Impact on student teachers' conception of learning and teaching from studying a course in educational psychology

This study investigates changes in the conceptions of learning and teaching among undergraduate student teachers. A qualitative content analysis of essays using metaphors to describe learning and teaching written by 256 students at the beginning and end of an educational psychology course was used as the main research procedure. It was found that there was an increase in the share of students that see learning and teaching from a cognitive-constructivist perspective and a decrease in the share that see learning and teaching from a behaviourist perspective by the end of the course. In addition, the study revealed that the coherence in the nature of the metaphors describing learning and teaching increased by the end of the course. However, there was practically no increase in the number of essays describing learning from a socio-constructivist perspective, a fact that points to a need to pay more attention to the manifestations of learning in different communities of students, that is, to a relevant knowledge that teachers need in their everyday work.     

Resistance in action learning: struggling with self-efficacy and the social Self – and what about the set advisor?

This account of practice explores the concept of resistance in action learning. Resistance is conceptualized as an attempt of self-protection that is manifested in action learners' struggles with their sense of self-efficacy and their social Self. These struggles are an inherent part of the action learning process and may elicit defensive undercurrents that constrain learning. I contribute to debates on criticality in action learning by recognizing the centrality of resistance as a source of learning for participants and set advisors. The intended contribution of this paper is to illuminate the importance of engaging with these limiting processes which can spark a powerful learning experience that reverberates long after the action learning programme has finished. Furthermore, I reflect on the opportunities this alternative view on resistance may provide for us as action learning facilitators and discuss how we may incorporate these reflections in our practice.     

If You Build It and They Still Don't Come: Effective versus Successful Alternative Teacher Preparation

The continuing shortage of special education teachers, combined with increased ideological critiques of teacher education programs, has spurred the growth of alternative models of teacher preparation. Only recently have professional standards for alternative models been proposed. This paper summarizes two years of a program based on professional standards. External influences, internal design, and implementation elements are presented. Results suggest that there is value in distinguishing between the effectiveness of alternative programs and their success.     

Changes in BSc Business Administration and Psychology students’ learning styles over one,two and three years of study

Knowledge on general or discipline-specific changes in the learning styles of university students can be utilised in the design and execution of courses, but little is known of such changes. The study examined the changes in the learning styles of three year groups of BSc Business Administration and Psychology students from admittance to one, two and three years later for the three year groups respectively. Learning styles were measured using the Danish Self-Assessment Learning Styles Inventory, which is an adaptation of Sternberg's MSG Thinking Styles Inventory within the theory of mental self-government. The Hierarchic and Oligarchic learning styles decreased significantly for all three year groups. The Judicial learning style increased significantly for the year groups who had studied for two and three years. The Global learning style increased significantly for the year group who had studied for one year. The findings are discussed in relation to comparable research.     

The relationship between student learning process,study success and the nature of assessment: A qualitative study

Assessment has an important role in affecting students’ learning, but qualitative studies regarding this relationship are rather scarce. In addition, course grades do not necessarily reflect the quality of learning outcomes. The aim is to qualitatively examine why high and low achieving students in the same course study differently according to the assessment method and how they explain their behaviour. Altogether 24 students were interviewed in this study. Analyses were conducted with inductive content analysis. The results indicate that course grades do not necessarily reflect qualitative learning outcomes due to the nature of the assessment. In addition, the present study suggests that self-regulation and motivation are important factors in studying and might prevent the negative effect of inappropriate assessment.     

Effects of feedback on collaborative writing in an online learning environment

The need for supporting student writing has received much attention in writing research. One specific type of support is feedback—including peer feedback—on the writing process. Despite the wealth of literature on both feedback and academic writing, there is little empirical evidence on what type of feedback best promotes writing in online environments. This article reports on research that tries to determine what type of feedback best improves the quality of collaborative writing and what the effects of feedback are on student learning in an environment based on asynchronous written communication. The results reveal that concerning the type of feedback, epistemic feedback or epistemic and suggestive feedback best improve the quality of collaborative writing performance. The nature of the feedback-giver (whether teacher feedback or teacher and peer) makes a difference to the final text only when the feedback is epistemic, or epistemic and suggestive.     

Teachers’ professional development: a theoretical review

Background and purpose:?The article reviews studies that focus on the professional development of teachers after they have completed their basic teacher training. Teacher professional development is defined as teachers’ learning: how they learn to learn and how they apply their knowledge in practice to support pupils’ learning. The research question addressed in the article is: How do experienced teachers learn?

Main argument:?The review is framed by theories within the constructivist paradigm. From this perspective, knowledge is perceived as the construction of meaning and understanding within social interaction. The social surroundings are seen as decisive for how the individual learns and develops. It is argued that courses and lectures, or ‘times for telling’, and teachers’ development of a metacognitive attitude are decisive factors for teachers’ learning within a constructivist frame of reference.

