Turning the tide: creating Professional Learning Communities (PLC) to improve teaching practice and learning in South African public schools

Abstract

Poor learner performance in South African schools raises concerns related to lack of commitment and accountability from school leaders and teachers with no common vision to promote a culture of high learner performance. This paper provides a literature overview of research available on the impact of professional learning communities (PLC) on effective teaching and practices to promote higher levels of learning amongst students; the nature of PLCs; their essential characteristics, developmental stages and challenges; and an assessment of the benefits of PLC in schools and the challenges of PLC from other researchers’ observations. PLCs are necessary to encourage collaborative teamwork on essential outcomes and intervention activities in learning. Finally, I conclude by exploring how South African schools can benefit from the practices of professional learning communities which endeavour to improve teaching practices and poor learner achievement.     

Understanding science teaching effectiveness: examining how science-specific and generic instructional practices relate to student achievement in secondary science classrooms

ABSTRACT

In order to create conditions for students’ meaningful and rigorous intellectual engagement in science classrooms, it is critically important to help science teachers learn which strategies and approaches can be used best to develop students’ scientific literacy. Better understanding how science teachers’ instructional practices relate to student achievement can provide teachers with beneficial information about how to best engage their students in meaningful science learning. To address this need, this study examined the instructional practices that 99 secondary biology teachers used in their classrooms and employed regression to determine which instructional practices are predictive of students’ science achievement. Results revealed that the secondary science teachers who had well-managed classroom environments and who provided opportunities for their students to engage in student-directed investigation-related experiences were more likely to have increased student outcomes, as determined by teachers’ value-added measures. These findings suggest that attending to both generic and subject-specific aspects of science teachers’ instructional practice is important for understanding the underlying mechanisms that result in more effective science instruction in secondary classrooms. Implications about the use of these observational measures within teacher evaluation systems are discussed.     

Effects of implementing an integrative drama-inquiry learning model in a science classroom

Abstract

This paper introduces ‘Integrative Drama-Inquiry Learning’ (IDI), merging drama-based learning with inquiry-based learning in order to exemplify teaching science through drama. The study also reports on the findings of a sequential mixed-methods procedure embedded in a quasi-experimental research design aimed to understand the effects of IDI on middle school students’ achievement in a biological unit. The initial quantitative phase revealed that IDI instruction had a significant effect on the experimental group’s achievement compared with traditional teaching. A follow-up qualitative phase showed that their achievement was affected by the enhancement of intrinsic motivation through IDI. Analysis suggested that students’ satisfaction of psychological needs of competency, relatedness, and autonomy positively affected learners’ motivation, as advocated by the self-determination theory.     

Making learning effective – quantity and quality of pre-service teachers’ feedback

ABSTRACT

Feedback is an essential formative assessment practice that has the potential to influence student learning and achievement positively. Providing effective feedback, however, is a challenging task for teachers. Especially beginning teachers struggle with the provision of information that supports students in developing and improving their competences. Learning to provide feedback thus is an important aspect of teacher education. The present exploratory study investigates pre-service chemistry teachers’ practices regarding the judgement of students’ level of achievement and the provision of feedback in the context of the control-of-variables strategy. A sample of N?=?40 bachelor and master students at Kiel University judged students’ written artefacts and provided feedback with the aim to support students in their progression towards the learning goals. The quality of the feedback was coded with respect to its correct judgement of the students’ current levels of achievement and the support it provided regarding next steps in learning. The results show that only a few of the pre-service teachers could correctly judge students’ current levels of achievement and provide feedback that is expected to be effective. Overall, the findings indicate a need for more research in this field and a need for the implementation of formative assessment practices as a topic in pre-service teacher education.     

