Hitting a Moving Target: Curriculum Mapping, Information Literacy and Academe

This session will define curriculum mapping: its history, techniques, and traditional applications. The presenters will share how the University of Tennessee (UT) Libraries uses curriculum mapping as a tool for departmental information literacy integration. UT Libraries is successful in integrating information literacy concepts and activities into many courses, with less success in science courses. Curriculum mapping gives the science librarians a place to start when approaching teaching faculty about library instruction. The Changing Needs of Our Users theme is reflected in the ever-changing curriculum that departments offer. Librarians constantly try to keep up with these pedagogical changes. By systematically analyzing the content or focus of the courses being offered, librarians can propose the best timing and placement for information literacy concepts across a course of study. Science courses in particular, with their emphasis on practical, lab-based work, often do not have an intuitive placement for information literacy. Curriculum mapping provides the framework for introducing these opportunities to science faculty in a meaningful way, with the least amount of compromise to the vision of their course. Benefits of curriculum mapping include: keeping services relevant, speaking departmental language, marketing to departments, and creating point-of-need information literacy learning opportunities. Presentation participants will learn about the basics of curriculum mapping, UT\u27s application of curriculum mapping in a science setting, strategies for dealing with resistant faculty members, and ways to apply these methods at their own institution

Teaching secondary school geography with the use of a geographical information system (GIS)

Until quite recently, geographical information systems have been limited to the resources and students of post-secondary institutions. This situation is now changing in Ontario. In the early 1990\u27s the Ministry of Education adopted mandates to develop curriculum guidelines for the integration of computers into all areas of the curriculum. Although the process is well underway in Ontario, limited access to hardware and software, insufficient pre-service and in-service training, and a paucity of teaching resources has lead to mounting teacher frustration. Although the literature base on teaching GIS at the pre-collegiate level is increasing, it lacks clearly defined examples of how to teach geography through GIS technology. This thesis proposes a model GIS curriculum which applies GIS functionality to the teaching of geographic concepts and skills. This curriculum was developed in conjunction with the WLU GIS Certificate Course program which provided a unique opportunity to develop and evaluate the model curriculum. The program participants, who consisted of teachers already in-service, became not only the subjects of the research, but also active participants in the development of curricula. The teachers provided valuable feedback and evaluation by addressing both conceptual and practical concerns. In this way, the research was not only exploratory and collaborative, but also pragmatic. In particular, the model GIS curriculum was designed with needs of the teachers in mind. Many lessons were learned from working with teachers in the GIS Certificate Course program. These lessons can be grouped into three categories, namely, the in/pre- service distinction, the teaching with/about GIS dichotomy, and the recognition that “less is more”. Conceptually, the model GIS curriculum is fuelled by a novice-expert transition which provides a progression from the most basic skills and knowledge of geography and GIS, to more expert levels of interpretation, analysis and modelling. The model GIS curriculum introduced in this thesis consists of four substantive units and seven projects. These projects are based on the application of Idrisi to problems of geographical inquiry and the representation of physical and human landscapes. Units l and II provide a general introduction to basic GIS and cartographic theory, and Units III and IV branch out into human and physical environments. In addition to providing a detailed strategy to guide teachers in their instruction, the model GIS curriculum also provides a set of pedagogical benefits for students. These benefits focus on making the learning process more relevant thus, creating student satisfaction in the learning process. These benefits would include the strengthening of critical thinking skills and the application of GIS technology into real-world situations. This model GIS curriculum is now in need of further development, namely, it needs to meet the needs of a changing audience. A prescribed curriculum, as proposed in this thesis will have a short lifespan and become redundant as more teachers gain pre- service training in GIS. To accommodate the changing nature of the secondary school sector, a parallel system of curriculum might be appropriate. In this parallel system, the in-service educator would be served by a model GIS curriculum as proposed by this thesis, and the pre-service educator with teacher preparation models. In addition to creating a parallel system of curriculum, another challenge presents itself in the further integration of GIS at the secondary school level. This challenge centres on maintaining a focus on the instruction of geographical analysis while making the GIS technique as transparent as possible. Further research on learning and cognition is also required. One aspect would be the determination of skill and knowledge outcomes which could be used to test control groups: one consisting of students trained using traditional methods of instruction, and the other using the model GIS curriculum to determine the performance indicators and whether the model GIS curriculum does indeed improve critical thinking skills. Finally, it is important for educators to maintain an open dialogue on the application of GIS to the secondary school classroom to make it a viable option

English as a second language: The impact of teacher responsiveness to implementing the sheltered instruction observation protocol model

