A questionnaire for listening to students’ voices in the assessment of teaching quality in a classical medical school

The purpose of this study was to develop a teaching quality assessment questionnaire and assess its reliability by using it with a sample of first‐year medical students. Principal components analysis with varimax orthogonal rotation resulted in the development of a 12‐item, two‐component tool, adequate for use in lectures and small‐group sessions. The two components were named ‘curriculum’ and ‘relationship’. The Cronbach coefficient alpha values indicated high reliability and internal consistency. According to the results obtained this teaching quality scale is a reliable measure and may be useful in identifying themes in disciplines and among teachers that may benefit from some professional development. Amongst its advantages is that it can be used with an optical reading tool.     

Understanding change through a high school mathematics teacher’s journey to inquiry-based teaching

This article focuses on an experienced high school mathematics teacher who changed her practice without participating in planned interventions aimed at producing this change. It reports on the nature of the teacher’s change from her perspective and an interpretation and understanding of the change from the researcher’s perspective. It illustrates how meaningful change can occur when the process is initiated and rooted in the teacher’s experience based on a tension in self and/or practice that is personal and real to him or her. It discusses three types of change that are possible depending on the level of engagement of the teacher in professional development opportunities: instrumental change, conceptual change, and foundational change.     

Forms of school experience in France’s vocational training track students

This article examines the existing relations between the social background, the cognitive skills, the sense of schooling experience, the relation to learning and the professional project in the construction of the meaning of their course choice for French boys living in working-class families and guided to vocational studies. It presents the results of an extensive study (by questionnaire) realised in France, in eight schools of the Midi-Pyrénées region. In each school, all the students pursuing a V-level (vocational) diploma in catering, building and car industries were selected. The multivariate analysis reveals four profiles which show the diversity in the forms of compliance to the course choice and the way this compliance is supported by identitarian dynamics of very different personalisation issues. The results show the necessity to renew the models which, in the field of psychology, head towards explaining the sense of course choice to vocational studies by a process of rationalisation consisting in validating imposed course choice decision and living conditions. It is thus necessary to take more into consideration the diversity of living conditions and of training contexts that vocational students face to understand how they manage to themselves from stigmatising verdicts.     

School as ‘survival game’: representations of school in transition from preschool to primary school

In children's lives the start of school is a turning point: compulsory education is their first encounter with civil duties. This important step in the process of becoming individual citizens is permeated with strong emotions and ambivalent expectations. However, the representations of school are created, established and negotiated in educational experiences preceding the start of school. In this article I explore the ways in which school is constructed in a Finnish preschool context. I build on ethnographic data generated in two preschool classes. First, I focus on how school is constructed in the social practices of teaching and in the physical space of preschool. Second, I analyse how children construct themselves as future school children and citizens by taking up available discourses and cultural practices. I argue that in official preschool, an ethos of individual survival characterises representations of school. Psychological, social and physical challenges are emphasised. Although preschool teachers in interviews and informal discussions sometimes problematise the ways in which school operates, in their teaching school practices are represented as natural. However, children actively exhibit their agency by collectively reworking of discourses and cultural practices and by renegotiating their informal relationships.     

Who makes it to secondary school? Determinants of transition to secondary schools in rural India

Despite considerable progress made, a significant proportion of children continue to drop out before reaching secondary school in India. This study investigates factors influencing parental decision-making with regard to children's secondary schooling in the context of a rural area of Uttar Pradesh. The study finds that cost, distance to the nearest secondary school, membership in traditionally marginalised social groups, and being a girl child have a significant effect on a child's chance of transition. It also finds that factors influencing participation at the primary level may influence the transition decision, having key implications for education policy formulation across education levels.     

Threshold concepts and the troublesome transition from GCSE to A-level: exploring students’ experiences in secondary school biology

Abstract

This paper draws on doctoral research exploring the lived experiences of secondary school students during their first year of A-level study, through the theoretical lens of the Threshold Concept Framework. A longitudinal design frame based on Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis is employed, thus providing an original use of this methodology in education research to address the paucity of inquiry exploring the difficulties experienced by students as they transition from the General Certificate in Secondary Education (GCSE) to A-level. In this context, I argue that students’ encounters with threshold concepts (TCs) are significant for them, posing a degree of cognitive and affective challenge which serves to exacerbate the difficulty of transition already caused by increased workload and pressure. The findings offer insights into students’ struggles adjusting to shifting identity and membership of communities further intensified by the integrative, discursive and transformative nature of TC acquisition. The longitudinal research design also surfaces positive aspects of growing awareness of the integrative power of TCs. Recommendations are made for further research involving students, teachers and academics to explore TCs in a range of other subjects and settings in secondary schools in the context of recent and significant changes to GCSE and A-level curricula.     

