Assessing the impact of a university teaching development programme

Four different indicators are used to assess the impact of a year‐long university teaching development programme in an Australian research‐led university. All four indicators show small positive outcomes. Teachers who complete the programme have higher rates of receipt of teaching awards and teaching development grants than their colleagues who do not participate in the programme. Students in the classes of teachers who complete the programme report, on average, higher satisfaction scores than students in the classes of the same teacher before she/he completed the programme. Students in the faculties where the programme is completed by a higher proportion of academic staff report greater change to levels of satisfaction in the quality of their degree over the seven‐year period of the study. The methodology adopted involves several new approaches to evaluation and confirms the need for the use of an evaluation framework and multi‐indicator strategy.     

Programme theory,programme documents and state standards in evaluating teacher education

Across the USA as well as worldwide, numerous universities offer teacher preparation programmes and award such degrees. However, there are no consistent valid or reliable indicators for determining the coherence and quality of these programmes. An effective way of starting to evaluate these programmes is by looking at their standards and their documents. The combination of both could be considered the basis on which all major decisions about the programme are based. Using the example of a Midwestern university in the USA, the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a method of examining the coherence between the various sets of standards that university programmes have to adhere to (e.g. whether the teacher education standards of the university correspond to the standards for the state that the university is in, as well as to the programme documents). This article ends with some suggestions that could lead to a higher level of coherence within such programmes.     

Impact of a pre-college outreach programme on the academic achievements of higher education students: a case study of Chile

ABSTRACT

This research evaluated the impact on students’ academic achievements of a pre-college outreach programme implemented by a Chilean higher education institution. This programme benefits students in their last year of secondary education so they can better adapt to post-secondary education. Specifically, we assessed whether freshmen enrolled in 2017 in the institution that implemented this initiative and who attended this programme during 2016 as secondary school students performed better than students at this same institution but who did not take part in this scheme. A quasi-experimental design was applied using the method propensity score matching. The results showed that students who participated in this outreach programme had better average grades and attendance levels than those who did not take part in this initiative. In addition, it was found that this programme does not have a significant impact on student retention rates.     

The impact of a university teaching development programme on student approaches to studying and learning experience: evidence from Chile

In this paper, we analyse the impact of teacher participation in a University Teaching Diploma on student approaches to studying and learning experience. A quasi-experimental and multilevel design was employed. University teachers answered the Approaches to Teaching Inventory and students completed the Course Experience Questionnaire and the Study Process Questionnaire. In addition, contextual variables were included for both teachers and students. The total sample included 44 teachers and 686 students. Of these, 25 university teachers had completed the University Teaching Diploma and 19 had not; 373 students were in courses with a diploma teacher and 313 in courses were not. Results show that those university teachers who have completed the programme have, in their courses, students who were more likely to declare having adopted a deep approach to studying than those teachers who have not participated in the diploma. At the same time, no significant impact was found on the student learning experience. For practical purposes, this investigation provides evidence for the value of teaching development programmes in promoting deeper approaches to studying. For research purposes, it proposes the use of multilevel models to evaluate the impact of university teaching diplomas.     

The role of collaboration in a comprehensive programme design process in inclusive education

This study focused on the role of collaboration in a comprehensive programme design process in inclusive education. The participants were six members of an inclusive education team and an educational designer who together comprised the design team. The study examined whether collaboration was evident in the practice of programme design and associated institutional processes. This was determined through an examination of institutional documents and reflections on collaborative practice provided by design team members in semi-structured interviews about their experiences. The study found that designing the programme collaboratively was more time intensive and at times challenging but ultimately produced a more coherent programme with transparent design, structure and content for students and teachers.     

Back to school in Afghanistan: Determinants of school enrollment

One of the first achievements of post-conflict Afghanistan was to bring almost 4 million children back to school. Issues remain daunting, however, with low primary enrollment especially for girls and in rural areas and very weak learning achievements. We review some key features of the education system in Afghanistan. By matching household and school data, we assess the impact of various factors on enrollment. Overall, the analysis indicates that further increasing supply alone is unlikely to lead to higher enrollment. The analysis confirms the importance of demand factors such as the education of parents, the family language, and other community and ethnic factors.     

The Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) programme: parental perceptions of its impact in school and at home

The Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) programme is an example of an individualised intervention to support pupils experiencing a range of social and emotional needs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore parents’ constructions of several aspects of the programme: its aims and how these are achieved; its impact on children, within school and home contexts; the function and value of parental contact with ELSAs; and ways in which the programme could be improved. A thematic analysis of the data indicated that a majority of parents perceived the programme to impact positively on social and emotional aspects of development, with skills learned within the ELSA sessions transferring to the home context. Parents also noted several ways in which the programme could be enhanced: improved home–school communication; agreed and measurable targets and outcomes; and plans for children’s next steps. Implications for developments and extensions of the ELSA programme are discussed and the role of educational psychologists within this process is highlighted.     

