Promoting transfer and an integrated understanding for pre-service teachers of technology education

The ability of pre-service teachers (PSTs) to transfer learning between subjects and contexts when problem solving is critical for developing their capability as technologists and teachers of technology. However, a growing body of literature suggests this ability is often assumed or over-estimated, and rarely developed explicitly within courses or degree programmes. The nature of the problems tackled within technology are such that solutions draw upon knowledge from a wide range of contexts and subjects, however, the internal organization and structure of institutions and schools tends to compartmentalize rather integrate these. Providing a knowledge base and strategies to enhance PSTs’ awareness of and skills in transferring knowledge may allow for a more integrated understanding to develop. The importance of developing this ability to transfer knowledge is heightened as PSTs will, in turn, be responsible for developing the similar capabilities of their future students. This paper begins by considering problem solving in technology education and some of the issues associated with learning transfer. Thereafter, a framework and strategy for better integrating learning between courses is described and forms the basis for developments in an initial teacher education degree programme for technology education. Provisional data from evaluations and PSTs’ work indicated a positive effect in enhancing their thinking and additional data collected in the form of questionnaires, interviews and course work further illuminate this finding. It is argued that the development framework and approach enhances PSTs’ mental models of teaching technology and offers a significant step forward in promoting skills in the transfer of future learning between subjects; something increasingly critical for 21st century STEM Education

Solicitors' CPD: time to change from regulatory stick to regulatory carrot?

Summary: The legal professions are agreed on the need for some form of continuing professional development (“CPD”) after qualification. What is less clear is the intention of such frameworks and in contrast to other forms of more diffuse learning in the workplace. I will explore two areas of tension in the current solicitors‟ CPD system which will bear attention before any of these three related objectives can be achieved: Between a didactic form of delivery focussing on technical updating of knowledge of law and procedure and more “difficult” participative CPD activity; Between accountability, regulation and personal development as drivers behind the CPD scheme dear to different stakeholders. The paper will conclude that, whilst the paradigm shift apparent in the regulators and the professional body is to be welcomed, a change of culture in the profession as a whole is required. This requires CPD, in partnership with other forms of learning, to be viewed in terms of outputs and benefits: the carrots of the title. It is not only a negligence-avoiding maintenance of a static level of competence but a mechanism to address the change which will inevitably result from the full implementation of the Legal Services Act 2007

Professionalization of teachers and problematization processes.

The article presents the research aimed at the development of innovative teaching approaches in the context of academic courses for in-service teachers. The problematic focus concerning the identification of strategies to support the renewal of teaching in the direction of greater personalization of interventions. It is assumed that the training processes are particularly related to the acquisition of skills for analyzing and comparing the professional practices, to design and adjust the action, to reflect on their own and others' practices, starting with the recognition of the problems associated with the management the growing heterogeneity of classes. The working hypothesis adopted confirms the value to be paid to reflexivity in professional training processes. </p

Identification of levels of sustainable consciousness of teachers in training through an e-portfolio

The contents of Education for Sustainable Development should be included in teachers’ initial and advanced training programs. A sustainable consciousness is one of the main foundations for determining the key competences for sustainability. However, there are not many empirical studies that deal with consciousness from education. In this context, the e-portfolio appears as a tool that promotes reflection and critical thinking, which are key competences for consciousness development. This work intends to propose a categorization system to extract types of consciousness and identify the levels of consciousness of teachers in training. For this research work, which is of an eminently qualitative nature, we have selected 25 e-portfolios of students (teachers in pre-service training) in the last year of the School of Education at the University of Macerata (Italy). The qualitative methodological procedure that was followed enabled deducing three bases that shape the consciousness of teachers in training: thinking, representation of reality, and type of consciousness. We concluded that the attainment of a sustainable consciousness in teachers requires activating and developing higher levels of thinking, as well as a projective and macrostructural representation of reality

Herramientas de gestión de la información para el desarrollo de las habilidades de aprendizaje autorregulado en la formación inicial del profesorado

