A Case Study of Needs Assessment in Teacher In-Service Development

In 1996, The Ministry of Education of the Province of Quebec authorized a plan to support the integration of new information technologies and communications (NTIC) in its schools. An expenditure of $318 million dollars was announced for the purchase and upgrade of hardware and software. In response to this initiative, The Concordia University Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance (CSLP) approached the Quebec schoolboards, proposing partnerships between them and the Centre to facilitate the integration of these technologies into pedagogical practices. This article describes a needs assessment performed by the university in two Quebec elementary schools. The collected data revealed that teachers are currently using computers primarily for word processing and to prepare report cards. While they are somewhat dissatisfied with previous professional development, they are still highly interested in receiving training on how to better incorporate technology into their pedagogical practices. General recommendations and a workshop are outlined.     

‘Private path,public route’: a multicultural group of teachers experiences Wiki-assisted learning

This qualitative study examined how a multicultural group of experienced teachers (nine Arabs, ten Jews) used Wiki as an alternative platform for the construction of a shared interpretive knowledge base. None of the participants had had any prior experience with Wiki as a learning environment. Data were derived from the Wiki platform, teachers’ oral and written feedback, and the lecturer’s log. Generally, teachers expressed positive attitude towards learning in a Wiki environment. However, cultural differences relating to language, habitual ways of studying and evaluating, and perceptions of teacher–student roles in classrooms affected participation. Different ways of using Wiki were observed along a continuum from teachers’ adaptation of Wiki to learners’ characteristics to learners’ adaptation of selves to Wiki characteristics. The findings may alert teacher educators to ways of integrating Wiki pedagogy into teachers’ curricular thinking: an explicit discussion of Wiki pedagogy attributes; more than one experience with long-term Wiki projects; supportive and sharing environment; attention to language barriers; a constant presence of the lecturer in the ‘discussion boards’ to guide and share concerns.     

Age,gender, ethnicity and the digital divide: university students’ use of web‐based instruction

This paper focuses on the effects of social–structural factors (age, ethnicity and gender) on university students’ use of web‐based instruction. The study uses data from registration questionnaires of students at the Open University of Israel. During the period between 1995 and 2002 there has been a continuous increase in the proportion of students who use the Internet and email for study purposes. However, a significant minority (one‐third of the students) are still not Internet users. Previous studies have referred to the digital divide in terms of differences in access to the relevant hardware and explained it mainly by social and structural factors. Current research tends to focus on the digital divide in terms of use rather than access, and explains it mainly by micro, individual and situational characteristics. The present study shows that structural factors such as age, gender and ethnicity also play a significant role in the continuous existence of the usage gap. The social and educational implications of this gap are discussed.     

Seeing epistemic order: construction and transmission of evaluative criteria

This paper focuses on formative assessment in the field of higher education. It examines Bernstein’s work on vertical discourses and knowledge structures with the view to deepening understanding of the concept of assessment for learning. The first part of the paper draws on Vygotsky’s work on concept development and Bernstein’s work on knowledge structures to explain why ‘generalisation’ and ‘hierarchy’ are central in knowledge acquisition. It then explores Bernstein’s claim that, within the vertical discourse, different knowledge structures (hierarchical and horizontal) afford greater or lesser visibility of their epistemic structure, and thus of their evaluation criteria of what counts as a legitimate text. The second part of the paper investigates the ways epistemic expectations are signalled through the practice of evaluation to first‐year university students in a professional education course and proposes that markers do not offer students stuffiest access to recognition rules necessary for producing legitimate texts in the future. Drawing on Maton’s distinction between semantic gravity and semantic density, the paper offers an example of how markers could recast what is present in students’ work to offer students access to key ordering principles in vertical discourses.     

Teachers’ Practice a Decade After an Extensive Professional Development Program in Science Education

Science teachers are expected to teach in innovative ways that are different from their long experience as students. Professional development programs are planned to help teachers’ development, yet, there is little knowledge of the long-term effects of professional development programs (PDPs), and especially on actual practice. The purpose of this study is to gain a long-term perspective of the ways in which the process and outcomes of a reform-oriented, extended PDP are expressed in science teachers’ practice. Data sources included interviews and documents. The study presents four case studies of the practices of junior high school science teachers (grades 7–9) in Israel, with respect to a past PDP in which they took part a decade ago. The cases are presented in pairs of a leader and a follower. Each case details the teacher’s work context, sustained implementation, coherence of tools and approaches, and adaptations. All four teachers shared the view that scientific skills are important to their students as learners in a changing world. All four teachers adopted one or two major approaches, which were the PDP’s main focus. In addition, the two leaders adopted two more approaches. The teachers were still using many strategies associated with the major foci of the PDP. The level of enactment and modifications of the strategies varied. Usability of innovations is discussed in relation to the teachers’ context. We suggest that science teachers’ professional development include the ability to adapt the innovation to their teaching context in order to sustain the changes for a long period of time.     

Measuring success： Evaluating educational programs

This paper reveals a new evaluation model, which enables educational program and project managers to evaluate their programs with a simple and easy to understand approach. The ＂index of success model＂ is comprised of five parameters that enable to focus on and evaluate both the implementation and results of an educational program. The integration of these parameters forms a complete and comprehensive picture, which in turn provides the most information on the success or failure of the program. The parameters are： （1） the relevance index, referring to an evaluation of predefined objectives; （2） the efficiency index, referring to the fiscal efficiency of the program; （3） the effectiveness index evaluating the attainment of the program＇s objectives; （4） the impact index gauging the effect on the consumers, for whom the program is undertaken; and （5） the final parameter is the program＇s sustainability index. Since Israel＇s education strategy currently leans towards site-based monitoring and evaluation, such a model can potentially be of great help to school management and staff.     

Accountability conversations: mathematics teachers’ learning through challenge and solidarity

Teacher learning through professional development is a complex process and is not yet well understood. Some features of professional development programs are known to be important, such as a focus on learner needs, design of and reflection on classroom artefacts, and the creation and sustaining of communities of support for teacher professional learning. In this paper, we describe the workings of such communities in a teacher professional development program, which focused on learner errors in a well-researched mathematical topic—the equal sign. Drawing on data from program sessions where teachers discussed their lesson designs and reflections on their teaching with each other, we develop the notions of challenge and solidarity as important in developing accountability conversations among teachers. We show how our program supported teachers to challenge each other and to build solidarity with each other and in so doing to develop accountability to each other and the profession, for their practices and their learning.