Unmasking the teaching quality of higher education: students’ course experience and approaches to learning in China

The quality of teaching in higher education is a topic which has generated heated debate in China, though there has been a remarkable paucity of empirical research into the characteristics of teaching and learning in Chinese universities. This study examined Chinese university students’ course experience and its influence on their approaches to learning. A sample of 2529 students from 15 full-time regular universities responded to the questionnaire. Results indicated that the Course Experience Questionnaire could be a promising instrument for assessing the teaching quality in Chinese universities. Chinese undergraduate teaching was characterised by the dominance of developing students’ generic skills, but a lack of emphasis on students’ independence. The study revealed some desirable influences of university teaching on students’ approaches to learning, but an increase in instructors’ effort and commitment to teaching was found to facilitate a surface rather than a deep approach to learning. These findings highlighted the need to reflect on the teacher-centred nature of undergraduate teaching in China.     

Exploring students’ epistemological knowledge of models and modelling in science: results from a teaching/learning experience on climate change

The scientific community has been debating climate change for over two decades. In the light of certain arguments put forward by the aforesaid community, the EU has recommended a set of innovative reforms to science teaching such as incorporating environmental issues into the scientific curriculum, thereby helping to make schools a place of civic education. However, despite these European recommendations, relatively little emphasis is still given to climate change within science curricula. Climate change, although potentially engaging for students, is a complex topic that poses conceptual difficulties and emotional barriers, as well as epistemological challenges. Whilst the conceptual and emotional barriers have already been the object of several studies, students’ reactions to the epistemological issues raised by climate changes have so far been rarely explored in science education research and thus are the main focus of this paper. This paper describes a study concerning the implementation of teaching materials designed to focus on the epistemological role of ‘models and the game of modelling’ in science and particularly when dealing with climate change. The materials were implemented in a course of 15 hours (five 3-hour lessons) for a class of Italian secondary-school students (grade 11; 16–17 years old). The purpose of the study is to investigate students’ reactions to the epistemological dimension of the materials, and to explore if and how the material enabled them to develop their epistemological knowledge on models.     

Instructor characteristics and students’ evaluation of teaching effectiveness: evidence from an Italian engineering school

This study examines the relationship between students’ evaluation of teaching effectiveness and the instructor's characteristics, based upon an original data set from an Italian university. Age and seniority (academic rank) are both found to affect negatively teaching evaluation, although the effect of rank depends heavily on the discipline. Profession-oriented disciplines are more poorly evaluated and exhibit stronger effects for rank; in the same disciplines, many courses are taught by non-faculty members, who are evaluated poorly. Gender is also found to be relevant, as it affects students’ evaluation of female instructors, although this result might be biased by the gender composition of classes. Past research outputs, as measured by an instructor's publication track record, has a positive impact on students’ evaluation of teaching effectiveness, although the rate of impact decreases with the amount of publications.     

The challenges of internationalization from foreign and local students’ perspectives: The case of management school

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to discern the issues pertaining to different dimensions of internationalization from the perspectives of both foreign and local students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 foreign, and 13 local students. The results show that there is a dissonance between policy makers and implementers, and the students themselves on “what a truly international higher education organization” in fact is. Moreover, the results suggest that asymmetrical aims of local and foreign students endanger fulfillment of the academic, social, and cultural rationales behind internationalization. Fulfilling the rationales of internationalization depends not only the adaptability of foreign students to local conditions but also on the priorities, choices and level of commitment of local students, administrative staff, and faculty members to the imperatives of internationalization.     