Classroom assessment as the co-regulation of learning

ABSTRACT

Until recently, the classroom assessment literature has emphasized the role of teachers and tests, for example investigating teachers’ assessment practices or the quality of classroom tests and other assessments. In contrast, current understandings of teaching and learning emphasize the role of students, as well as the complex interactions between teachers, students, and contexts. We use the literature review method to give substance to a theory of classroom assessment as the co-regulation of learning by teachers, students, instructional materials, and contexts. We organize the literature using a version of Pintrich and Zusho’s theory of the phases and areas of the self-regulation of learning, expanded to include the co-regulation of learning, in order to demonstrate how classroom assessment is related to all aspects of the regulation of learning. We conclude that this is a useful expansion for the field.     

The quandary of quantification: data,numbers and teachers’ learning

ABSTRACT

Drawing upon recent theorising of numbers and data, and applications to schooling, this paper reveals how tensions between more accountability-oriented logics, and more contextually-situated conceptions of engagement with data, played out in one school in a regional community in northern Queensland, Australia. The research reveals that at the same time teachers’ work and learning were heavily influenced by more reductive processes of quantification to account for teachers’ practices, teachers also sought to draw upon the attention to numeric markers of student achievement to foster more substantive teacher learning for student learning. These tensions were expressed in relation to: efforts to foster improved student learning through collection of evidence via ‘short-term data cycles’; engagement in various ‘data conversations’ with senior members of staff, and coaching by more experienced teachers, and; broader teacher learning initiatives focused on enhancing outcomes for specified groups of students identified as able to perform at higher levels of attainment. The research cautions that such practices present a quandary; even as broader processes of quantification of education may stimulate instances of more ongoing, substantive teacher learning for student learning, more performative applications of these numbers and data mitigate against the educative potential of such practices, and substantive learning for all students.     

Relationship between affect and achievement in science and mathematics in Malaysia and Singapore

Background : The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assesses the quality of the teaching and learning of science and mathematics among Grades 4 and 8 students across participating countries.

Purpose : This study explored the relationship between positive affect towards science and mathematics and achievement in science and mathematics among Malaysian and Singaporean Grade 8 students.

Sample : In total, 4466 Malaysia students and 4599 Singaporean students from Grade 8 who participated in TIMSS 2007 were involved in this study.

Design and method : Students’ achievement scores on eight items in the survey instrument that were reported in TIMSS 2007 were used as the dependent variable in the analysis. Students’ scores on four items in the TIMSS 2007 survey instrument pertaining to students’ affect towards science and mathematics together with students’ gender, language spoken at home and parental education were used as the independent variables.

Results : Positive affect towards science and mathematics indicated statistically significant predictive effects on achievement in the two subjects for both Malaysian and Singaporean Grade 8 students. There were statistically significant predictive effects on mathematics achievement for the students’ gender, language spoken at home and parental education for both Malaysian and Singaporean students, with R ² = 0.18 and 0.21, respectively. However, only parental education showed statistically significant predictive effects on science achievement for both countries. For Singapore, language spoken at home also demonstrated statistically significant predictive effects on science achievement, whereas gender did not. For Malaysia, neither gender nor language spoken at home had statistically significant predictive effects on science achievement.

Conclusions : It is important for educators to consider implementing self-concept enhancement intervention programmes by incorporating ‘affect’ components of academic self-concept in order to develop students’ talents and promote academic excellence in science and mathematics.     

When is the best time to use rubrics in flipped learning? A study on students’ learning achievement,metacognitive awareness,and cognitive load

ABSTRACT

Rubrics can guide teachers to provide effective feedback and students’ peer- and self-assessment. This paper examines the effect of rubric use in flipped learning activities on students’ learning achievement, metacognitive awareness, and cognitive load through a quasi-experiment. A total of 83 university students were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. The students in the experimental group were given rubrics in performing pre-class learning activities on the cloud platform, while those in the control group used rubrics in post-class assessment and modification of their finished works. The results show that rubric use can assist flipped learning by improving students’ learning achievement and metacognitive awareness, while reducing their cognitive load. Using rubrics before in-class work can yield stronger benefits in raising metacognitive awareness and lessening cognitive load. Moreover, the study reveals that students tend to hold a generally favorable attitude toward rubric use. These findings imply that appropriate use of rubrics in flipped learning has the potential to create a more efficient and learner-friendly condition to enhance self-regulated learning.     

