Teachers’ beliefs and intentions concerning teaching in higher education

A questionnaire measuring nine different aspects of teachers’ beliefs and intentions concerning teaching in higher education was distributed to teachers at four institutions in the United Kingdom, yielding 638 complete sets of responses. There was a high degree of overlap between the participants’ scores on the subscales measuring beliefs and intentions, and analyses of both sets of scores yielded two factors reflecting an orientation towards learning facilitation and an orientation towards knowledge transmission. However, teachers’ intentions were more orientated towards knowledge transmission than were their beliefs, and problem solving was associated with beliefs based on learning facilitation but with intentions based on knowledge transmission. Differences in teachers’ intentions across different disciplines and between men and women seemed to result from different conceptions of teaching, whereas differences in teachers’ intentions across different institutions and between teachers with different levels of teaching experience seemed to result from contextual factors. Teaching intentions thus reflect a compromise between teachers’ conceptions of teaching and their academic and social contexts     

Teachers’ self-concept and valuing of learning: relations with teaching approaches and beliefs about students

One’s self-concept and value perceptions can significantly influence one’s behaviours and beliefs. Australian teachers from urban and rural areas of the state of New South Wales were asked to respond to survey items on two predictors (teacher self-concept, valuing of learning) and three outcomes. Confirmatory factor analysis established the five latent factors. Structural equation modelling found significant paths from teacher self-concept to both student-centred and teacher-centred approaches but not beliefs about student ability. The positive path from valuing of learning to student-centred teaching was statistically significant but the path to teacher-centred teaching was not. The significant path from valuing of learning to beliefs about student ability was negative indicating that teachers who value student learning were less likely to believe in ability constraints. Therefore, teacher preparation programmes should enhance self-concept simultaneously with teaching skills and values and facilitate an advocacy for students’ learning.     

Uncovering students’ thinking about thinking using concept maps

A method for uncovering students’ thinking about thinking, specifically their meta-strategic knowledge, is explored within the context of an ongoing, multi-year intervention designed to promote the development of students’ thinking dispositions. The development of a concept-map instrument that classroom teachers can use and an analytic framework for interpreting students’ responses is presented. In a preliminary study, the concept map instrument is piloted to evaluate changes in students’ conceptions of thinking after a year’s participation in classrooms where their teachers actively sought to make thinking more visible by noticing and naming the thinking observed as well as introducing and using thinking routines (Ritchhart and Perkins. Educational Leadership, 65(5), 57–61 2008). Concept maps from 239 students from grades 3 through 11 were analyzed. Results suggest that students’ conceptions of thinking do improve with age but also can be substantially developed through a classroom culture where thinking is modeled and rich opportunities for thinking are present. The concept map instrument itself proved to be a robust instrument for uncovering students’ thinking about thinking.     

Preservice teacher education students’ epistemological beliefs and conceptions about learning

A questionnaire was administered to 231 Hong Kong preservice teacher education students to examine their epistemological beliefs and conceptions of learning. Pearson correlation analysis showed significant pairs of epistemological beliefs and conceptions of learning. Regression and path analysis showed epistemological beliefs had significant predictor relationships with conceptions of learning. Four structural equation models were proposed to examine the predictive relationships between epistemological beliefs and selected pairs of quantitative and qualitative conceptions of learning, and the models were validated by confirmatory factor analysis. The results support the hypothesis that epistemological beliefs have significant predictive relationships with quantitative and qualitative conceptions of learning, implying epistemological beliefs play an important role in students’ learning. The paper concludes with implications drawn for the future direction of educational practices and research.     

Teachers’ beliefs about cues to deception and the ability to detect deceit

This study aimed to test beliefs about cues to deception and the ability to detect lies in a group of teachers with different teaching experience. Their results were compared with the results of non-teachers matched in age and with the results of educational studies and psychology students. Both the beliefs of deception indicators and overall truthfulness assessment did not differ between groups. Teaching experience had no effect on any of the skills tested. In accordance with expectations, the truth bias appeared in both the control group and in the group of teachers.     

Teachers’ professional beliefs about their roles and the pupils’ roles in the school

In recent decades, many educational reforms have been implemented that aim to effect a change in teachers’ and pupils’ roles by promoting meaningful learning. Yet, little is known about how teachers perceive these roles as a part of their professional belief system. In this study, 68 Finnish comprehensive school teachers were interviewed. The data were content analysed. The results showed that teachers recognised the importance of facilitating pupils’ active role in learning, but still mostly considered pupils as passive in school practices. Moreover, teachers perceived pupils as active educational participants most often outside the classroom, in informal school settings. Correspondingly, teachers described themselves primarily as knowledge transmitters in pupils’ learning. In their professional community, teachers perceived themselves mostly as reproducers of knowledge instead of facilitators of learning. There was also variation between the teachers as well as within a single teacher’s beliefs.     

