Teaching and learning in further education: The Ofsted factor

The further education (FE) sector in the UK, or post-compulsory education as it is often referred to, has undergone some radical changes in recent years. Historically, FE is synonymous with vocational education and training, providing communities with courses that tended to be in practical, non-academic subjects. Many FE lecturers came from industries such as construction and engineering and were vital in providing the subject knowledge needed by colleges to enable them to offer a wide provision of courses. However, FE had not undergone the regime of teacher qualifications, regulation and inspection to the extent experienced by schools. In 2001, the New Labour government began a series of reforms that would overhaul post-compulsory education with the objective of making the sector more effective, and thereby meeting the wider objective of creating a more productive workforce. One of the many reforms was to introduce a system of inspection by placing FE into Ofsted’s remit. The new reform prompted FE colleges, for the first time, to implement their own institutional policies of observing teaching and learning (OTL) in order to prepare for impending inspection by Ofsted. This article examines the implementation of the policy of OTL, with a focus on one college of FE, and scrutinises its effects on the sector.     

Comparing opportunity to learn and student achievement gains in southern African primary schools: A new approach

A popular explanation for low student achievement in many developing countries’ primary schools is that students have relatively little opportunity to learn (OTL) the skills needed for academic success. However logical this explanation may be, surprisingly little empirical evidence has been presented to support it. In this paper we address this gap by estimating the effect of OTL on students’ academic performance using rich data we gathered on the teaching process in a large number of South African and Botswana Grade 6 classrooms. We use an innovative classroom fixed effects approach to estimate the impact of OTL on students’ mathematics achievement gains. We found statistically significant but very different results for our South Africa and Botswana samples. The discussion of those results in the context of differences in the two school systems gives us insights into the importance and limits of OTL as an explainer of student learning in low achievement schools.     

Situated learning,reflective practice and conceptual expansion: effective peer observation for tutor development

Despite tutors' importance, they often encounter inadequate professional development and support. This study describes the impact of peer observation of teaching activities on tutors' professional development using multiple data-sets over a three-year period. The data was analysed according to three themes: situated learning, reflective practice and conceptual expansion, in order to identify changes to teaching practice. Tutors reported that peer observation of teaching is an effective development activity that encouraged reflection on teaching and, for some, resulted in conceptual expansion and lasting change to teaching. Tutors found the situated aspect of the peer observation activity was an important factor, as it enabled them to observe how other tutors supported their students' engagement with the discipline-specific curriculum. Recommendations for future research and for the professional development of tutors in practice are provided.     

高职思政课与专业的“CTC”对接模式研究

工学结合的人才培养模式已成为高职院校专业建设与发展的一个重要方向,高职院校的管理方式、教学体系和育人模式正随之变革,作为公共课程的思想政治课要实现与专业的对接,必须采用"Content Time Channel"(简称"CTC")对接模式。思政课的教学内容要实现思想道德素质与职业素质的融合;教学时间上要与专业实习相吻合;实践教学渠道要以专业实践基地为依托。     

A situative metaphor for teacher learning: the case of university tutors learning to grade student coursework

In the continuing concern about academic standards in the higher education sector a great deal of emphasis has been placed on quality assurance procedures rather than on considering how university tutors learn to grade the quality of work produced by students. As part of a larger research project focused on how tutors grade student coursework, this paper offers a new metaphor for such tutor learning, based on a sociocultural perspective. The research project used think‐aloud protocols recorded as university tutors graded student coursework, and this was followed by semi‐structured interviews. The voluntary participants consisted of 25 lecturers in four contrasting domains—humanities, art and design, medicine and teacher education—in three universities, two teaching‐led and one research intensive. We developed a metaphorical framework that helps to understand the work and learning of the lecturers and tested it by applying it to analysis of the tutor interview data. Grading, writing feedback, second marking and moderation are important situated professional learning opportunities for tutors to debate and reach agreement on the academic standard demonstrated by student coursework. The metaphor considers professional learning as interplay between the vertical domain of public knowledge and the horizontal domain of teachers' practical wisdom. The metaphor presented in this paper is proposed for critical consideration and wider use by academics, teachers, academic developers and teacher educators as an aid to better understanding of teacher's professional learning.     

