Identifying teaching groups as a basis for academic development

Academic development recognizes the strengths of communities, such as communities of practice or learning communities, in providing academics with supportive environments for the development of teaching. The problem academic development faces is that not enough academics are involved in these communities. Instead of trying to interest academics in joining communities, this research looks at the existing contexts around academics, which it refers to as ‘teaching groups’. It is proposed that every academic involved in teaching belongs to at least one teaching group, formed by colleagues teaching in the same course, degree or subject and that teaching groups form relevant contexts for engagement with teaching. The research investigates how teaching groups compare to communities and finds that less than half of teaching groups named by participants have strong community characteristics, indicating large space for improvement in the remaining majority of groups. The suggestion is made that identifying teaching groups across an institution might provide a promising starting point for engaging a majority of academics and working with these academics towards increased interaction on teaching in open and trusting collegial atmospheres.     

Modeling Growth in Electronic Learning Environments Using a Longitudinal Random Item Response Model

In educational environments, monitoring persons' progress over time may help teachers to evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching procedures. Electronic learning environments are increasingly being used as part of formal education and resulting datasets can be used to understand and to improve the environment. This study presents longitudinal models based on the item response theory (IRT) for measuring persons' ability within and between study sessions in data from web-based learning environments. Two empirical examples are used to illustrate the presented models. Results show that by incorporating time spent within- and between-study sessions into an IRT model; one is able to track changes in ability of a population of persons or for groups of persons at any time of the learning process.     

Functioning and participation problems of students with ASD in higher education: which reasonable accommodations are effective?

Abstract

Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience various functioning and participation problems in higher education, which may cause difficulties such as drop out or low grade point averages. However, it remains unclear how often and during which teaching and evaluation methods the functioning and participation problems occur and which reasonable accommodations are effective in dealing with them. These gaps in the literature are addressed in this survey-based study. In total, 43 students with ASD, 30 student counsellors and 43 students without a disability of institutions of higher education in Flanders (Belgium) participated in the study. The results show that students with ASD most frequently experience problems with verbal and non-verbal communication, are oversensitive to change and have difficulty distinguishing the gist of the syllabus from the details. Furthermore, it is shown that, on average, these problems arise mostly during classical teaching and evaluation methods. Finally, the perceived effectiveness of reasonable accommodations is dependent on the functioning and participation problem experienced by the student with ASD in higher education. In conclusion, both personal and environmental characteristics should be taken into account when selecting and implementing reasonable accommodations for these students.     

‘Time is not enough.’ Workload in higher education: a student perspective

Students' workload has been recognised as a major factor in the teaching and learning environment. This paper starts by structuring the different conceptualisations of workload described in the scientific literature. Besides the traditional distinction between objective and subjective or perceived workload, a distinction between conceptualisations focusing on the perception of quantitative and qualitative aspects of workload comes to the fore. This qualitative study investigates what workload means for students in higher education. Forty Civil Engineering and Educational Sciences Master's students were interviewed. The results show that ‘having time’ is a precondition for experiencing a manageable workload. When this precondition is fulfilled, the interest of a student and the ability to plan and set priorities play an important role in the perception of workload. Finally, the results show that several aspects of the learning environment can influence this interest and the perception of workload.     

Discourses of education and constitutions of class: public discourses on education in Swedish PBS television

Drawing on post-structural perspectives and analysis of television programs on education, the article investigates the public educational discourse in Sweden. It shows how a dominant neoliberal educational discourse is articulated together with a discourse of equal education, where the two discourses influence and subvert each other so that neither becomes totally hegemonic. Taking as its point of departure the neoliberal emphasis on the individual, especially as it relates to school choice and to the significance of class for educational success, the analysis focuses on the constitution of classed positions. The study reveals constitutions of class in which race, place, gender, economy and agency are intertwined, such that the schools and the students are attributed both different statuses and different subject positions in terms of future economic trajectories. The conclusions drawn are that, in the public conversation about the organization and goal of compulsory education, it is important to be aware of the discursive and political contexts in which the discussions take place. It is also important to realize that class matters in the educational assemblage in the form of economic subjectivities constituted in a web of intersecting notions about differing preconditions and outcomes of education.     

Group Work Management in the Classroom

This study aims to provide a better understanding of teachers' managing roles when using group work in the classroom. Building on Granström's 2 concepts of leadership and teachership, a more specific aim is to investigate teachers' managing roles when using group work and how teachers' presumptions affect the way in which they manage the pedagogical mode. The results show that teachers' managing roles influence teachers' willingness to use group work. Teachers may be unwilling to use group work based on their presumption that it teaches students only collaboration abilities and not subject knowledge. This may be a supplemental yet significant explanation as to why group work continues to decrease in classrooms.     

Are all Pupils Equally Motivated to do Their Best on all Tests? Differences in Reported Test-Taking Motivation within and between Tests with Different Stakes

This study investigated changes in reported test-taking motivation from a low-stakes to a high-stakes test and if there are differences in reported test-taking motivation between school classes. A questionnaire including scales assessing reported effort, expectancies, perceived importance, interest, and test anxiety was administered to a sample of pupils (n?=?375) in 9th grade in direct connection to a national test field trial and then again to the same sample in connection to the regular national test in science. Two-level second-order latent growth modelling was used to analyse data. In summary, the results show a significant increase in reported test-taking motivation from the field trial to the regular test and a significant variability in test-taking motivation between classes.     

Promoting Positive Youth Development Through School‐Based Social and Emotional Learning Interventions: A Meta‐Analysis of Follow‐Up Effects

This meta‐analysis reviewed 82 school‐based, universal social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions involving 97,406 kindergarten to high school students (M_age = 11.09 years; mean percent low socioeconomic status = 41.1; mean percent students of color = 45.9). Thirty‐eight interventions took place outside the United States. Follow‐up outcomes (collected 6 months to 18 years postintervention) demonstrate SEL's enhancement of positive youth development. Participants fared significantly better than controls in social‐emotional skills, attitudes, and indicators of well‐being. Benefits were similar regardless of students’ race, socioeconomic background, or school location. Postintervention social‐emotional skill development was the strongest predictor of well‐being at follow‐up. Infrequently assessed but notable outcomes (e.g., graduation and safe sexual behaviors) illustrate SEL's improvement of critical aspects of students’ developmental trajectories.     

School–University Action Research: Impacts on Teaching Practices and Pupil Learning

The aim of this article is to describe a design and implementation of a school–university action research project about teaching and learning biology and mathematics in primary school. Nine teachers in grades 1 to 6, in collaboration with two researchers, were using content representation (CoRe) in learning study (LS)-inspired cycle as pedagogical tools when planning, implementing, and reflecting on lessons and pupil learning. By using pre- and post-tests, the teachers acquired knowledge about pupil subject-specific knowledge and learning. Some examples are given on how the tools in the project influenced the teaching practices and pupil learning. This research design brought together university and school practitioners to work collaboratively in a professional learning community, which developed teaching and learning in biology and mathematics.