An Experiment to Evaluate the Efficacy of Cognitive Tutor Geometry

Abstract

This randomized, controlled field trial estimated the causal impact of a technology-based geometry curriculum on students’ geometry achievement, as well as their attitudes toward mathematics and technology. The curriculum combines learner-centered classroom pedagogy with individualized, computer-based student instruction. Conducted over a 3-year period in eight high schools within an urban fringe district, the study found that students assigned to the treatment curriculum scored 19% of a standard deviation lower on the geometry posttest than their counterparts assigned to the district's standard curriculum, but found no statistically significant impact on students’ attitudes toward mathematics and technology. Researchers also collected observation and interview data on teachers’ instructional practices. These data suggest that many teachers had difficulty implementing the treatment curriculum's learner-centered pedagogy. In fact, observed levels of learner-centered practices were only modestly higher in treatment classes than in control classes. In both treatment and control classes, however, higher levels of learner-centered pedagogy were associated with higher student achievement in geometry.     

Collaborative learning with scientific approach and multiple intelligence: Its impact toward math learning achievement

Abstract

This study examined the effect of collaborative learning with a scientific approach (SA) on the learning achievement in mathematics viewed from the students’ multiple intelligences. This study compared two types of collaborative learning models, Three Steps Interview (TSI), and Think Pair Share (TPS). The participants of this study were grade 8 students of Secondary Schools in Sukoharjo, Central Java, Indonesia (N?=?262). This study was a quasi-experimental study with a 3?×?3 factorial design. The results of the study can be concluded as follows. (1) TSI with a scientific approach got better math learning achievement than TPS with a scientific approach and classical with a scientific approach. Besides, TPS with a scientific approach got better learning achievement than classical with a scientific approach. (2) Students with logical-mathematical intelligence got better math learning achievement than students with linguistic intelligence and students with interpersonal intelligence, students with linguistic intelligence got better math learning achievement than students with interpersonal intelligence.     

A Statistical Study of a New Type of Objective Examination Question

ABSTRACT

The author attempted to examine how Taiwanese junior high school students’ perfectionistic tendencies and achievement goals were related to their academic burnout versus work engagement, and to determine differences in the indicators of burnout versus engagement among students with different subtypes of perfectionism. A total of 456 eighth-grade Taiwanese students completed a self-reported survey assessing their perfectionistic tendencies, achievement goals, academic burnout, and work engagement. Results of this study indicated that perfectionism along with achievement goals emerged as statistically significant predictors of Taiwanese students’ burnout and work engagement. Additionally, the quality of adolescents’ engagement varied as a function of perfectionistic tendencies. Adaptive perfectionists displayed the healthiest pattern of engagement in schoolwork. Implications for educational practices and future research are discussed.     

Teaching and learning cultures in higher education: a mismatch in conceptions

ABSTRACT

Instructional approaches in higher education that foster learning based on internal values are required with the enrollment of wider and more diverse audiences. The current study explores this challenge with a focus on the relationship between students’ learning cultures and the way instructors’ view them. We interviewed 76 students and six instructors at an established academic institution. Data comprised of 210 students’ and 146 instructors’ utterances that were analyzed using mixed methods. Findings revealed a mismatch of instructors’ conceptions about the learning culture of the typical student, potentially leading to compromises in their teaching practices. We provide evidence that reciprocal relations exist between cultures of teaching and learning, contributing to the wicked challenges of rethinking the role of teachers in reinforcing passive learning cultures in undergraduate education. Adoption of internal-based values teaching approaches can help break this feedback loop.     

