A New Era of Education Reform: Preparing All Students for Success in College, Career and Life

As society changes, the knowledge and skills required for citizens to navigate the complexities of life and work must also change. As a result, some argue that schools must provide students with a broader set of skills that will enable them to thrive in our increasingly diverse, rapidly evolving and globally-connected world. The intent is not to replace the traditional academic disciplines but to infuse them with knowledge and skills that will better prepare students for success in the 21st century -- often referred to as "21st century skills." While others maintain that as long as a portion of the student population is not mastering basic reading, writing and mathematics skills, schools must continue to focus exclusively on the traditional core academic disciplines. In order to inform the debate about the rationale for and relevance of 21st century skills in Massachusetts' public schools, the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy conducted a survey of superintendents, charter school leaders and principals statewide to gauge the extent to which school and district leaders support the integration of 21st century skills into public education. The goal of the survey was to provide a better understanding of Massachusetts' public school and district leaders' priorities for improving student learning, including their views on 21st century skills. The survey was followed by interviews with a small sample of administrators and educators in districts and schools where the integration of 21st century skills is a priority, in order to better understand district, school and teacher approaches for infusing 21st century skills into teaching and learning.The report describes the background and context for the study, the study methodology, and key findings from the statewide survey and interviews in a sample of schools and districts. The final section of the report puts forth considerations for policymakers and K-12 school and district leaders. Case studies of two public school districts, Reading Public Schools and Brockton Public Schools are included in Appendix B. The case studies offer two different approaches to integrating 21st century skills district-wide. The case study of Reading Public Schools illustrates a district-led approach. The case study of Brockton Public Schools is an example of how one school has spurred a district to focus on 21st century skills.The study gives voice to key education stakeholders who have not been part of the public debate about 21st century skills and provides clarity about what teaching and learning in classrooms that incorporate 21st century skills looks like. While opponents of 21st century skills argue that districts where most students have not yet mastered reading, writing and mathematics skills, should focus exclusively on core academic content, the study revealed that most school and district leaders believe all public schools in Massachusetts should be required to integrate 21st century skills into learning, including schools where students are lacking adequate basic skills. Interviews with superintendents who prioritize integration of 21st century skills revealed that input from a range of stakeholders led their district to expand their mission and vision for student learning to include 21st century skills and rather than adopt a pre-packaged set of skills, the focus in these districts is on particular skills and competencies that ?t the needs of their student body. While most schools and districts have not developed measurable goals for student mastery of 21st century skills, interviews with a small sample of administrators and educators revealed that 21st century skills are assessed at the classroom level, and most administrators view school- and district-wide assessment as a future step in the process of fully integrating 21st century skills. The endings also suggest that administrators believe that, to date, state policymakers have not adequately supported the teaching and learning of 21st century skills.This report was released at a public event on October 7th, 2010. View video clips from this event on our YouTube channel and read an EdWeek article featuring this report

The Evolution of Student Engagement: Writing Improves Teaching in Introductory Biology

In response to calls for pedagogical reforms in undergraduate biology courses to decrease student attrition rates and increase active learning, this article describes one faculty member’s conversion from traditional teaching methods to more engaging forms of practice. Partially told as a narrative, this article illustrates a.) the way many faculty initially learn to teach by modeling the pedagogy from their own undergraduate programs; b.) the kind of support biology faculty may need to break out of traditional molds; c.) how writing can promote active learning; and d.) the impact of reformed pedagogy on student levels of engagement. The latter will be demonstrated through assessment results gathered from student surveys, reflective writing, and focus group interview. Ultimately, the study challenges misunderstandings some faculty might have regarding the value of writing in science classes and offers inspiration, urging critical reflection and persistence

The Interface of Technology in Culinary Arts Education

Introduction: A culinary educator must make many decisions that affect the day-to-day activities in both the classroom and the lab. One of the more important decisions is how to select the most appropriate technology to implement for use in teaching and administrative activities. The research presented here is intended to help the educator identify specific needs, decide where the use of technology is desirable, and offer information designed to help the educator make an informed decision about using technology as a teaching tool. Purpose Statement: The purpose of this paper is to inform the culinary educator about the technology available for use in both the classroom and the lab setting. There is an ever-increasing pool of technology, making it more important than ever that the educator choose the appropriate lab/kitchen equipment and software programs for use in a specific culinary program. Making an informed decision ensures maximum usefulness of the technology in the setting

Exploring Current Practice of Using Technology to Support Collaborative Argumentation in Science Classrooms

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how middle school science teachers enact the practice of using technology to support collaborative argumentation in their science classroom. This study employed qualitative case study and drew on data sources of interviews and observations. This study identified two themes. Six teachers regarded scientific argumentation as an important science practice, but five of them integrated this practice into their science class without formally introducing it. All teachers integrated different forms of technology to engage students in scientific argumentation. In this study, the findings suggested there is a need to provide professional development for teachers to learn about scientific argumentation. The findings can be used as a basis for the design and development of professional development training experiences for in-servic

