Promoting reflection in asynchronous virtual learning spaces: tertiary distance tutors' conceptions

Increasingly, universities are embedding reflective activities into the curriculum. With the growth in online tertiary education, how effectively is reflection being promoted or used in online learning spaces? Based on the notion that teachers’ beliefs will influence their approaches to teaching, this research sought to understand how a group of distance tutors at the UK Open University conceptualised reflection. It was hoped that these findings would illuminate their approaches to promoting reflection as part of their online pedagogies. Phenomenographic analysis indicated that these tutors conceptualised reflection in four qualitatively different ways. Furthermore, the data suggested that these educators held a combination of two conceptions: one that understood the origin of being reflective and one that understood the purpose of reflection. Analysis of structural aspects of these conceptions offered insight into tutors’ own perspectives for what is needed to make online learning environments fertile territory for reflective learning

Being and Becoming: The Heart of Teacher Education

Teacher education is of critical concern to a nation’s well-being. Scripture clearly identifies that the predominant narratives in a nation’s education are directly linked to its citizen’s behaviour (e.g., see Psalm 78, Judges 2). Literature which claims that teacher education has little influence on beliefs that pre-service teachers bring to their initial teacher education may unnerve Christian teacher educators who seek to equip teachers to make a difference in the lives of children and parents in a nation (Berry, 2004; Fletcher, 1997; Hatton & Smith, 1995; Lowery, 2003). For example, Berry (2004, p. 1302) observes that: There is little doubt that student teachers’ prior experiences as learners serve as powerful templates for the ways in which they practice as teachers. Their beliefs about teaching are informed by the accumulation of experience over time and, once formed, these beliefs are extremely resistant to change, even when they are shown to be inconsistent with reality

Teaching and learning in virtual worlds: is it worth the effort?

Educators have been quick to spot the enormous potential afforded by virtual worlds for situated and authentic learning, practising tasks with potentially serious consequences in the real world and for bringing geographically dispersed faculty and students together in the same space (Gee, 2007; Johnson and Levine, 2008). Though this potential has largely been realised, it generally isn’t without cost in terms of lack of institutional buy-in, steep learning curves for all participants, and lack of a sound theoretical framework to support learning activities (Campbell, 2009; Cheal, 2007; Kluge & Riley, 2008). This symposium will explore the affordances and issues associated with teaching and learning in virtual worlds, all the time considering the question: is it worth the effort

Transforming pre-service teacher curriculum: observation through a TPACK lens

This paper will discuss an international online collaborative learning experience through the lens of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. The teacher knowledge required to effectively provide transformative learning experiences for 21st century learners in a digital world is complex, situated and changing. The discussion looks beyond the opportunity for knowledge development of content, pedagogy and technology as components of TPACK towards the interaction between those three components. Implications for practice are also discussed. In today’s technology infused classrooms it is within the realms of teacher educators, practising teaching and pre-service teachers explore and address effective practices using technology to enhance learning

University teachers’ conceptions of “Changemaker”: a starting point for embedding social innovation in learning and teaching

Purpose: This paper reports on a study aimed at understanding the different conceptions that University of Northampton teachers hold of “Changemaker”, an institutional initiative to develop capacities for social innovation. Design/methodology/approach: The study took a phenomenographic approach to identify a small number of qualitatively different conceptions of Changemaker among teaching staff. Face-to-face, phenomenographic interviews were carried out with 30 teachers across the university. Transcript data were analysed using thematic inductive analysis. Findings: Five different conceptions of Changemaker were found: 1) Changemaker as university strategy; 2) Changemaker as critical thinking, perspective shifting and problem solving; 3) Changemaker as employability; 4) Changemaker as social betterment and 5) Changemaker as personal transformation. Research limitations/implications: The outcome space of conceptions represents the beliefs of teaching staff at the University of Northampton. The approach to research and plans for the practical application of findings may be of direct benefit to other education providers as they develop their own models for teaching and learning. Practical implication—The findings from this study will inform the next phase of the project, which involves the development of a skills/attributes/behaviours matrix for Changemaker. Originality/value: The findings of this study will address the absence of literature on teachers’ conceptions of phenomena related to social innovation, social entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship. Understanding teachers’ beliefs of such phenomena is relevant to the growing number of universities that address these subjects in the curriculum

Mathematics students' conceptions of mathematics

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A phenomenographic study of English faculty's conceptions of information literacy

The purpose of this research is to identify UK English academics' conceptions of information literacy and compare those conceptions with current information literacy standards and frameworks

Adult reading teachers’ beliefs about how less-skilled adult readers can be taught to read.

Despite large-scale interventions, significant numbers of adults worldwide continue to have problems with basic literacy, in particular in the area of reading. To be effective, adult reading teachers need expert knowledge at practitioner level. However, practices in adult reading education vary widely, often reflecting the individual beliefs of each teacher about how an adult can learn to read. In this study, phenomenographic analysis was used to identify categories of approaches to teaching adult reading, used by a group of 60 teachers in Western Australia and New Zealand. Four approaches were identified: reassurance, task-based, theory-based and responsive. It is argued that for teachers to become effective and consistent in responding to learner needs, they must understand their own beliefs and the consequences of these. The identification of different approaches in adult reading education is an important step in this process

Multi-Group Invariance of the Conceptions of Assessment Scale Among University Faculty and Students

Conceptions are contextual. In the realm of education, conceptions of various constituent groups are often shaped over a period of a number of years during which time these groups have participated in educational endeavors. Specifically, conceptions of assessment are influenced by beliefs, actions, attitudes, understandings, and past experiences. These conceptions can impact both teaching and learning, and ultimately student achievement. Based on the past work of Gavin T. L. Brown (2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, & 2011) and Fletcher, Meyer, Anderson, Johnston, and Rees (2011) concerning conceptions of assessment held by educators and students in environments with a low-stakes assessment culture, this study re-examines the factor structure of the Conceptions of Assessment III (CoA-III) for faculty and students of higher education within a high-stakes assessment culture. Five models were initially considered based on past research by the above-mentioned researchers. Upon examining model fit of these five models, results indicated an acceptable model fit to the data collected from faculty and students within the United States. Furthermore, invariance testing elicited differences in how faculty (N = 159) and students (N = 404) of higher education conceptualize the purpose of assessment. Specifically, faculty members report that a primary purpose of assessment is for improvement of both teaching and learning. This group also suggested that assessment is useful for ensuring student accountability. However, results indicate that students associate assessment with accountability – both at the institutional and student levels. Furthermore, the data also suggest that a strong relationship between accountability and improvement exists. These results can be interpreted to mean that as accountability measures increase, there is a concomitant rise in the use of assessment for improvement purposes. Additional results of this study and implications of these findings for educational settings with high-stakes assessment cultures are discussed

Māori and bicultural positions: Professional development programme for Resource Teachers Learning and Behaviour

The Ministry of Education has introduced a new and far-reaching policy initiative, Special Education 2000. One component of this policy is the provision of professional development for approximately 700 Resource Teachers [Learning and Behaviour (RTLB)]. These resource teachers will help schools to meet the needs of students experiencing mild to moderate learning and behavioural difficulties. An important aim of the professional development programme is to prepare RTLB to improve the quality of support to teachers of Māori students in conventional and Māori medium classes. The programme consists of four courses, one introducing key concepts, one focussed on class-wide interventions, one focussed on school and community, and the fourth being a professional practice folio. This paper describes the Māori and bicultural content of the first two courses within the RTLB programme. It assesses the extent to which the programme addresses critical questions (Bishop, 1994; Bishop, 1996) relating to the ownership and control of Māori content included in the first two courses