Undergraduate Social Work Students’ Perceptions of a Team-Based Learning Approach to Exploring Adult Development

ABSTRACT

Social work educators are challenged to adopt innovative instructional methods and pedagogies to prepare students to meet the contemporary needs of diverse client populations. A team-based learning (TBL) approach is a pedagogical strategy that utilizes cooperative and collaborative learning principles to inspire academic, professional, and interpersonal growth for students. This study explores perspectives of 93 undergraduate social work students regarding the benefits and challenges of using a TBL approach to research adult development. Despite identifying several benefits of this method, including in-depth learning and enhanced relationships, students also experienced significant challenges to working in teams.     

Teaching and Learning Nature of Science in Elementary Classrooms

Science & Education - Our goal in this article is to provide research-based strategies for embedding Nature of Science (NOS) into science instruction at the elementary level. We thus intend to...     

The identification and assessment of dyslexiaClass teachers' perceptions of the usefulness of the dyslexia screening test for seven to eight year-old pupils

Many teachers are concerned about the problems of identifying and assessing dyslexia in their own schools, but lack time during the school day to assess the accuracy of new tests. In the last ten years dyslexia has moved from being a hidden disability to one that is acknowledged in academic, intellectual and professional fields, through advances in genetics and psychological research. Non-recognition can lead to severe problems for a pupil in school and in later life, as well as for teachers, in particular, attempting to devise learning programmes and for schools, in general, facing litigation for not addressing a particular child's specific needs.     

Action Learning and Research at George Washington University

Action learning has emerged as one of the most effective and powerful teaching and learning approaches used in graduate studies in human resource development at George Washington University (GWU). In this article, both faculty and student perspectives are presented to describe action learning teaching, research, and organizational interventions. First-hand experiences of doctoral students with action learning sets are presented in their own words. Students benefit from action learning experiences by building strong networks of personal and professional support. Improved group processes and greater interaction between executive level students and faculty have resulted in a strong doctoral cohort experience for Executive Leadership Program students at GWU. The initial energy to generate action learning programs in students' organizations requires active faculty involvement and follow-up to ensure that organizations accept and benefit from action learning programs. HRD (human resource development) faculty can profit from additional orientation and understanding of action learning to incorporate this methodology into their courses and problem-solving activities.     

Globalisation and science education: the case of Sustainability by the Bay

It is impossible to consider contemporary science education in isolation from globalisation as the dominant logic, rethinking and reconfiguring social and cultural life in which it is located. Carter (J Res Sci Teach 42, 561–580, 2005) calls for a close reading of policy documents, curriculum projects, research studies and a range of other science education texts using key concepts from globalisation theory to elucidate the ways in which globalisation shapes and is expressed within science education. In this paper, we consider an example from our own practice of a school-based curriculum project, Sustainable Living by the Bay, as one such instance. The first section reviews neoliberalism and neoconservativism necessary to understand how globalisation penetrates education, while the second outlines aspects of the curriculum project itself. As there were many different facets to the development and implementation of a project like Sustainable Living by the Bay, there is space only to elaborate two examples of the globalisation discourse. The first example concerns the government policy initiative that funded the project while the second example focuses on learner- centred pedagogies as globalisation’s pedagogies of choice.     

The British universities and the state: A comment

This article comments on the relationship between British universities and government departments with special reference to the work of the University Grants Committee and the role of its Chairman. The extent to which universities are free to exercise discretion is delineated and the place of lay (i.e., non-academic) people in university government is described. The future would seem to call for increased political adroitness on the part of those who govern universities if the unusual freedom at present possessed by British universities is to be retained.A lecture given at the University of Lancaster on May 28, 1979. Sir Charles Carter was formerly Vice Chancellor, University of Lancaster.