Teaching electronics-ICT : from focus and structure to practical realizations

We present a four-year electronics-ICT educational master program at Ghent University in Belgium. The students develop knowledge and skills from novice to experienced electronic circuit designers. In the corresponding topics, the immersion into engineering problems is deepened. The horizontal and vertical alignment of courses in the four-year master program at our university is discussed. The curriculum of the four-year master program is highly projectoriented and all topics are clustered around a well-considered set of standards. This clustering supports the logical structure of the program, with students gradually acquiring the necessary competences. All standards and their mutual interaction are extensively discussed in the paper. We also focus on four design-implement projects included in the electronics-ICT program, explicitly following CDIO-guidelines. Whereas the first-year project has a limited level of difficulty, the challenges increase significantly in the course of the next years. Students learn that product design is an iterative process on different levels, where the design strategy can be changed continuously based on important and crucial feedback. Different evaluations have demonstrated that our students are not only aware of CDIO-principles, but are also convinced of the quality of the results obtained by following the standards

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

A review of literature on communication skills development (CSD) in the engineering curriculum

Engineering education has expanded recently to include emphasis on the development of some very specific non-technical attributes that match a strong technical base to produce well-rounded engineering graduates who are flexible and adaptable to suit the constantly developing and changing requirements of the workplace. These non technical skills include communication skills, the ability to function in teams, knowledge of societal and contemporary issues, development of global perspective, and ethics awareness. A great importance of these abilities to engineering education has emerged over the last decade even within the international and local scene. Within the Malaysian context, the Engineering Accreditation Council’s (EAC) Engineering Program Accreditation Manual(BEM, 2007) , outlines ten learning outcomes that encompasses both the technical and non technical skills which are considered essential for graduating engineers. Similarly, the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) Criterion 3 (ABET, 2000), outlines eleven criterion which targeted many of these as essential program outcomes in order for engineering programs to be accredited and which are seen as critical for the success in the twenty first century. Communication skills development(CSD) is one of the outcomes required by an undergraduate engineering program in the Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC) for Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) in Malaysia as well as in the ABET Engineering Criteria 2000 (ABET, 2000). CSD is essential for an engineer who aspires to carry out his/her professional practice in the global arena and especially in the English language. With an increasingly global economy, the Malaysian education system must produce graduates who can communicate effectively in English. Otherwise, it would lose one of its vital selling points for foreign investors to ensure that skilled labor force are sufficient to support internationally competitive commerce and industry and to provide individuals with opportunities to optimize their potentials (Muhammad Rashid bin Rajuddin, 2006; Riemer, 2002)

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

The impact of technology: value-added classroom practice: final report

This report extends Becta’s enquiries into the ways in which digital technologies are supporting learning. It looks in detail at the learning practices mediated by ICT in nine secondary schools in which ICT for learning is well embedded. The project proposes a broader perspective on the notion of ‘impact’ that is rather different from a number of previous studies investigating impact. Previous studies have been limited in that they have either focused on a single innovation or have reported on institutional level factors. However, in both cases this pays insufficient attention to the contexts of learning. In this project, the focus has been on the learning practices of the classroom and the contexts of ICT-supported learning. The study reports an analysis of 85 lesson logs, in which teachers recorded their use of space, digital technology and student outcomes in relation to student engagement and learning. The teachers who filled in the logs, as well as their schools’ senior managers, were interviewed as part of a ‘deep audit’ of ICT provision conducted over two days. One-hour follow-up interviews with the teachers were carried out after the teachers’ log activity. The aim of this was to obtain a broader contextualisation of their teaching

Attribution styles as correlates of technical drawing task-persistence and technical college students’ performance

Technical drawing is a means of communicating between the designer and the manufacturers to bring ideas into reality by means of drafting. This study investigated attribution styles as collates of students’ technical drawing task-persistence and academic performance using correlational research design. The population for this study consisted of 864 students of year II and the sample study comprised of 150 (93 males and 57 females) randomly selected from six technical colleges in Edo State, Nigeria. Three instruments, Academic Performance Attribution Style Questionnaire (APASQ), Technical Drawing Taskpersistent Rating Scale (TDTPRS); and Technical Drawing Performance Test (TDPT) were developed and used for data collection. Cronbach Alpha reliability method was used to determine the reliability of the instruments and the results were obtained: SAASQ = .87; TDTPRS=.79; AND TDAT = .85. The findings of the study revealed that the technical drawing task-persistence of students was positively correlated by functional attribution style; and was negatively correlated by dysfunctional attribution style; functional attribution style positively correlated academic performance of students. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that technical drawing teachers should model and teach the students the right attribution style that will enhance their learning of technical drawing