A current landscape of specific learning disability identification: Training,practices, and implications

Specific learning disability (SLD) identification procedures vary across states (Maki et al., 2015, School Psychol Quart, 30, 457–469); however, the extent to which SLD identification methods are implemented at the district level is not well understood. Moreover, the high‐stakes nature of SLD identification necessitates extensive training, but research regarding graduate and postgraduate training in SLD is limited. This study examined school psychologists’ SLD training and practices through survey methodology. Results showed that a growing number of school psychologists use, prefer, and receive training in response to intervention and pattern of strengths and weaknesses to identify students with SLD while the use of and preference for ability–achievement discrepancy may be decreasing. However, nearly one‐third of school psychologists still reported the use of ability–achievement discrepancy. In addition, over half of school psychologists reported using state department of education guidance documents to inform their SLD identification practices. Implications for training and practice are discussed.     

When Mastery Goals Meet Mastery Learning: Administrator,Teacher, and Student Perceptions

Few studies have examined the impact of mastery learning on mastery goal structures or even on students’ motivation more generally. In this study, we examined one middle school that implemented a schoolwide mastery learning system, conducting interviews with a sample of administrators (n = 3), teachers (n = 4), and students (n = 9) to determine how the system was envisioned by the school leadership, implemented by the teaching staff, and perceived by the students. We used deductive qualitative analysis (DQA) to determine visions, practices, and perceptions aligned with achievement goal theory. Results indicated that evaluation practices have the greatest potential to undermine other positive motivational impacts of mastery learning–based instruction. Implications and transferability for research and practice are discussed.     

Using blended learning and out-of-school visits: pedagogies for effective science teaching in the twenty-first century

Background: Recent research and curriculum reforms have indicated the need for diversifying teaching approaches by drawing upon student interest and engagement in ways which makes learning science meaningful. Purpose: This study examines the integration of informal/free choice learning which occurred during learning experiences outside school (LEOS) with classroom learning using digital technologies. Specifically, the digital technologies comprised a learning management system (LMS), Moodle, which fits well with students’ lived experiences and their digital world. Design and Method: This study examines three out-of-school visits to Informal Science Institutes (ISI) using a digitally integrated fieldtrip inventory (DIFI) Model. Research questions were analysed using thematic approach emerging along with semi-structured interviews, before, during and after the visit, and assessing students’ learning experiences. Data comprised photographs, field notes, and unobtrusive observations of the classroom, wiki postings, student work books and teacher planning diaries. Results: We argue, that pre- and post-visit planning using the DIFI Model is more likely to engage learners, and the use of a digital learning platform was even more likely to encourage collaborative learning. The conclusion can also be drawn that students’ level of motivation for collaborative learning positively correlates with their improvement in academic achievement.     

Can we engage postgraduates in active research methodology learning? Challenges,strategies and evaluation of learning

ABSTRACT

Due to the complex nature of research methodology courses, the current study focused on implementing the active teaching and learning approach to a postgraduate research method course in a Malaysian university over an academic semester. A qualitative analysis of observations, instructor-learner interactional exchanges, students’ drafts of tasks and pre-course and focus group discussion was performed. The findings revealed three types of challenges: student-oriented challenges, subject-matter-related challenges and instructor-oriented challenges. Three main pedagogical strategies: instructional scaffolding, peer scaffolding and engaging the postgraduates in drafting their tasks were employed as a response to these challenges. Although the active teaching and learning practices resulted into students’ enhancement of the assigned research methodology tasks and positive research learning experience, such practices were time and effort-consuming. Therefore, future research will need to examine the applicability of our active teaching and learning approach to research methodology courses in different contexts.     

