Learning to teach: how a formal teaching qualification improved our practice

In this article, guest writers Sonya Lipczynska and Clare Crowley from King's College London discuss the learning that occurred when they undertook a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice in Higher Education (PGCAPHE). In particular, they identify how their exploration of relevant learning and teaching theory on the course helped them to evaluate their library instruction teaching practice with medical and dental students. They highlight how they made changes and improvements to the delivery of these sessions based on greater consideration of inclusivity and the characteristics of both individuals and broader student groups. They also discuss the successes of new teaching practices that they experimented with, and reflect on how they have developed as educators as a result of this. H.S.     

Black Superintendents on Educating Black Students in Separate and Unequal Contexts

The negative consequences of school desegregation on Black families, educators, and communities in the US are well documented in education research today. The purpose of this article is to examine the experiential knowledge and wisdom of practice of former Black school superintendents who attended all Black segregated schools and led desegregated school districts. Using critical race theory as a methodological and analytical framework, I seek to advance our understanding of how the positive aspects of valued segregated schools can improve Black education today. Findings include Black superintendent reflections of and calls to action concerning separate and unequal schooling contexts according to the following constituencies: the Black community, the Black parent, the Black teacher, and the Black student. Building on the participant directives for political engagement and community-based activism, I conclude with a discussion about transforming Black education through a political race project aimed to resist educational inequities, advance racial justice, and promote social change in education.     

More than a conversation: using cogenerative dialogues in the professional development of high school chemistry teachers

This paper focuses on content-based and pedagogical instructors’ use of cogenerative dialogues to improve instructional practice and to evaluate program effectiveness in a professional development program for high school chemistry teachers. We share our research findings from using cogenerative dialogues as an evaluative tool for general assessment of various program-related issues. We discuss how engaging students in cogenerative dialogues improved teaching and learning in chemistry and chemistry education courses. This research provides insights and direction for improving content-based professional development programs for science teachers and the learning experiences of high school science students. Cogenerative dialogue has the potential to expand evaluation methodologies that will position participants more centrally in not only the collection of data, but also the analysis of these data to catalyze transformative practices in educational programs.

A scaffolded approach to Discussion Board use for formative assessment of academic writing skills

Mastery of academic writing skills remains one of the greatest challenges for university students, especially in the first year. Amongst the reasons offered for the challenges are lack of clarity about the university’s expectations and low levels of teacher feedback on work submitted, a failure to engage, and low levels of contact with teaching staff and other students. Academic staff are challenged by increased class numbers and increased student diversity in classes and university policies to adopt a wide range of information technologies into teaching modes. In this paper, we offer one attempt at addressing these three important contemporary academic challenges: use of information technology to provide timely feedback through formative assessment to help students with a range of abilities to acquire the academic writing skills necessary to succeed in higher education. Early indications show that students find this form of formative assessment very useful. They value the timely and focused feedback from the lecturer and are developing collegiality as they learn from each others’ writing and feedback. We believe that this strategy is sustainable and can be adapted to facilitate academic and social integration for students across many disciplines.     

Eye‐rollers,risk‐takers,and turn sharks: Target students in a professional science education program

In classrooms from kindergarten to graduate school, researchers have identified target students as students who monopolize material and human resources. Classroom structures that privilege the voice and actions of target students can cause divisive social dynamics that may generate cliques. This study focuses on the emergence of target students, the formation of cliques, and professors' efforts to mediate teacher learning in a Master of Science in Chemistry Education (MSCE) program by structuring the classroom environment to enhance nontarget students' agency. Specifically, we sought to answer the following question: What strategies could help college science professors enact more equitable teaching structures in their classrooms so that target students and cliques become less of an issue in classroom interactions? The implications for professional education programs in science and mathematics include the need for professors to consider the role and contribution of target students to the learning environment, the need to structure an equitable learning environment, and the need to foster critical reflection upon classroom interactions between students and instructors. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 819–851, 2006     

Challenges in preparing aspiring principals for instructional leadership: voices from the field

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the challenges professors of educational leadership encounter as they prepare aspiring principals to be instructional leaders. Drawing upon an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews of professors from across the U.S.A., we analyzed significant statements and created themes that illuminate the challenges facing university faculty in preparing aspiring principals for instructional leadership. From the analysis of the combined data sources, five overarching challenges emerged for preparing future principals for the role of instructional leader. These challenges are: (a) teaching instructional leadership via online courses, (b) time in the internship to focus on instructional leadership, (c) instructional leadership mindsets, (d) pedagogical knowledge for use in instructional leadership and (e) the professor’s knowledge/experience in instructional leadership. The five challenges presented in the findings highlight the need for continuous program evaluation and collaboration among faculty to address coursework both in the classroom and in the internship. Additionally, the challenges highlight the need for more research in how to prepare aspiring principals to be culturally responsive and adopt a growth-mindset when it comes to teacher development, and how to create powerful learning experiences for aspiring principals in varying program contexts.     

Educational software usability: Artifact or Design?

Online educational technologies and e‐learning tools are providing new opportunities for students to learn worldwide, and they continue to play an important role in anatomical sciences education. Yet, as we shift to teaching online, particularly within the anatomical sciences, it has become apparent that e‐learning tool success is based on more than just user satisfaction and preliminary learning outcomes—rather it is a multidimensional construct that should be addressed from an integrated perspective. The efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction with which a user can navigate an e‐learning tool is known as usability, and represents a construct which we propose can be used to quantitatively evaluate e‐learning tool success. To assess the usability of an e‐learning tool, usability testing should be employed during the design and development phases (i.e., prior to its release to users) as well as during its delivery (i.e., following its release to users). However, both the commercial educational software industry and individual academic developers in the anatomical sciences have overlooked the added value of additional usability testing. Reducing learner frustration and anxiety during e‐learning tool use is essential in ensuring e‐learning tool success, and will require a commitment on the part of the developers to engage in usability testing during all stages of an e‐learning tool's life cycle. Anat Sci Educ 10: 190–199. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.     

Forum: dialogue about dialogue—cogeneration, research and science education

This forum discussion focuses on seven themes drawn from Sonya’s fascinating paper: the terminology of “cogenerative dialogues,” the roles of participants and their power relations within such dialogues, the use of metaphor and analogy in the paper, science and science education for all students, the ways in which students’ expectations about learning change in innovative classrooms, teacher research and the “theory-practice gap,” and the tension between conducting cogenerative dialogues with individual students or with whole classes. These themes by no means exhaust the ideas in Sonya’s paper, but we feel that they have allowed us to explore the classroom research she reports, and to extend our discussion beyond the paper to explore some of these themes more broadly.     

Using developmental relationships in mentoring to support novice principals as leaders of learning

Mentoring is an established method of supporting principals as they begin their careers; however, early studies focus on how a veteran principal supports a novice principal in acquiring the skills to manage the school. As the role of a principal has evolved from a building manager to a leader of learning, the role of mentoring has also evolved. The purpose of this study was to explore the mentoring experiences of novice principals and their mentors in a school district’s mentoring program, and how developmental mentoring relationships support novice principals to be leaders of learning. The ?ndings suggest that a strong mentoring relationship can support a novice principal in developing skills to be a leader of learning by clarifying the mentor’s role as a leader of learning, focusing mentoring sessions to build the mentee’s capacity as a leader of learning, and a commitment to mentoring sessions that support teaching and learning.