Pre-service teachers’ use of tools to systematically analyze teaching and learning

Learning to systematically analyze the relationship between teaching and student learning is an important but difficult skill to engender in teachers. In this study, we examine how pre-service teachers who were introduced to a framework for analyzing teaching in a video-based teacher education course drew on this tool to analyze their own practice after the conclusion of the course. We conceptualize the framework as a conceptual tool that scaffolds pre-service teachers to learn to attend to particular dimensions of teaching and learning and to analyze how their teaching influences student learning. Using the Portfolio Assessment for California Teachers-Teaching Event of 14 English language arts pre-service teachers, we conducted a qualitative analysis to examine the extent to which they applied this framework to analyze their own practice after the conclusion of the course, as well as different strategies they adopted as they analyzed their teaching practice. Findings suggest that pre-service teachers made progress in using the framework to study their teaching, but development of sub-skills for all four facets are needed to develop more productive analyses of teaching and student learning. This study has important implications for the design of teacher education that intends to support pre-service teachers in developing tools for learning to learn from their teaching practice.     

Drawing on the variation theory to enhance students’ learning of Chinese characters

The variation theory of Ference Marton and his collaborators has widely been used as a framework for explaining what can possibly be learned in a particular classroom and what cannot. This paper reports on an experiment that put this theory to test in the context of students’ learning of the orthographic structures of Chinese characters. The experiment was carried out in the classrooms of two primary schools in Hong Kong. In each of the schools, two classes of students were taught differently, as informed by the theory, about the significance of the location of a component in the orthographic structure of a character in relation to whether the component provided a clue to the meaning of the character (called the part–part relations). The results of the experiment are consistent with the prediction of the theory that those students who were given the possibility to experience variation in the locations of components in the orthographic structures significantly outperformed those who were not. The results of the experiment demonstrate the power of the theory in guiding the design of teaching that affords students’ learning to happen.     

Examining the shaping of teachers’ pedagogical orientation for the use of technology

Teachers’ current uses of technologies still tend to replicate traditional and/ or administrative practices, with research indicating that the pedagogies required for the effective integration of educational technologies are not yet in evidence amongst the majority of teachers. In order to conceptualise what could be considered effective pedagogies for the use of technology, greater understanding of what informs teachers’ particular approaches and how teachers come to change their approaches over time is required. Succinctly, what is needed is a deep understanding of a teacher’s developmental process for their conceptualisation of the relationship between technology and pedagogy. Through an in-depth, two-year case study methodology, three teachers’ journey to use game-based technologies in their classrooms was examined. The results provide valuable insights into the relationship between teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and practices about the use of technologies; trigger points in teachers’ journeys that influence change in their pedagogical orientation for the use of technology; and rich stories of innovation in teaching. This study has implications for teacher professional development and supporting effective technology integration.     

Chinese students’ intentions to use the Internet-based technology for learning

Educational technology research and development - This large-scale study used the extended technology acceptance model to examine the different factors influencing Chinese university...     

Improving engagement: the use of ‘Authentic self-and peer-assessment for learning’ to enhance the student learning experience

Innovative assessment practices have the potential to shift the way universities function. By focusing on well-designed assessment tasks, where students are expected to work collegially and are actively involved in self- and peer-assessment, the opportunity to engage students in the assessment process is realised. This article contends that students are significantly and detrimentally disengaged from the assessment process as a result of traditional assessments that do not address key issues of learning. Notable issues that arose from observations and questioning of students indicated that vast proportions of students were not proofreading their own work were not collaborating on tasks; had not been involved in the development of assessment tasks; and that students had insufficient skills in relation to their ability to evaluate their own efforts. These facts led the author to conceptualise new models of assessment focusing on authentic learning and the authentic assessment of that learning through self- and peer-assessment. Authentic assessment for sustainable learning (AASL) and Authentic self-and peer-assessment for learning (ASPAL) were trialled with approximately 300 undergraduate education students at the University of Notre Dame Australia. This article explains the conceptual development of the models and provides justification for their implementation.     