Perspectives from graduate students on effective teaching methods: a case study from a Vietnamese Transnational University

Abstract

Vietnam is emerging as an accelerated economic and political society with an increased global presence; thus, increased attention has been given to producing qualified college graduates who can contribute to the growing global economy. Yet challenges exist due to lack of educational infrastructure and ineffective teaching practices. As a result, the Vietnamese government embraces international collaborations in higher education as a way to address educational needs; however, although research exists on policy implications and government priorities, very little is known about how students perceive the teaching methods provided at these collaborative transnational universities. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to examine graduate students’ perceived effectiveness of teaching methods at Vietnamese-German University (VGU), a predominantly technology and engineering university that is an international collaboration between Vietnam and Germany. We seek to answer the research question of, ‘how is the use of student-centred practices effective in an international learning environment?’ Findings from graduate students indicate that collaborative learning, specifically through group work and modified flipped classrooms, are effective ways to maximise student learning. Implications for practice and future research are discussed as ways to emphasise the benefits of student-centred teaching and learning at transnational collaborative universities.     

Embodied experiences: Critical insights from Dewey for contemporary education

ABSTRACT

Background: Reflecting increased cross-disciplinary interest in the significance of the body in education, this paper considers that a greater appreciation of John Dewey’s conceptualisations of experience and habit would benefit contemporary theory- and practice-related concerns.

Sources of evidence and main argument: The paper draws upon pragmatist-informed epistemological insights into the nature of experience and the habitual body from John Dewey. In doing so, the paper highlights how embodied experiences could become more central to realising a diverse range of educational goals. These include contexts where students appreciate that embodied learning practices can play a reconstructive part in shaping their identity, as well as the culture and school environments they share with others.

Conclusion: The paper concludes by exemplifying and critiquing some conceptual possibilities which recognise the benefits of intensifying bodily experiences and cultivating related habits in everyday contemporary schooling.     

Investigating the relationship between instructional practices and science achievement in an inquiry-based learning environment

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the discrete effects of inquiry-based instructional practices that described the PISA 2015 construct ‘inquiry-based instruction’ and how each practice, and the frequency of each practice, is related to science achievement across 69 countries. The data for this study were drawn from the PISA 2015 database and analysed using hierarchical linear modelling (HLM). HLMs were estimated to test the contribution of each item to students’ science achievement scores. Some inquiry practices demonstrated a significant, linear, positive relationship to science achievement (particularly items involving contextualising science learning). Two of the negatively associated items (explaining their ideas and doing experiments) were found to have a curvilinear relationship to science achievement. All nine items were dummy coded by the reported frequency of use and an optimum frequency was determined using the categorical model and by calculating the inflection point of the curvilinear associations in the previous model e.g. students that carry out experiments in the lab in some lessons have higher achievement scores than students who perform experiments in all lessons. These findings, accompanied by detailed analyses of the items and their relationships to science outcomes, give stakeholders clear guidance regarding the effective use of inquiry-based approaches in the classroom.     

Instructional practices in reformed undergraduate STEM learning environments: a study of instructor and student behaviors in biology courses

ABSTRACT

Theoretically, organisational culture, instructor training, and learning space design influence how faculty teach STEM courses. Previous studies have used classroom observation protocols to characterise the range of teaching practices in mostly teacher-centered, traditional STEM classrooms. In this study, we examined the classroom behaviour of 13 STEM faculty teaching biology courses in a reformed undergraduate STEM learning environment. Our findings indicate that instructors teaching in this reformed environment guided student learning (58.4?±?1.9%) almost three times more than they presented information (20.0?±?2.2%). Students worked individually or in groups and talked to the whole class (57.1?±?1.8%) 1.5 times more than they received information (35.5?±?1.9%). We found significant positive correlation between ‘instructor presenting’ and ‘students receiving’ information (r?=?0.743, p?=?1.4?×?10^?4) and ‘instructor guiding’ and ‘student working and talking’ in class (r?=?0.605, p?=?7.2?×?10^?5), suggesting that instructors can change their own classroom behaviours and expect concurrent change in their students’ behaviours. Finally, sequencing teaching practices in high active-engagement classrooms showed instructors move and guide student group work and lead whole class discussions before lecturing to students, which could lead to deeper learning of conceptual knowledge. We discuss insights from these findings that have implications for acculturating evidence-based teaching practices in STEM departments.