Developing teaching assistants’ skills in positive behaviour management: an application of Video Interaction Guidance in a secondary school

This paper reports an action research project in a school in the UK designed to investigate the impact of a brief Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) intervention in promoting skills of non-teaching staff in positive behaviour management. A summary of the literature in relation to VIG is provided before describing the project and data collected. Ten teaching assistants (TAs) from a secondary school took part in an intervention using VIG. The impact on TA skills and confidence was assessed using participant ratings of the specific target outcomes of the intervention using the Target Monitoring and Evaluation (TME) system. Participants’ experiences of the intervention were explored during a focus group discussion after the intervention had taken place. TME data suggested a positive impact on TA skills and confidence to support individual pupils, while thematic analysis of focus group data showed a number of themes relevant to the application of VIG in this context, including promotion of effective staff development.     

Exploring the role of India’s secondary school compulsory curriculum textbooks in students’ national identity constructions in an overseas school

This study problematises the contribution of India’s school textbooks in students’ national identity constructions in an overseas school in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The textbooks construct students’ national identity on the concepts of India’s secular democracy, colonial resistance and equal citizenship rights. Notwithstanding study participants’ ambivalent identification with these ideals, they mostly express confusing identities evincing religious tendencies, gendered beliefs towards women and antipathy for India’s neighbouring states. This entails implications for India’s national cohesion and students’ ability to live in harmony with other communities in the diasporic setting. It also poses risks to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 2030.     

The development of students’ achievement emotions after transition to secondary school: a multilevel growth curve modelling approach

This empirical study focuses on students’ development of positive and negative achievement emotions during the first year and the beginning of the second year of secondary school. Using multilevel growth curve modelling, the development of the achievement emotions enjoyment, pride, anxiety, hopelessness and boredom during class in general was investigated. Data from 584 students (taken at three different time points during the first year and the beginning of the second year of secondary school in Germany) was analysed by controlling for gender and the type of school. The results confirm the main assumption: positive achievement emotions decline, whereas negative achievement emotions increase after transition to secondary school. The assumption regarding the effects of type of school was also confirmed: students entering a higher track school (German Gymnasium) experience more positive achievement emotions than students in middle track schools (German Realschule) do. However, the decline in these achievement emotions in higher track schools is comparatively worse than for students in middle track schools. The results are discussed with regard to students’ further studies, as well as the wider educational implications.

     

The transition from primary to secondary school: Teachers’ perspectives

The transition from primary school to secondary school has long been recognised as one of the most challenging times in a young adolescent students’ education, particularly in regard to their academic achievement. Research evidence from the last 30 years has identified a consistent pattern in students’ academic achievement across transition, suggesting that student achievement stalls or even declines in the first year of secondary school. The focus of this research was to identify teachers’ perceptions of the best practices to prepare students for a successful transition to secondary school. The findings were based on 12 one-on-one interviews with primary (Year 6) and secondary (Year 7) teachers. Teachers’ responses were analysed qualitatively through a process of thematic analysis. Findings from the research identified three key methods which primary and secondary school teachers believed were essential for facilitating successful transition experiences for students: curriculum continuity and awareness, communication between primary and secondary schools, and adequate teacher support.     

University academics’ experience of research and its relationship to their experience of teaching

There has been a growing research debate over the relations between university teaching and research. This paper contributes to that debate by describing the variation in the way university academics’ experience research, then linking that empirical evidence with previous work to explicate the relations between variation in research, teaching, and understanding of the subject matter being taught. Previous investigations have shown that conceptual change/student-focussed approaches to teaching are associated with clear articulation of the important aspects of the subject matter being taught, how those aspects relate to each other, and how the teacher situates their understanding of the subject matter in the field as a whole. However, teachers who were unable to explain their understanding of their subject matter in these ways were more likely to experience their teaching as a process of information transfer from a teacher-focussed perspective. Since the characteristics of the first type of understanding subject matter resemble processes underlying the experience of active researchers, these findings seemed to justify a more intensive search for evidence of the link between effective university teaching and research. Interviews have been conducted with 37 university teachers who had strong publication and grant success records and who were teaching and researching in similar topic areas. They represent a range of disciplines and universities, and from both the UK and Australia. The study methods and results are described and we conclude that qualitative variation in the experience of research is related (a) moderately to experience of teaching and (b) strongly to experience of understanding the subject matter.