Effects of embedding a problem-posing-based learning guiding strategy into interactive e-books on students’ learning performance and higher order thinking tendency

Owing to the popularity of tablet computers and smart phones, e-books have become an important medium for both formal and informal learning. However, conventional e-books are mainly designed to provide information in the form of multimedia, implying that students spend most of their time memorizing and comprehending what they read from e-books, while seldom engaging in higher order thinking. In this study, a problem-posing framework is proposed for developing an interactive e-book for guiding students to observe and pose questions. An experiment on an elementary school natural science course was conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The participants were 46 fourth-grade students. From the experimental results, it was found that the problem-posing-guiding interactive e-book can significantly improve the students’ learning achievements, critical thinking tendency, and deep motive. It was also found that the proposed approach did not increase the students’ cognitive load owing to the provision of proper supports during the problem-posing process, which has generally been identified as a challenging task.     

International students’ self-determined motivation,beliefs about classroom assessment,learning strategies,and academic adjustment in higher education

Higher Education - As an increasing number of international students are studying in English-speaking universities, there has been growing interest in exploring the factors and complexities that...     

Fostering higher‐order thinking in science class: teachers’ reflections

The study reported in this article aimed at exploring what teachers know and do about fostering higher‐order thinking skills in teaching science, and how they see themselves involved in achieving this end. Data were collected through semi‐structured interviews with 11 teachers experienced in teaching high school physics, which is considered a relatively difficult but well‐established discipline. The findings highlighted a diversity among the teachers in four areas: meta‐strategic knowledge of the concept of higher‐order thinking; practical utilization of instructional strategies related to fostering higher‐order thinking in the classroom; beliefs about students’ abilities to acquire higher‐order thinking skills; and self‐perception regarding teaching towards higher‐order thinking. Regarding the second area, for example, some of the teachers reported using teaching strategies in class that could impede the development of students as autonomous thinkers; others occasionally try to foster higher‐order thinking among their students but regard this as a way of conveying subject content better; only a minority of the teachers see the fostering of higher‐order thinking as an important objective of teaching physics. In summary, teachers are frequently puzzled or uncertain about the entire issue of fostering higher‐order thinking in school. Introducing elements of constructivist pedagogy combined with the specific steps aimed at fostering higher‐order thinking into the science class is required to make the development of higher‐order thinking a regular ingredient in science teaching within the current schooling.     

Teachers’ beliefs about the development of teacher–adolescent trust

In this study, we examined teachers’ beliefs concerning the meaning and nature of teacher–student trust in a diverse sample of secondary-school teachers (n = 34). Using a grounded-theory approach, a process model of teacher–adolescent trust emerged based on semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Antecedents of trust could be categorised as a function of student ecology (e.g. home environment) and teacher and student actions, including: demonstrating care, being consistent and reliable, making personal connections and engaging in helpful behaviour. Other teacher actions included drawing upon personal resources such as efficacy, social roles and available instructional approaches. Unique student actions highlighted the importance that teachers place on compliance with social norms and honest, responsible behaviour. Perceived benefits of trust reflected changes in: classroom climate, quality of social interactions, available teaching methods and positive student behaviours. Finally, teachers discussed ways in which trust evolved over time. Model processes and new hypotheses generated by the model are discussed in the light of current literature on adult–child relationships and trust in schools.     

Do students’ beliefs about knowledge and knowing predict their judgement of texts’ trustworthiness?

We examined whether epistemic beliefs predict students’ evaluation of documents. Undergraduates read two texts on climate change. Participants judged the trustworthiness of each text and then indicated the criteria for their rating. We found that readers who believe strongly in relying on personal interpretations rather than on authorities trusted both documents less and used the document’s content or their own opinion as criteria for judging trustworthiness. We also found that readers who believe that knowledge claims should be critically evaluated through logic and rules rated the science text as more trustworthy and used the criteria of their own opinion, author and content more than readers who believe in relying on their own experiences. These effects hold true while controlling for readers’ prior knowledge and text comprehensibility.     

Pre-service teachers’ beliefs and knowledge about multiculturalism

The present study examined pre-service teachers’ knowledge of issues related to multiculturalism and diversity before and after taking a multicultural education course. Data from 38 degree students in an urban university in the southwest of Finland were analysed using a mixed method approach. The results indicate that pre-service teachers’ knowledge levels increased with respect to diversity and multicultural education after taking the course. In addition, pre-service teachers felt more competent and prepared to teach students with diverse backgrounds after the exposure. The implications of the findings for teacher education programmes and teacher educators are discussed.     

