Engaging Students in Traditional and Digital Storytelling to Make Connections Between Pedagogy and Children’s Experiences

Traditional and digital storytelling is a powerful literacy tool which engage students in making connections between pedagogy and academic content. Definitions of traditional and digital storytelling, pedagogical methods aligned with curriculum standards, and examples of literacy centers associated with storytelling in early childhood classrooms are shared. The theoretical framework, Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), is included to illustrate how pedagogy, storytelling, and technology interact to teach content knowledge and 21st-century skills. The five literary elements and additional elements of stories identified from research which enhance students’ engagement in stories are provided. A checklist for selecting stories, book lists and storytelling websites offer resources that will support teachers in using both digital and traditional storytelling with their students.     

Teaching Instructional Design: An Apprenticeship Model

Several cognitive psychologists have written about the importance of placing instruction within “authentic” contexts that mirror real-life situations. They argue that knowledge learned in academic settings does not necessarily transfer to non-academic settings. Whether preparing performance technologists or instructional designers, educators must strive to create meaningful problem-solving contexts that enable students to define, and subsequently solve, real-world problems. In an attempt to address this issue we have modified the way we teach instructional design. This paper discusses a cognitive apprenticeship approach to teaching design, which incorporates elements of modeling, coaching, reflection, articulation, and exploration. We describe how these features are embedded within three phases (orientation, situated training/learning, and exploration) of an introductory instructional design course designed to move our novice designers along a continuum of expertise as they develop and refine their own professional design skills. Although the apprenticeship model described here specifically addresses concerns within the context of preparing instructional designers, we believe that this model can be adapted to address similar issues in the education of performance technologists.     

A Model Program from the Perspective of Faculty Development

This article offers the Lynchburg College Symposium Readings (LCSR) Program as a model for faculty development. The program encourages faculty collaboration, innovative classroom practices, and service as well as new areas of faculty scholarship. Methods for assessing faculty work within the context of the goals of the program and the institution are described. Throughout the history of the program an emphasis has been placed on continuous faculty development in the belief that keeping faculty vital ensures quality teaching and scholarship.     

Identification and reporting of child maltreatment by Head Start personnel: attitudes and experiences

A two-part questionnaire was administered to 143 Head Start personnel in order to determine how personal characteristics of the Head Start workers and the characteristics of the families they serve, affect the identification and reporting of child maltreatment. Of additional interest was whether some forms of maltreatment, once identified, would be more likely to be reported than other forms of maltreatment. The results support the efficacy of educational programs in child maltreatment for increasing the identification and reporting of maltreatment by workers. They also indicate that there are complex interactions between certain characteristics of the reporter (e.g., educational level) and prior training in maltreatment identification. Finally, neglect, although more frequently identified by the workers, appears to be least likely of all forms of maltreatment to be reported to official sources. Results are discussed in light of their implications for future research and practical application.     

A comparison of educational factors promoting or discouraging the intent to remain in engineering by gender

This study seeks to examine key extrinsic and intrinsic factors that encourage or discourage persistence in attaining an engineering degree and pursuing an engineering-related career among both male and female undergraduates. Quantitative and qualitative findings from nine participating undergraduate degree programmes reveal that career expectations formulated through educational experiences as undergraduates play a key role in motivating students. Among females, faculty interaction in the classroom, such as feedback received and the degree to which the faculty treat them with respect, is an important encouraging factor. For both males and females, discouraging elements of the undergraduate experience include the amount of time for coursework, competition in engineering classes and grades. The findings have several practical implications that faculty and administrators can employ in shaping the undergraduate experience to encourage short- and long-term interest in engineering among both male and female students.     

The Effects of Instruction on Students' Generation of Self-Questions When Reading Multiple Documents

The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of instruction on students' generation of questions when reading multiple documents. Participants were 151 undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: a treatment condition that received question generation instruction and a control condition that did not receive question generation instruction. All participants read four primary-source documents and were asked to generate up to 10 questions based on those documents. Results indicate that students generated significantly fewer higher-order integration questions without instructional support. These results are replicated with an alternative document set to demonstrate that the effects found were not due to the specific historical topic.     

Evolution of Teachers’ Technology Integration Knowledge,Beliefs, and Practices: How Can We Support Beginning Teachers Use of Technology?

Abstract

In this study, we examined a group of four teachers who completed extra educational technology coursework and field experiences during their teacher education programs to determine how their technology integration knowledge, self-efficacy beliefs, intentions, and practices evolved over time. We conducted interviews and evaluated data sources at three intervals: (1) after teacher education coursework was completed, (2) after student teaching was completed, and (3) after two initial years of teaching. Results showed that school resources and environment had a strong impact on beginning teachers' practices, regardless of strong internal enabling factors.     

Standards and assessment: coherence from the teacher’s perspective

We sought to understand how teachers’ perspectives on standards-based instructional practices, classroom assessment, and external testing do or do not show coherence and alignment. Based on survey methods (n?=?155) and interviews with a sample of secondary school teachers (n?=?9) in a large urban district in the USA, we explored general trends and individual teachers’ viewpoints. Our results suggest that the teachers’ instructional use of standards, classroom assessment preferences, and beliefs about the test-driven system are moderately correlated. Interview data provide insight into reasons teachers hold beliefs that do or do not fit well into a coherent assessment system.