. The analysis uses the Young Lives longitudinal survey for Peru. We found that students’ socioeconomic status at age 1 and maternal education were positively associated with their teachers’ PCK by the time students were enrolled in fourth grade, thus depicting a very unequal education system. Furthermore, teachers’ PCK was positively associated with student achievement, but only when a threshold for the PCK test was established. For our sample, male teachers, who were younger, and Spanish speakers had higher PCK scores.     

Cultural cognition and climate change education in the U.S.: why consensus is not enough

Abstract

Integrating climate change into environmental education programs and formal science classrooms can be difficult, as the issue remains controversial and highly politicized among the American public. This study proposes that the same cultural values that shape worldview differences and divide public opinion on anthropogenic climate change will influence if and how science educators support education on the topic. An online survey with quantitative and qualitative measures was distributed among science educators in the southeastern United States to test what, if any, impact cultural cognition has on their opinions about climate change education. The results suggest that respondents’ cultural values have a significant influence on their intentions to support climate change education and preferences for curricula content. The findings also suggest potential avenues for the field of environmental education to develop climate change materials that may help decrease unintentional biases among science educators and more effectively engage their support in teaching its causes and potential solutions regardless of worldview differences.