Observation of teaching and learning: teacher development or micropolitics and neo-Fordism

Ethnographic research in a further education college (College X) between 2000 and 2005 was designed to uncover the impact of the Common Inspection Framework (the inspection framework for all post-16 non-higher education and training) on the Observation of Teaching and Learning (OTL) process within the college. Such research indicated that the assumption of narrow pedagogies by observers of teaching, in line with the expectations of the college observation policy, had minimised the effectiveness of the process because it caused OTL to become neo-Fordist and micropolitical in nature rather than a means for lecturer development. This was the product of top-down policy and procedure within College X, but also an over-controlling local Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and Ofsted inspection framework which limited the extent to which senior managers were able to accommodate different learning contexts within the OTL process. The clear implication of research in College X was that improvements in teaching and learning require inspection and observation processes to focus on subject-specific pedagogy and professional values rather than bureaucratic procedures and narrow pedagogies.     

高职体育教师专业成长探析

在当前素质教育和有效教学的社会背景下,提高课堂教学的有效性已经成为高职院校提高教育质量的重要途径。怎样才能更有效地利用好体育课堂,对高职体育教师的教学能力、育人能力等各方面都提出更高的要求,随之高职体育教师的专业成长问题也就变成一个急需解决的重要问题。体育教师只要多动脑、善学习、勤交流,结合个体反思、拓展视野、学习交流、实践创新等方式,就一定能够在专业领域取得长足的进步,也必定会成为更加优秀的教育工作者。     

‘We all know why we’re here’: Learning as a community of practice on Access to HE courses

This article examines the extent to which Access to Higher Education courses can be defined as communities of practice. Other studies have already revealed the importance of mutual engagement and supportive relationships between students and between students and tutors in facilitating learning. While previous studies carried out on Access to HE (AHE) courses in England and Wales have largely focused on single colleges, the study that this article draws on was carried out in three urban further education (FE) colleges using a linked case studies design and a social interactivist lens. It investigated mature students’ perspectives of their changing learning identities through their developing relationships with their tutors and with each other during their AHE courses. Qualitative data was collected from five to six self-selecting AHE students in each college using focus group interviews and from their tutors using individual interviews. The findings suggest that the AHE students in this study generally participated and interacted in a supportive and collaborative way, guided by their tutors, and how and why they did this. This mutual engagement around particular core values helped to construct communities of practice, although some students remained peripheral participants. Within these communities were considerable inequalities of power, largely sustained by the institutional structures and professional discourses within which the AHE courses were located.     

职业技能大赛在计算机专业实践教育中的应用策略

随着科学技术的进步与发展,国内对于计算机专业人才需求的标准越来越高,人才间的竞争也变得更加激烈.如果职业院校仍坚持传统的教学方法,只会影响和阻碍学生未来的发展.把职业技能大赛及其理念引入到职业教育中,不仅有助提高学生的专业学习积极性,还为学生提供了一个展现自我价值的重要平台.简要论述了职业院校计算机专业教学实践的现状与...     

非英语专业大学生英语自主学习能力的培养——以地方本科院校为例

多媒体网络打破了大学英语传统、单一的教学模式。在多媒体网络环境下培养大学生英语自主学习能力是大学英语教学发展的必然趋势。调查结果表明地方本科院校非英语专业学生利用多媒体网络进行英语自主学习意识淡薄、自主学习能力不强。以英语自主学习理论为基础,分析了多媒体网络对培养非英语专业大学生英语自主学习的必要性,并提出网络环境下培养学生英语自主学习的具体建议。     

高校智慧学习空间:内涵、发展与趋势

新媒体新技术支持下的高校各学科教与学的变革越发受到重视,作为教学载体的学习空间从传统型向智慧型的演化成为人们的关注焦点,是未来学习环境改革的重要方向。以对现有相关文献和应用实例的深入分析为基础,总结并提出了高校智慧学习空间的特征与结构模型;采用关键词共现分析等方法,对近年来高校智慧学习空间的建设与发展开展了探究;剖析了高校智慧学习空间在实际建设中存在的一些问题,并预测了其发展趋势。     

网络远程教育教师能力框架实证研究:学习者视角

教师能力是影响教学质量的重要因素,也是教师专业化发展的核心内容。本研究从学习者的视角探究网络远程教师的能力框架。研究结果表明,学生认为主讲教师的能力框架应包括三大维度,即职业素质、网上教学和评价考核,共计15项能力;学生认为辅导教师的能力框架应包括四大维度,即职业素质、网上答疑、促学活动、学习活动的组织与管理,共计25项能力。     

Combining Reflective Logs with Electronic Networks for Professional Development among Distance Education Tutors

The provision of a professional development programme for distance tutors can be problematic because of the need for flexibility to cater for a variety of working practices, or to overcome the hurdles imposed by geographical remoteness. At the UK Open University, online networks are widely in use for teaching and learning, and we are actively exploring their potential for professional development. This paper describes the Supporting Open Learners in A Changing Environment project, which has piloted a reflective approach to professional development using a log to structure reflection, which is then shared with others in a computer conference. Our evaluation of tutors’ perspectives of the project indicated that all participants found the experience stimulating and helpful for identifying and sharing issues of student support, although some found the process unexpectedly time consuming. We believe there is considerable potential for such an approach to networked reflection among distance tutors, provided the issue of tutor time can be addressed.     