Effects of perceptions of the learning environment and approaches to learning on Chinese undergraduates’ learning

This study examined the relationship between students’ perceptions of the learning environment, high school performance, approaches to learning, and learning outcomes (generic skills development and course satisfaction). A sample of 74,687 undergraduates from 39 full-time regular universities in China responded to a questionnaire comprising four self-constructed scales. The results supported the reliability and validity of the instruments. A structural equation model showed that approaches to learning mediated the relationship between perceptions of the learning environment and learning outcomes. Specifically, deep approach was found to positively predict learning outcomes. Good teaching positively predicted deep and surface approaches, as well as learning outcomes. Student-faculty and peer interactions were strong predictors of learning approaches and learning outcomes. High school performance had weak effects on learning approaches and learning outcomes. These findings highlight the need of developing new instruments for assessing Chinese undergraduate students’ learning and have implications for improving undergraduate teaching in China.     

An analysis of the use of autobiographical narrative for teachers’ intercultural learning

The currency of intercultural education has risen worldwide in response to increased diversity within societies resulting from migration and global flows of populations. As intercultural education becomes a core responsibility of schooling, critical, detailed analysis of pedagogies for teachers’ own intercultural learning is largely absent in education research, in contrast to attention to developing students’ intercultural capabilities and theoretical and policy analyses. In beginning to address this limitation, this article offers a critical, reflexive analysis of our use and the efficacy of using autobiographical narrative for teachers’ intercultural learning. Framing theories include interculturality, autobiographical narratives for teachers’ professional learning, reflexivity, and the effects of silence and silencing in relation to diversity and intercultural relations in schools. Three instances of teacher autobiographical narrative elicited as part of a large-scale, longitudinal study of intercultural education in Australian schools are deconstructed to elucidate their explicit and hidden meanings and effects. The analysis reveals that while autobiographical narrative has productive potential as a strategy for stimulating teacher reflexivity about cultural identities and intercultural relations, it also contains hidden dangers and traps that caution against viewing it as a pedagogical cure-all in the development of teachers’ intercultural knowledge and skills.     

Emergency management students’ perceptions of the use of WebEOC® to support authentic learning

This study investigates the use of software technology that is used by emergency management professionals to create an authentic learning environment in emergency and disaster management courses in the classroom. Participants were 235 upper-level students enrolled in residential and online emergency and disaster management courses at a mid-sized public university in the southeastern USA. Students participated in simulated disaster exercises that were presented through the software; further, as part of the exercise, students used the software to respond to the simulated disaster. Students then completed a survey to assess their perceptions of whether the exercises and software created an authentic learning environment and enhanced learning.     

Examining the mediating effect of learning strategies on the relationship between students’ history interest and achievement

Research into the effect of interest consistently indicated that interest positively related to students’ achievement; however, the mechanism through which it affected the learning result remained an open question. This study intended to examine how learning strategies mediated the relationship between interest and achievement in the domain of history learning. Biggs Learning Process Questionnaire, which distinguishes between the surface and deep-level learning strategies, was adopted to describe students’ learning process. Structural equation modelling and the distribution of products test were used to evaluate the mediating effect. Based on available resources, the participants were seventh grade students in China. Analyses revealed that the surface-learning strategy served as a mediator, but the deep-learning strategy did not play the same role.     

Students’ views of environments for learning from the primary to the secondary school

Research on transfer has alerted us to the anxieties that students experience as they move from a smaller school to a bigger school, and how the sudden differences in space, size, and their own position within a large organization can affect their identities as learners. Drawing on interviews with students in their first year in secondary school, this chapter examines the differences that students see as important in moving from the primary school to the secondary school. Three topics are discussed: freedom of movement, seating, and classroom display.     

Examining a teacher’s negotiation through change: understanding the influence of beliefs on behavior

Previous research asserts the connection between teacher beliefs and behaviors in the classroom. However, using broad, general constructs collected in teacher self-reported surveys has provided neither clear connections between beliefs and behaviors, nor explanatory power between connected or disparate beliefs. This research examines teacher beliefs from a collection of beliefs perspective that acknowledges a multitude of beliefs coalescing to shape practice observed in the classroom. In this research, qualitative research methods including interviews and classroom observations were used to examine one teacher’s navigation through programmatic change to collect data regarding the teacher’s beliefs central to shaping praxis. Based on the methods employed, two central beliefs emerged (i.e., motivation is key to learning and the teacher’s role as interpreter). While these specific beliefs are interesting and informative, they are understood in this qualitative study as specific to this individual. So, care is taken not to overly extend the importance of these specific beliefs beyond this teacher, but instead to understand the implication that beliefs have on praxis, as well as how beliefs support or compete in their foundational support of instruction.     

