Opportunity Knocks? Professionalism and excellence in university teaching

Abstract

This paper proposes that excellence in teaching resides in a reflective, self‐critical, theoretically informed approach. A training programme for new teachers is used as an example of how the approach advocated can be put into practice. Evidence is presented which indicates that academic teachers pursuing such an approach develop conceptions of teaching which can contribute to improved practice; and which may also contribute to changing thinking about teaching and learning in departments. It is argued that encouraging reflective pedagogy has the potential of engaging academics in making the cultural changes necessary to professionalise and enhance the status of teaching. Finally, it is suggested that, although the methodology used by the inspection teams of the Teaching Quality Assessment (TQA) is problematic, the impetus provided can be used as an opportunity to explore and establish creative and worthwhile ways of improving the quality of teaching.     

Goal orientation towards teaching (GOTT) scale

Goal orientation theory has been widely investigated and found to affect many motivation and behavior variables in relation to student learning and work performance. However, unlike the motivational construct of self-efficacy, researchers have yet to investigate whether this theory can be applied to the field of teaching and contribute to the explanation for trends in instructional behavior and motives. The purpose of the present study was to develop an instrument to begin the exploration of teachers’ goal orientation towards teaching. From a three-phase research design consisting of scale development, score validation, and convergent/discriminant validation, results provided support for the development of, and validity of scores on, a Goal Orientation towards Teaching (GOTT) Scale. Although further validation is needed, future researchers and practitioners can use the GOTT scale to investigate how teachers’ goal orientation towards teaching can impact student learning, teaching effectiveness, pedagogical learning, and even professional morale.     

The “Wicked Problem” of Neutral Description: Toward a Documentation Approach to Metadata Standards

Increasingly, metadata standards have been recognized as constructed rather than neutral. In this article, we argue for the importance of a documentation approach to metadata standards creation as a codification of this growing recognition. By making design decisions explicit, the documentation approach dispels presumptions of neutrality and, drawing on the “wicked problems” theoretical framework, acknowledges the constructed nature of standards as “clumsy solutions.”     

Middle School Student Knowledge of and Attitudes Toward Synthetic Biology

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Synthetic biology is a field that leverages design, biology, engineering, and computation to genetically engineer organisms to make usable products...     

From research to reality: Australian evidence-based practice in autism education

Many teachers are sporadic in using evidence-based practice (EBP) concerning students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Numerous reasons have been posited for this. However, no single study has worked to understand the relative importance of identified criteria in the EBP decision-making processes of teachers. Through the development of a new survey tool, the Evidence-Based Practice Innovation Survey (EBPIAS), an exploration of the decision-making process of Australian teachers in their adoption and cessation of EBP was undertaken. Teachers rated the perception that an EBP would meet the needs of their students as the most important criteria in determining their use of EBP. Conversely, the judgement that an EBP did not meet the needs of their student was the most important criteria in their decision to cease use. In comparing the relevant importance of identified criteria, teachers rated the perception of training as the second-lowest consideration in their decision to adopt and cease using EBP. Consequently, there may need to be greater promotion of, or information concerning, the training required by teachers for effective implementation supporting a more balanced and holistic approach in assessing criteria impacting the adoption of EBP by teachers in the first instance, potentially lowering cessation rates.     

Toddlers learn and flexibly apply multiple possibilities

The ability to consider multiple possibilities forms the basis for a wide variety of human-unique cognitive capacities. When does this skill develop? Previous studies have narrowly focused on children's ability to prepare for incompatible future outcomes. Here, we investigate this capacity in a causal learning context. Adults (N = 109) and 18- to 30-month olds (N = 104) observed evidence that was consistent with two hypotheses, each occupying a different level of abstraction (individual vs. relational causation). Results suggest that adults and toddlers identified multiple candidate causes for an effect, held these possibilities in mind, and flexibly applied the appropriate hypothesis to inform subsequent inferences. These findings challenge previous suggestions that the ability to consider multiple alternatives does not emerge until much later in development.     

Children’s Developing Ability to Resolve Disagreements by Integrating Perspectives

Children live in a world where disagreement is commonplace. Although disagreement can sometimes be explained by differences in people’s reliability, disagreement may also indicate that the referent elicits multiple perspectives. The present studies (total N = 129, 5- to 12-year-old ethnically diverse U.S. children, 42% girls) examined children’s ability to resolve disagreement among two individuals by identifying referents that integrated the perspectives, and considered the extent to which any age-related change could be explained by epistemological understanding (i.e., acknowledging that two perspectives can be right). Children’s age was positively correlated with their ability to integrate perspectives, and children performed at above-chance levels by approximately 10 years of age. Age differences in integrating perspectives were partially accounted for by epistemological understanding.