Who am I as a distance tutor? An investigation of distance tutors’ professional identity in China

Much research has been conducted in the area of teacher professional identity in the past decades. Nonetheless, very little attention has been paid to the professional identity of tutors in distance education. Using interviews, this study set out to investigate distance tutors’ claimed and assigned professional identities, their actual, ought and ideal responsibilities, as well as job satisfaction and expected institutional support. The study involved 155 tutors from Chinese open universities. As indicated by the findings, Chinese distance tutors claimed to be inferior to their counterparts at conventional universities in research facilities and resources, social status, professional development, teaching facilities and resources, and income. Their assigned identity further confirms their professional vulnerability as a disadvantaged cohort of higher education academics. Discrepancies also exist between their actual, ought and ideal roles and much needs to be done to enhance their professional identity. Implications are discussed at the sociocultural, institutional, and personal levels.     

What do distance language tutors say about teacher motivation?

Research into motivation in education mainly centres on students’ learning motivation. This article reports on an interview study of teacher motivation with the aim of investigating the effects of student-related factors and tutors’ personal factors on the motivation of language tutors in the distance learning context. Findings from the study indicate that external sources of influence include students’ engagement in learning English, motivation to learn English, progress made, foundation in English and appreciation of tutors’ teaching, while tutors’ internal factors are their self-efficacy in teaching, reflection and self-initiated professional development, interest in the profession of teaching English as well as their sense of achievement. Analysis of the data also suggests that more concrete measures are needed to counteract the demotivating effects from these two dimensions. Implications and suggestions are discussed with regard to enhancing tutor motivation more effectively.     

体育专业理论课教学过程中对学生学习策略的培养

新一轮高校职业教育改革,教学模式倡导“教、学、做”一体化,强调学生的动手能力,专业理论课时大大缩减．为了适应变化的形势,在体育专业理论课中,对学生进行学习策略的培养,以提高专业理论课的教学质量,提高学习效果和学习效率．     

基于活动理论的Blackboard网络课程设计与实现——以《信息技术教学法》课程为例

随着教育信息化的推进,网络教学已成为信息时代重要的学习方式.那么,中国高等教育如何迎接网络时代新的挑战?如何充分利用新技术所提供的巨大潜力建构21世纪的高等教育模式?这是高校面临的艰巨课题之一.笔者以河北师范大学Blackboard网络教学实施为例,发现其中存在2个较为严重的问题:教学活动缺失和网络课程设计理论支撑匮乏.针对该问题,以活动理论为基本理论,具体阐述了基于Blackboard网络教学平台的《信息技术教学法》课程的设计策略、教学活动的开展及其实现效果.以此作为推进高校教育信息化有意义的探索,以期对高校教师构建有效的网络教学平台有所启示.     

大学英语分级教学与学生学习水平的提高

为了提高学生学习水平以适应社会发展的要求,许多高校在大学英语教学的实践中实行了分级教学．国内外的许多专业人士也围绕大学英语分级教学与学生学习水平的提高这一主题进行了大量的研究。大学英语分级教学在提高学生学习水平方面发挥着积极的作用。     

数字传媒类专业校办企业创办实践与探析

高职院校创办企业能有效推进职业教育与产业的结合,实现专业设置与职业岗位、教材内容与职业标准对接的有效途径,依托专业办产业已形成共识,将产、学、研结合起来,实现资源优化,提高创新效率,已成为当今全球教育领域的一种教学思潮,对数字传媒类专业的校办企业创建和发展相关问题进行探析十分重要。     

An Integrated Taxonomy of Student Reading and Learning Development

Abstract

Universities and colleges place entry requirements on the students who join their courses which incorporate implicit conditions, such as literacy skills, as well as subject‐specific academic abilities. As a consequence reading skills are often taken for granted in the teaching of tertiary students. Biggs and Collis have presented a well‐argued, and empirically validated, taxonomy of student learning development. Chall has identified the stages of reading development through which individuals may pass during their lives. This study links these two models of intellectual development in order to produce an integrated taxonomy of the reading and learning development of students. The combined classification is used to discuss practical ideas for tutors in facilitating their students’ intellectual development. The suggestions propounded include the increased use of transferable skills courses, customised reading lists and devolved responsibility for administering access to textbooks.