The structure of students’ beliefs about the use of representations and their performance on the learning of fractions

Cognitive development of any concept is related with affective development. The present study investigates students’ beliefs about the use of different types of representation in understanding the concept of fractions and their self‐efficacy beliefs about their ability to transfer information between different types of representation, in relation to their performance on understanding the concept. Data were collected from 1701 students in Grade Five to Grade Eight. Results revealed that multiple‐representation flexibility, ability on solving problems with various modes of representation, beliefs about the use of representations and self‐efficacy beliefs about using them constructed an integrated model with strong interrelations in the different educational levels. Confirmatory factor analysis affirmed the existence of differential effects of multiple‐representation flexibility and problem‐solving ability in respect to cognitive performance and the existence of general beliefs and self‐efficacy beliefs about the use and the role of representations. Results suggested the invariance of this structure across primary (Grades Five and Six) and secondary education (Grades Seven and Eight). However, there are interesting differences concerning the interrelations among those cognitive and affective factors between primary and secondary education.     

Student‐teachers' evaluation on the use of different modes of problem‐based learning in teacher education

Problem‐based learning (PBL) has been widely adopted in many university programmes. Evaluations of PBL in medicine, dentistry, nursing and social work reveal positive outcomes from both tutors and learners. However, few evaluations have been published about using PBL in teacher education programmes. This paper reports how the 13 student‐teachers in the Integrated Humanities Major Method course evaluated the use of three different modes of PBL delivery, namely: the classical PBL; an alternate pattern of PBL and teacher‐led deductive workshops; and a modified PBL using problem‐based scenario inductive inquiry workshops. The learning experiences of the student‐teachers were captured via an open‐ended questionnaire to discuss the feasibility and receptivity of endorsing full or partial use of PBL in the teacher education programme. The outcome shows strong preference for the use of the modified PBL approach while the majority agreed the classical PBL style is the most challenging among the three modes.     

Examining the Impact of Question Surface Features on Students’ Answers to Constructed-Response Questions on Photosynthesis

One challenge in science education assessment is that students often focus on surface features of questions rather than the underlying scientific principles. We investigated how student written responses to constructed-response questions about photosynthesis vary based on two surface features of the question: the species of plant and the order of two question prompts. We asked four versions of the question with different combinations of the two plant species and order of prompts in an introductory cell biology course. We found that there was not a significant difference in the content of student responses to versions of the question stem with different species or order of prompts, using both computerized lexical analysis and expert scoring. We conducted 20 face-to-face interviews with students to further probe the effects of question wording on student responses. During the interviews, we found that students thought that the plant species was neither relevant nor confusing when answering the question. Students identified the prompts as both relevant and confusing. However, this confusion was not specific to a single version.     

Predicting teachers’ use of digital learning materials: combining self-determination theory and the integrative model of behaviour prediction

In this article, we report on a study that investigated the motivational (e.g. intrinsic motivation) and dispositional variables (e.g. attitudes) that determine teachers’ intention to use or not to use digital learning materials (DLMs). To understand the direct and indirect relationships between these variables, we replicated a study in which self-determination theory (SDT) and the theory of planned behaviour/integrated model of behaviour prediction (IMBP) are combined and a distinction was made between global level psychological needs, and contextual level as well as situational level motivational constructs. Using a sample of 1273 teachers, our preliminary findings support the findings of the previous study. The combined model potentially provides us with a more comprehensive explanation of teachers’ volitional behaviour regarding their use of DLMs in their pedagogical practices than would be possible on the basis of SDT or IMBP alone.     

An investigation into students’ disposition to the use of objectives in distance learning materials

The use of learning objectives in study materials for external students is an instructional design strategy which is generally accepted. However, with the emergence of the constructivist paradigm in learning theory, there is the question as to whether the use of objectives, underpinned by behaviourist theory, is justified. This study was undertaken to investigate the distance education student's disposition towards objectives, with particular reference to the way they used them and to what their perceptions and expectations were. Responses to a questionnaire revealed that objectives were perceived by the majority of the students sampled as useful to their studies, and that objectives, for them, were an integral part of their learning strategy.     

Examining research into the use of data walls for teaching and learning: How are they being implemented within data use cycles?

Data walls, used to display student data within schools, are a growing phenomenon internationally. Drawing on a conceptual model of data use, this systematic review examined 32 empirical sources from compulsory education settings to evaluate claims about the impact of data walls on teaching and learning. The review found details regarding goals for data walls and the displayed information, but there was limited evidence of how data analysis was used to guide improvement action and evaluation of impact. The review concluded that there is currently insufficient empirical research evidence to substantiate or refute claims about their educational effects.