The purpose of this study was to examine teacher attitudes towards and resistance to the implementation of the SIOP model in their classrooms at Thomas Harrison Middle School, Skyline Middle School, and Harrisonburg High School. Caused by the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 which has required school administrators make changes in the curricula and implement a variety of teaching methods to meet student needs and help them to succeed in school. This paper reviews how language, signs, and symbols affect and influence how a person learns and acquires new knowledge. This study is analyzed through the lens of the changing demographic environment, the curriculum change, teacher attitudes toward curriculum change, teacher resistance to change, and Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) model implementation. The central finding of this study reveals that time is one of the biggest barriers to implementation of the SIOP model

Differentiated instruction: a comparison of elementary and secondary school use

Includes bibliographical references

Synthesizing Middle Grades Research on Cultural Responsiveness: The Importance of a Shared Conceptual Framework

In conducting a literature review of 133 articles on cultural responsiveness in middle level education, we identified a lack of shared definitions, theoretical frameworks, methodological approaches, and foci, which made it impossible to synthesize across articles. Using a conceptual framework that required: 1) clear definitions of terms; 2) a critically conscious stance; and 3) inclusion of the middle school concept, we identified 14 articles that met these criteria. We then mapped differences and convergences across these studies, which allowed us to identify the conceptual gaps that the field must address in order to have common definitions and understandings that enable synthesis across studies

Librarians as Teachers: A Qualitative Inquiry into Professional Identity

This study explores the development of ???teacher identity??? among academic librarians through a series of semi-structured interviews. Drawing both on the idea of teacher identity from the literature of teacher education and on existing studies of professional stereotypes and professional identity development among academic librarians, this study explores the degree to which academic librarians think of themselves as teachers, the ways in which teaching has become a feature of their professional identity, and the factors that may influence academic librarians to adopt a ???teacher identity??? as part of their personal understandings of their role on campus.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

Impact of Georgia's Pre-K Program on Kindergarten through Third Grade Teachers

The Georgia Prekindergarten Program (Pre-K), established in 1993, provides Georgia's fouryear-old children with high quality preschool experiences in order to prepare them for kindergarten. Immediate gains resulting from Pre-K can be lost if teachers in later grades are not prepared to capitalize on the increasing capabilities of students. To sustain the positive effects of the Pre-K program, teachers in later grades need both to recognize that students are better prepared for school and to adapt their instructional practices to take advantage of their students' increasing capabilities. Research implies that teachers adopt practices in their classrooms relative to how their beliefs match assumptions inherent in new programs. Thus, this study investigates teacher awareness of the impact of Pre-K on students, teacher beliefs about instructional practices, current instructional practices, and the relationship between beliefs and practices.The Council for School Performance launched this study to examine the implications of the Pre-K program for teachers of children in kindergarten through third grade. Through a survey of teachers in Georgia, the Council has found that teachers believe that the Pre-K program has positively affected students in elementary school, despite observations that students are, overall, changing for the worse. The majority of teachers believe in child-centered instructional practices, but this belief has not been adopted into their own instructional practices. Overall, teachers are as likely to use child-centered practices as they are to use teacher-directed activities

Preparing a New Breed of School Principals: It's Time for Action

Defines the challenge in preparing and developing effective school leaders and considers a number of changes for strengthening the certification, selection, and support of school leaders. Includes an action plan to improve school leadership

Evaluating Motivational Interviewing in the Physician Assistant Curriculum

Purpose Motivational interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based technique that enables clinicians to help patients modify health behaviors. Although MI is an essential tool for physician assistants (PAs), the extent to which it is addressed in PA curricula in the United States is unknown. This study is a comprehensive description of MI education in PA programs in the United States. Methods Data are from the 2014 Physician Assistant Education Association Annual Program Survey. Descriptive statistics were conducted on de-identified data from all 186 PA programs in the United States. Results Of the 186 PA programs surveyed, 72.58% (n = 135) reported at least one course providing MI training. Availability of courses providing training in skills essential to the MI process varied. Having a course with verbal communication training was most frequently endorsed, and having a course with training in developing discrepancy was least frequently endorsed. The most popular teaching modality was lecture (84.95%, n = 158), whereas only 41.40% (n = 77) and 58.60% (n = 109) reported role play with evaluation and standardized patient exercises with evaluation, respectively. Conclusions More than 70% of programs included at least one course in their curriculum that provided training in MI, suggesting that PA programs recognize the importance of MI. Instruction in change talk was not provided in nearly half of the programs. Role-play and standardized patient exercises with evaluation were underused methods despite their proven efficacy in MI education. As the first comprehensive benchmark of MI education for PAs, this study shows that although most programs address MI, opportunities exist to improve MI training in PA programs in the United States