Engineering students’ experiences of interactive teaching in calculus

This study reports on an educational development initiative where peer instruction was used instead of traditional lectures in a calculus course for first-year engineering students. The aim of the study was to explore students’ experiences of this method. Data were collected by means of an open-ended questionnaire on two occasions: early and late in the course. The data were analyzed with an inductive content analysis. The findings comprise three qualitatively different ways to experience the interactive teaching method in calculus: (1) enthusiasm, (2) nuanced skepticism and (3) aversion. The categories differed regarding emotional reactions to the teaching, experiences of learning, conceptions of teaching and learning, and experiences of meaningfulness. Many students expressed enthusiasm for learning with peer instruction and noted that the method gave both teachers and students feedback on what students have difficulties with. These students perceived that they were responsible for their own learning. Other students experienced that peer instruction had some advantages and disadvantages, and preferred a mix between traditional lectures and peer instruction sessions. They seemed to believe that teachers and students share responsibility for learning. Some students expressed an aversion for peer instruction and the method seemed to challenge their beliefs of how teaching and learning is best conducted. Our study illustrates that educational development initiatives, even though based on research on student learning, do not benefit all students. One of the major obstacles seems to be that students’ underlying beliefs regarding teaching and learning may be counterproductive to the ideas behind the educational initiative. We suggest that beliefs regarding teaching and learning need to be addressed when introducing new teaching and learning methods.     

An application of importance-performance analysis to students’ evaluation of teaching

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability - Students’ feedback is usually gathered in institutions of higher education to evaluate the teaching quality from the students’...     

Coteaching with senior students – a way to refine teachers’ PCK for teaching chemical bonding in upper secondary school

During the last decade there has been on-going discussions about students’ declining interest and low achievement in science. One of the reasons suggested for this decline is that teachers and students have different frames of reference, whereby teachers sometimes communicate science in the classroom in a way that is not accessible to the students. There is a lack of research investigating the effects of coteaching with senior students in science in upper secondary schools. To improve teaching and to narrow the gap between teachers’ and students’ different frames of references, this study investigates how an experienced chemistry teacher gains and refines her pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) by cooperating with two grade 12 students (age 18) as coteachers. The teacher and the two coteachers coplanned, cotaught and coevaluated lessons in chemical bonding in a grade 10 upper secondary class. Findings indicate that the coteachers contributed with their own learning experiences to help the teacher understand how students perceive difficult concepts. In such way, the coteachers were mediating between the teacher and the students, thus bridging the gap between the teacher and the students’ frames of references. The teachers’ PCK was refined which in turn lead to improved teaching strategies.     

High school students’ feelings: Discoveries from a large national survey and an experience sampling study

We investigated students' feelings at high school in a nation-wide survey of 21,678 US students (study 1), and in a four-week study using experience sampling methodology (ESM) with 472 students across 5 high schools (study 2). Both studies combined mixed methods, including open-ended questions and rating scales (e.g., PANAS). In study 1, seventy-five percent of the feelings students reported in their responses to open-ended questions were negative. The three most frequently mentioned feelings were tired, stressed, and bored. Similar findings emerged with rated items, The prevalence of negative feelings was largely similar across demographic groups. Study 2 largely corroborated the findings from study 1. Although the retrospective measures showed similar results to study 1, the in-the-moment measures also showed frequent positive feelings. We discuss the findings in light of the ‘sleep deprivation epidemic’, the achievement motivation literature, and implications for the validity of state- and trait measures of academic emotions.     

The influence of school type and perceived teaching style on students’ creativity

School is an excellent place to foster young learners’ creative thinking skills. However, the emphasis on creativity varies among schools. In two studies the putative influence of school education on the development of students’ creativity was examined by means of a retrospective approach. We investigated whether two influential factors within school education (1) school type (i.e., traditional vs. alternative vs. religious) and (2) perceived teaching style (i.e., independence, judgment, flexibility, integration) associate with students’ creativity at university entrance level. The difference was examined at the primary and secondary school level, respectively. Study 1a found that students who attended alternative schools at the secondary school level performed better on divergent thinking tasks as compared to students who attended traditional or religious schools. Relationship between students’ creative performance and the perceived teaching styles were inconclusive. Finally, teaching styles in alternative schools during secondary education were perceived as high in independence and flexibility. Study 1b replicated the finding that university students who attended alternative schools during secondary education have an advantage in divergent thinking. Taken together, our results highlight the positive influence of alternative school education on students’ creative performance at the university entrance level.