Spiritual education programme (SEP) for enhancing the quality of life of kindergarten school children

Based on an experiment with 5452 kindergarten school children from 15 cities, this article examines the effect of a customised spiritual education programme (SEP) on their quality of life. Results showed that treatment group kindergarteners who participated in the SEP had higher scores on the Pictured Child Quality of Life Self-Questionnaire in comparison to the control group. Kindergarteners from European cities, US, Canadian and Australian cities, boys, Christian children, those who had done three to four rounds of the SEP during the study period and those who self-practiced the lessons, were more likely to have higher post-test scores on the quality of life scale. Based on the study results, a broad frame for having SEP for kindergarten school children across cultures has been suggested comprising the spiritual domains of calmness, silence and quiet; listening; accepting; loving nature; and, using imagination, resilience and efficiency in everyday functioning.     

Student perceptions of successful learning support for an international high school programme: a comparative case study in Turkey

Abstract

This study used comparative case study methodology to investigate student perceptions of different programmes that prepare them for a challenging high school education programme: the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). Given the benefits and challenges of the programme, educators and stakeholders want to ensure students feel ready to participate. In the literature, studies support that programmes such as the International General Certificate of Secondary Education and the International Baccalaureate Organisation’s Middle Years Programme prepare students for the IBDP; however, there is a need for students’ voices on how they perceive they are prepared through these programmes. This study investigated three different approaches to IBDP preparation by gaining student insights through a scaled-item questionnaire and interviews. Students identified experiences that gave them skills to monitor their learning and resources that motivated them to participate in an advanced upper-high school programme.     

RESCUR Surfing the Waves: an evaluation of a resilience programme in the early years

ABSTRACT

RESCUR Surfing the Waves is a recently developed resilience curriculum for early years and primary schools in Europe. It seeks to develop in marginalized young learners the requisite competences needed to overcome the various challenges in their lives to achieve academic success and social and emotional wellbeing. The competences include developing a growth mindset, making use of one’s strengths, self-determination, effective communication skills and healthy relationships, and overcoming challenges and obstacles. This paper presents the findings of a study on the implementation of the programme in five kindergarten centres in Malta over a 1-year period. A pre- and post-intervention study in 20 classrooms (97 children) showed an improvement in resilience skills, prosocial behavior and learning engagement, but not in internalized and externalized problem behaviors. A small scale study in two nurture classes at two of the schools found similar findings. The findings suggest that there are indications that the programme as a proportionate universal intervention for early years leads to an improvement in social and academic behaviours, but more rigorous research is needed to substantiate these findings.     

The way collaboration benefits vocational students: a case study of a joint venture college in China

International collaborations in the vocational and training (VET) sector have grown significantly in the past three decades in China as well as in other parts of the world. Despite its growing prominence, it remains a largely under-researched field compared to the large volume of research on universities’ internationalization. In particular, it is unclear how internationalization practices improve vocational students’ academic and social competencies and readiness for employment. This case study was intended to fill this current gap in the literature by investigating a selected joint venture VET college in China. This study employed a wealth of data as evidence that international programmes could benefit vocational students in their English skills, professional knowledge, intercultural competence, and personal and career development. In additional to the opportunities created for vocational students, international programmes are expected to offer workplace experience and design a curriculum that suits students with different future plans. The findings of this study indicate that international collaborations in the VET sector have the potential not only to better prepare vocational students for life and employment, but also to address the challenges facing the VET system in developing economies.     

Cultural congruence and unbalanced power between home and school in rural Ghana and the impact on school children*

This ethnographic inquiry examines the cultural congruence between home and school in rural Ghana, exploring the cultural norms of child-rearing practices within families and the institution of schooling. The data illustrate both the agreement between home and school in regard to discipline practices and instruction in morality, while simultaneously highlighting a power differential between home and school. The authors highlight the power dynamics between home and school, and discuss the burden children bear in managing the home–school relationship in rural Ghana.     

Chinese students' assessment and learning experiences in a transnational higher education programme

Abstract

Chinese universities are increasingly entering into transnational higher education partnerships with institutions in primarily English-speaking countries. With this increase in programmes, there is a growing body of research investigating both policy and practice. Our study contributes insight into how students in a China–Australia programme experienced assessment drawing on theorisations of sustainable assessment. We present findings from interviews with 10 Chinese students who shared stories and reflections of their experiences of assessment and learning that reveal the complex ways students negotiated qualitatively different assessment experiences, while displaying sophisticated levels of agency, between Chinese and Australian universities. In making sense of the interviews in relation to sustainable assessment, we evoke notions of cultural ignorance to illuminate aspects of a cross-cultural ignorance in teaching and learning practices. In doing so, we argue that conversations about cultural ignorance combined with principles of sustainable assessment can create space to support partners to better plan and coordinate for meaningful assessment and learning experiences for students in cross-cultural articulation programmes.     

