SMART moves? A case study of one teacher’s pedagogical change through use of the interactive whiteboard

This case study investigates how the use of an interactive whiteboard (IWB) leads to pedagogical change within a UK secondary school classroom. A teacher’s experiences as recorded in a reflective journal, and the responses of students as recorded in a questionnaire, are set within the context of rhetoric about the value of IWBs. It is argued that this action research approach is particularly valuable because of the insights a teacher has on the complexities of the classroom environment. Assumptions about the way in which IWBs should (and do) change the dynamics of interactivity within the classroom are considered by questioning the definition of terms such as ‘interactive’ and ‘pace’. The case study concludes that if a teacher understands and utilises appropriate strategies to meet given learning objectives, pedagogical change will emerge, with teachers empowered by the IWB to consider how learning takes place, and match activities to learners’ needs. However, IWB use will be within the context of the philosophy of the teacher and how much he or she wants to pursue new ideas in order to support learning.     

Mathematics teachers’ “learning to notice” in the context of a video club

This study examines changes in teachers’ thinking as they participated in a video club designed to help them learn to notice and interpret students’ mathematical thinking. First, we investigate changes in teachers’ talk about classroom video segments before and after participation in the video club. Second, we identify three paths along which teachers learned to notice students’ mathematical thinking in this context: Direct, Cyclical, and Incremental. Finally, we explore ways the video club context influenced teacher learning. Understanding different forms of teacher learning provides insight for research on teacher cognition and may inform the design of video-based professional development.     

Code-oriented instruction for kindergarten students at risk for reading difficulties: a replication and comparison of instructional groupings

The purposes of this study were to replicate previous research on phonics-based tutoring in kindergarten and to compare treatment effects for students who received individual instruction compared to instruction in dyads. Thirty classroom teachers from 13 urban elementary schools referred at-risk students for participation. Students who met screening criteria were quasi-randomly assigned, within classroom, to one of three conditions: individual tutoring (n = 22), tutoring in dyads (n = 32), or no tutoring (n = 22, classroom instruction only). Twenty-one paraeducators provided 18 weeks of explicit instruction in phonemic skills and the alphabetic code to students during the latter half of kindergarten. Multilevel model results showed that tutored students outperformed non-tutored controls on posttest measures of phonological awareness, word reading accuracy, oral reading fluency, spelling, and comprehension. However, no significant differences were found between the two tutored groups on any measure, suggesting that code-oriented tutoring for pairs of students is a viable alternative to the gold standard of individual instruction.     

Weaving Together Undergraduate Research, Mentoring of Junior Faculty, and Assessment: The Case of an Interdisciplinary Program

Scholars in teaching and learning value student research and program assessment as strategies to promote excellence in undergraduate education. Yet, in practice, each can be complex and difficult to sustain. This case study demonstrates how undergraduate research, mentoring of junior faculty, and assessment can be integrated in ways that enrich the educational experiences of students and the professional development of faculty and improve research on teaching and learning. The authors describe a lively undergraduate research project that became tied to the mentoring of assistant professors and then to program assessment. We conclude with recommendations for implementing such a project in other academic settings. Elizabeth Thomas is Assistant Professor in the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Bothell. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and teaches courses on inquiry in the social sciences, community psychology, and psychology and the arts. Her research examines sociocultural contexts for learning and development with a particular focus on the role of the arts and the potential of participatory action research strategies. Diane Gillespie is Professor and Associate Director of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences (IAS) at The University of Washington, Bothell, received her Ph.D. at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln in Cultural and Psychological Studies in Education. She teaches multicultural social science courses and qualitative research. Her recent publications explore the importance of narrative for reflective teaching and learning, learning in small groups, and the role of human rights in nonformal education.     

Beautiful minds and unruly bodies: embodiment and academic identity in Still Alice and The Theory of Everything

ABSTRACT

This article explores the representation of disability and academic identity in two award-winning films: Still Alice and The Theory of Everything. Drawing on scholarship about embodiment and the ‘normal professor body’, I demonstrate how the complex images of disabled academics in these films take up and replicate (to differing extents) dominant discourses of disembodied intellectualism that shape conceptions of the professoriate. As examples of public pedagogy, these representations have significant ramifications for popular understandings of disability and higher education.     

The Effects of Contingent Teacher Praise,as Specified by Canter's Assertive Discipline Programme,on Children's On‐task Behaviour

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of contingent teacher praise, as specified by Canter's Assertive Discipline programme, on children's on‐task behaviour. In Western Australian primary schools (and in an increasing number of British schools) Canter's programme is widely used. However, while there are many anecdotal reports of its effectiveness there is a relative absence of well controlled research studies reporting objective data. In the present study, three teachers from three separate primary schools and eight randomly selected children from each of their classes were systematically observed. Continuous data collection indicated that following training in the appropriate use of praise, as specified by Canter, all three teachers successfully increased their rates of praising. Of the 24 children, all but one evidenced increases in levels of on‐task behaviour. However, observations conducted during a follow‐up phase revealed reductions in the use of praise by the teachers and in some levels of on‐task behaviour.     

Research Fictions: Arts-Informed Narratives That Disrupt the Authority of the Text

In this paper I examine the dilemma faced by reflexive narrative inquirers who write in the first-person “I” while advocating for a postmodern reading of the “self.” This paper asks the question: How can the reflexive educational researcher craft a research narrative that, on the one hand, strives for self-presence, while on the other hand, denies the transparency of language? I discuss current post-structuralist critiques of educational research rhetoric, and extend the critique to narrative research, suggesting that an arts-informed approach to narrative allows researchers to disrupt the authority of their text. I explore the use of a specific fictionalizing technique – the unreliable narrator – to assist readers in critically deciphering reflexive research narratives.     

Knowledge Integration in Science Teaching: Analysing Teachers' Knowledge Development

This paper tests the utility of a new sociocognitive frame for analysing the development of teachers' knowledge – the knowledge integration perspective (Linn, Eylon, & Davis, in press; Linn & Hsi, 2000). In doing so, the paper describes one prospective elementary teacher's developing knowledge and highlights its complexity. The prospective teacher demonstrates relatively well-integrated science subject matter knowledge, but she makes some problematic links to lessons and develops some instructional representations that show where she needs to distinguish between different scientific ideas. She also, however, links science concepts to appropriate real-world experiences, indicating that she has nascent useful pedagogical content knowledge. The paper discusses what teacher educators can learn about their learners from this analysis, argues for the utility of the knowledge integration perspective for conducting similar analyses, provides ideas to help science teacher educators apply the perspective easily as they teach their students, and points to areas ripe for future research.     

Fostering collaborative teaching and learning scholarship through an international writing group initiative

The research presented here explored the experiences of participants in an international collaborative writing group (ICWG) initiative that ran in conjunction with the 2012 International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSoTL) conference. The ICWG sought to cultivate collaborative pedagogical scholarship by bringing together a range of international academics to co-author articles on teaching and learning topics of shared interest. Data were collected via online surveys at the beginning and end of the initiative and interim focus groups/interviews. In addition to suggesting that the ICWG is an effective means of fostering collaborative writing, the results point to a number of factors that might also influence collaboration in other contexts: modes of collaboration, opportunities for social dialogue, developing a shared vision and voice, and leadership. Implications and applications of the findings, as well as areas of further research, are discussed.