Teachers’ beliefs and practices related to mathematics instruction

Beliefs and practices related to mathematics were assessed for 21 fourth- through sixth-grade teachers. At the beginning and the end of the school year teachers’ beliefs about (1) the nature of mathematics (i.e., procedures to solve problems versus a tool for thought), (2) mathematics learning (i.e., focusing on getting correct solutions versus understanding mathematical concepts), (3) who should control students’ mathematical activity, (4) the nature of mathematical ability (i.e., fixed versus malleable), and (5) the value of extrinsic rewards for getting students to engage in mathematics activities were assessed. (6) Teachers self-confidence and enjoyment of mathematics and mathematics teaching were also assessed. Analyses were conducted to assess the coherence among these beliefs and associations between teachers’ beliefs and their observed classroom practices and self-reported evaluation criteria. Findings showed substantial coherence among teachers’ beliefs and consistent associations between their beliefs and their practices. Teachers’ self-confidence as mathematics teachers was also significantly associated with their students’ self-confidence as mathematical learners.     

Early years teachers’ epistemic beliefs and beliefs about children’s moral learning

There is strong political and social interest in values education both internationally and across Australia. Investment in young children is recognised as important for the development of moral values for a cohesive society; however, little is known about early years teachers’ beliefs about moral values teaching and learning. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationships between Australian early years teachers’ epistemic beliefs and their beliefs about children’s moral learning. Three hundred and seventy-nine teachers completed a survey about their personal epistemic beliefs and their beliefs about children’s moral learning. Results indicated that teachers with more sophisticated epistemic beliefs viewed children as capable of taking responsibility for their own moral learning. Conversely, teachers who held more naïve or simplistic personal epistemic beliefs agreed that children need to learn morals through learning the rules for behaviour. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for moral pedagogy in the classroom and teacher professional development. It is suggested that in conjunction with explicitly reflecting on epistemic beliefs, professional development may need to assist teachers to ascertain how their beliefs might relate to their moral pedagogies in order to make any adjustments.     

A longitudinal developmental analysis of students’ causality beliefs about school performance

This study examined the development of school-related causality beliefs which are children’s generalized perceptions of the utility or power of different categories of specific means in producing school outcomes. Based on the action theory perspective, we analyzed the developmental model of these beliefs as well as the trajectories of the five perceived causes of school success and failure: ability, effort, luck, teacher’s help, and unknown causes. On a 5-year longitudinal study, following a group of 63 students over an 8-year period (from the second to the ninth grades), using hierarchical linear models, intraindividual changes and interindividual differences in these changes were identified; also, factors that might account for this variability were tested. The results showed a decrease of the effectiveness attributed to the various causes, but their differentiated trajectories, and a relative independence of gender and achievement factors (engagement and school grades) in the evolution of these beliefs. School children in the lower grades value most highly ability and effort as causes of school success. Student’s beliefs about the causes of school performance become both more conservative and more differentiated along schooling, which is probably a normative general tendency. Findings from this longitudinal study corroborate, to a large extent, a consistent set of important developmental findings based on previous cross-sectional designs.     

Teachers’ belief that math requires innate ability predicts lower intrinsic motivation among low-achieving students

Many students find math difficult, but those who are intrinsically motivated learn and do well even when they face obstacles. Here, we examine an environmental factor that might affect students' intrinsic motivation in math: namely, teachers' beliefs about success in math. Do teachers perceive elementary school math as a domain that requires an innate ability, and does this belief relate to students' intrinsic motivation in math? Our study explored these questions in a sample of 830 German fourth graders and their 56 teachers. Teachers reported stronger beliefs in the role of innate ability for math than for German language arts. In addition, the more teachers believed that math requires innate ability, the lower was the intrinsic motivation of their low-achieving students. These results suggest that teachers’ beliefs that math success depends on innate ability may be an important obstacle to creating a classroom atmosphere that fosters engagement and learning for all students.     

Teachers’ perceptions, attitudes and beliefs regarding curriculum integration

This paper summarises the results of a three-day workshop conducted between October and December of 2007 as part of a larger project dedicated to improving teacher quality at the pre-service and in-service levels. Both pre- and post-test measures were administered before and after workshop completion in order to capture changes in knowledge, attitude, and perception. For contextual relevance, findings are summarised in light of extant literature pertaining to curriculum integration.     

Teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding academic support following concussion

Teachers play an important role in supporting students' return to school after concussion. This online cross sectional survey examined teachers' beliefs and practices regarding concussion and academic support strategies, or academic adjustments (AA). Most teachers (99.1%) agreed-to-strongly agreed concussions affect school performance, and many (71.6%) have worked with a student who received AA after concussion. Teachers who participated in concussion education and observed a decline in a student's academic performance after concussion were more familiar with and recommended AA more often. Professional development is recommended to provide teachers with practical and timely resources to enhance support for students after concussion.