Evaluating the impact of an academic teacher development program: practical realities of an evidence-based study

This study aimed to assess the impact of an entire academic teacher development programme at a Midwestern masters comprehensive university in the United States over a period of five years by examining changes in teaching and student outcomes of nine randomly selected programme participants. Researchers analysed syllabi, course evaluations, grade distributions, programme activity reports, interviews and vita, and concluded that the centre’s impact was greatest on tenure-track faculty who struggled with their teaching. Far more useful to future improvement, however, were the insights gained from reflection on study methods, the researchers’ emotional responses to their findings, their struggle to make sense of the data and grappling with the definition of ‘impact’. In this paper, the researchers share useful lessons learned and illustrate the difficulties inherent in evaluating academic development programmes, with a view to qualifying recommendations currently prevailing in the literature.     

An implementation and outcome evaluation of a multicomponent sexuality education programme for high school students

Numerous classroom-based interventions have aimed to improve sexual health outcomes for young people, yet few have shown strong, lasting effects. Ecological approaches that address multiple levels of a young person’s environment offer largely untapped potential to positively change sexual behaviour. This paper presents results of a cluster-randomised trial of a multicomponent sexuality education intervention that integrated a classroom curriculum, parent education workshops and materials, peer advocate programme, and sexual health services at 10 urban high schools. An implementation evaluation, employing quantitative and qualitative instruments, was conducted to examine whether the individual components of the intervention were delivered as planned and how they were received by the target populations. Multilevel modelling was used to evaluate the effect of the multicomponent intervention on outcomes at one-year follow-up. Results showed that the intervention components were successfully implemented with and well received by target populations. Students receiving the multicomponent intervention reported greater increases in the use of sexual health services (odds ratio [OR] = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.09–2.75) and the likelihood of carrying a condom (OR = 2.71, 95% CI = 1.44–5.09) relative to those receiving a control condition. No effects were found for other behaviours, possibly due to low prevalence of sexual activity in the sample and the small number of schools randomised.     

Educational impact on the relationship of environmental knowledge and attitudes

This study examines the relationships between the environmental attitudes and environmental knowledge of schoolchildren within the framework of an environmental intervention. We employed questions from the 2-MEV model to monitor students’ environmental attitudes in terms of the model factors Preservation and Utilisation while concurrently monitoring three environmental knowledge dimensions (system, action-related and effectiveness knowledge) at three different test times during the course of a four-day field centre programme for fourth-graders (N = 133, M_age = 9.8 years). Probably due to measurement constraints (e.g. a ceiling effect, social desirability), we found no correlation between environmental knowledge and the attitude Preservation at all test times. The attitude Utilisation correlated negatively with all environmental knowledge dimensions, indicating that students who score higher on Utilisation are more likely, for example, to have and gain more system knowledge through programme participation than the other students or vice versa, as a causal relationship cannot be derived from our analyses: system knowledge may also influence Utilisation. In other words, children who refrain from (ab)using nature also seem to put more effort into improving their environmental knowledge and/or children who engage in learning about the environment will become less exploitative towards the environment.     

A review of curriculum in the UK: internationalising in a changing context

The present article focuses on the growing emphasis on international dimensions of the curriculum in the UK. Educators and policymakers increasingly grapple with the thorny issue of how best to prepare future generations for life in a world changing so rapidly that no-one is able to predict precisely what knowledge and skills will be relevant for the adult of tomorrow. Overlapping with debate relating to the national context is that pertaining to the global environment, which manifests itself in current educational discourse relating to a growing number of concepts such as global citizenship education, international education, development education, world studies, and education for international understanding. Beginning with consideration of the curriculum context, this article highlights the growing number of international curriculum programmes being developed and offered worldwide, and in the UK in particular, before considering some of the reasons behind this growth and the implications of increased interest in programmes with an international focus.     

The preparation of cognitively agile principals for turnaround schools: a leadership preparation programme study

The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of two educational leadership university programmes to improve the cognitive agility of their graduates. The research looked to discover whether the aspiring principals exited the programmes with an increased ability to employ cognitive agility – the ability to use the multiple thinking skills of systems thinking, reflecting, and reframing – when engaged in their professional work and solving problems. Both Masters programmes were in School Leadership, offered through the same university department and following the same core curriculum leading to Level 1 educational leadership certification. The results indicate that of the two programmes studied, the Principal Rapid Orientation and Preparation in Educational Leadership (PROPEL) programme, designed to prepare leaders for turnaround schools, produced more cognitively agile graduates than the traditional Master’s programme. The mediating variables of participants’ years of experience and budget responsibility increased the level of cognitive agility of both programme’s graduates.