Sources of evidence and method:?To attempt to answer the research question, a search was conducted of the subject of pedagogy in the ISI WEB of Science (search undertaken 9 August 2011) using the search strings ‘teacher learning’, ‘teacher development’ and ‘teacher professional development’, and covering the period from 2009 to 2011 to probe the most recent decade of research. Articles that dealt with basic education, primary and secondary school, were selected, and articles that dealt with learning using digital tools and the internet and newly trained teachers were rejected. A set of 31 articles was selected from this search. To ensure width and depth of coverage, this was supplemented by a selection of review studies and research on further education in respect of teachers’ learning. The texts were analysed by means of open and axial coding, developing main and sub-categories.

Conclusions:?The review of articles shows that both individual and organisational factors impact teachers’ learning. Teacher co-operation has importance for how they develop, and some of the teachers can lead such learning activities themselves. Moreover, a positive school culture with a good atmosphere and understanding of teachers’ learning, in addition to co-operation with external resource persons, may impact the professional development of teachers. The article concludes with the reflection that learning in school is the best arena for further development of teachers.     

Group size and organisational conditions for children’s learning in preschool: a teacher perspective

Background:?There is a limited amount of research about group size in preschool, and how it impacts on teachers’ working conditions and their ability to support children’s learning and knowledge development in line with curriculum intentions.

Purpose:?From a perspective on quality, this article examines the organisational conditions for children’s learning in preschool in relation to group size. The questions at issue are: how do teachers explain how they organise the child group and the learning environment in preschool, and why?

Sample:?The sample consists of 12 preschools from different parts of Sweden. The preschools selected for the study are stratified in order to represent small and large group sizes in Swedish preschools as defined by the Swedish National Agency for Education. The sample contains both urban and rural regions and represents districts that differ geographically, demographically, ethnically, and which include varied socioeconomic structures. The 12 preschools had children in three age groupings: 1–3, 3–5 or 1–5. The number of children in the participating preschools ranged from 12 children to 45 children, with seven of the preschools having more than 30 children in their groups.

Design and method:?The article is based on interactionist perspectives, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, a critical ecology of the early childhood profession, theories of children’s learning, and four dimensions of pedagogical quality. Together, these theoretical perspectives contribute to an understanding of the relationships between policy issues, educational goals, group size and teachers’ competence in organising and creating conditions for children’s learning. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two teachers from each of the 12 preschools. The interviews lasted between 40–60 minutes and were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The analytical process was conducted in three steps and can be described as an analytical process of abduction. The four dimensions of pedagogical quality were used as analytical lenses to discern and understand critical aspects related to the teachers’ understanding of group size.

Result: Irrespective of group size, most of the children participate in different group constellations throughout the day, some organised by the teachers and some by the children themselves. Teachers’ competence to organise the children in such ways that good conditions for learning were created, differed between preschools, and depended on the teachers’ approach, which can be described as either intentional or unintentional learning.

Conclusion: Teachers’ organisational approaches influence the quality of the preschool and conditions for children’s learning in distinct ways.     

Personal Backgrounds of Effective Teaching

Planning time for giving students effective feedback is an important and challenging aspect of the teaching and learning process. In our article we describe and analyze how we engage students as partners in providing formative feedback in time for students to modify their own thinking or behavior to improve learning. We have found ways to provide formative feedback more frequently and to involve students in providing effective formative feedback to each other. The four techniques we describe are the following: a) three-color group quiz with feedback on product, process, and progress; b) midterm student conferencing; c) shared revision of student generated questions and statements; and d) timely feedback using collaborative assignment blogs. These techniques give feedback in time for revisions to occur, provide scaffolding for learners, inform instruction, and most importantly, involve students as partners in assessment. These pedagogical strategies show that the resulting benefits of improved instruction, enhanced student learning, and better student products are worth the time and effort and contribute to a productive classroom climate where the focus is on learning more than on grading. Formative feedback involving students as partners is a key strategy to enhance the teaching and learning process.     

Teaching chemical bonding through jigsaw cooperative learning

This study examined the effectiveness of jigsaw cooperative learning in teaching chemical bonding at tertiary level. This study was carried out in two different classes in the Department of Primary Science Education of Atatürk University during the 2005–2006 academic year. One of the classes was the non‐jigsaw group (control) and the other was the jigsaw group (experimental). Students in the jigsaw group were divided into four ‘home groups’ since chemical bonding is divided into four subtopics (Modules A, B, C and D). Each of these home groups consisted of four students. The subjects covered were ionic bonding (Module A), covalent bonding (Module B), hydrogen bonding and van der Waals (Module C) and basic concepts about bonds (Module D). The main instrument for obtaining data was the Chemical Bonding Achievement Test (CBAT), which was applied to both groups. The CBAT was divided into four modules (A, B, C and D), in which each module consisted of five questions (four multiple‐choice and one open‐ended). The data obtained indicated that the students in the jigsaw group were more successful than those in the non‐jigsaw group.