En aquest article presentem una estratègia didàctica per desenvolupar els entorns personals d?aprenentatge (PLEs) dels estudiants universitaris amb un enfocament d'aprenentatge autorregulat (SRL). L'estratègia s'emmarca en el model de Dabbagh and Kitsantas (2012) el qual connecta les fases d'aprenentatge autorregulat de Zimmerman (planificació, realització, auto-reflexió) i tres nivells d'interacció que la tecnologia permet (gestió personal de la informació, interacció social i col·laboració, recuperació i gestió d'informació). L'estratègia s'implementa amb estudiants de tercer curs del Grau d'Educació Primària de la Universitat de les Illes Balears i les dades es recullen mitjançant l'aplicació d'un qüestionari sobre l'ús de la tecnologia i les percepcions dels estudiants sobre l?efectivitat de les eines utilitzades en la de gestió d'informació. L'anàlisi dels resultats permet esbossar alguns patrons en l'ús d'eines de gestió de la informació en els diversos escenaris d'aprenentatge. En les conclusions identifiquem desafiaments relacionats amb la resistència dels estudiants i l'enfocament per a l'avaluació tradicional; destaquem possibilitats de transferència dels processos de gestió d'informació desenvolupats a altres contextos i suggerim noves implementacions educatives i d'investigació. Amb aquest treball s'aporta un model aplicable a altres contextos, i es presenta una proposta didàctica per a la gestió de la informació basada en el PLE i el SRL

Assessing users’ perception on the current and potential educational value of an electrical engineering YouTube channel

Full comprehension of abstract concepts present in engineering education has been usually considered challenging. Engaging multimedia resources have proven to be useful pedagogical aids to increase students’ motivation. In fact, already existing dissemination videos might be suitable to fulfill this objective. This research aims to contribute assessing video implications in the enhancement of engineering education quality through the evaluation of the current pedagogical use of a specific electrical engineering YouTube channel. To meet this objective, we characterize the use of such channel through a quantitative methodology based on a 5-point Likert scale survey (Cronbach’s alpha=0.76). Sample data were collected from 912 respondents, evaluating users’ perception on the channel’s content and format adequacy, their preferences, and their perceptions on video integration in educational contexts. Results show (3.98 over 5) that there is currently a far-reaching educational use of the channel, and a general perception that its contents and audiovisual format are adequate for such purpose. Most users agree (4.74 over 5) that this kind of pedagogical resource could enhance education quality. As limitations, an underrepresentation of teachers in the sample could be highlighted, though student community is well represented. Overall findings suggest that the format and cognitive load in scientific dissemination YouTube channels might be perceived as suitable for pedagogical use, as means to improve education experience. This complementary use unveils the need to implement technology integration models to facilitate their pedagogical insertion, which will be addressed as future works along with more evaluations of similar dissemination channels.This work has been supported by the University Foundation of Las Palmas (FULP), Training of Trainers. The e-Tutor project, under agreement 240/088/1173.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

How to Teach Pre-Service Teachers to Make a Didactic Program? The Collaborative Learning Associated with Mobile Devices

We acknowledge the researchers of the research group AREA (HUM-672), which belongs to the Ministry of Education and Science of the Junta de Andalucía and is registered in the Department of Didactics and School Organization of the Faculty of Education Sciences of the University of Granada.Today, pedagogical proposals are increasingly moving away from purely traditional approaches, with a proliferation of active methodologies in the teaching–learning processes. This research aims to find out the effectiveness of the collaborative method in mobile learning, as opposed to traditional methodology, for university students in the learning of the didactic program. The research methodology is quantitative, applying a quasi-experimental design with a control group and experimental group. The results show that the collaborative learning teaching method associated with mobile learning mainly increases motivation, the relationships between teachers and students, the relationships between students and content, the relationships between students and students, autonomy in learning, pedagogical collaboration between students, problem-solving, and the sense of time in the training process. It is concluded that the collaborative learning method associated with mobile learning is more effective for learning didactic programming than the traditional method