The Relationship between Critical Thinking Disposition and Locus of Control in Pre-Service Teachers

The aim of the current research study was to examine the link between critical thinking dispositions and locus of control in pre-service teachers. The participants of this study were selected via easily accessible sampling technique. The participants consist of 347 pre-service teachers (203 female, 144 male) in Kütahya, Turkey. The Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control Scale and Critical Thinking Dispositions Scale aided in data collection.  Once the data was transferred to an electronic environment and did not show a normal distribution in terms of gender and grade variables, so Mann Whitney-U test was used in order to comparing analysis and Spearman’s correlation analysis was used for examining the level of relationship between variables. According to comparison analysis, the external locus of control and critical thinking dispositions differentiated with respect to gender and grade. In correlational analysis and regression analysis, there was a negative relationship between external locus of control and critical thinking dispositions. Results were discussed by the light of the related previous studies

Students' critical thinking level as to education degress

Bu araştırmanın amacı; ilköğretim, ortaöğretim ve yükseköğretim kademesi sonlarında öğrencilerin eleştirel düşünme düzeylerini belirlemektir. Araştırma, betimsel bir çalışmadır ve tarama modelinde yürütülmüştür. Çalışma grubunu ilköğretim 8. sınıftan 110, Lise 12. sınıftan 145 ve yüksek öğretim 4. sınıftan 140 olmak üzere toplam 395 öğrenci oluşturmaktadır. Araştırma verileri, literatür taraması ve California Eleştirel Düşünme Eğilimi Ölçeği ile kaynak gruplardan toplanmıştır. Ölçeğin iç tutarlılık katsayısı 0,88’dir. Toplanan veriler üzerinde frekans, yüzde, aritmetik ortalama ve t testi analizleri yapılmış; anlamlılık için p<0,05 düzeyi yeterli görülmüştür. Çalışma sonunda; ilköğretim, ortaöğretim ve yüksek öğretim düzeyi son dönemlerinde bulunan öğrencilerin eleştirel düşünme eğilim ve düzeylerinin “orta” düzeyde olduğu belirlenmiştir. Ayrıca; ortaöğretim düzeyinde alınan eğitimin, öğrencilerin eleştirel düşünme eğilim ve düzeylerini olumsuz etkilediği; yüksek öğretimin ise olumlu katkılar sağladığı, ancak bu katkının yeterli düzeyde olmadığı bulunmuştur.The purpose of this study was to examine critical thinking level and dispositions of students at the end of primary, secondary and higher education. Participants of this descriptive study were 395 students in primary school's 8. Class (110 students), high school' 12. class (145 students) and faculty's 4. Class (140 students). Data of the study were based on literature review and on scores on California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory. Its alpha coefficient for internal consistency was 0.88. Data analyses were involve determination of descriptive statistics and use of t-test (p<0.05). As a result; Critical thinking level and dispositions of students is found medium. It is also determined high school courses are effect on critical thinking level and dispositions of students negatively. On the other hands faculty courses are effect on it positively, but it is not enough

Innovative Approaches to Teaching Technical Communication

Innovative Approaches to Teaching Technical Communica- tion offers a variety of activities, projects, and approaches to energize pedagogy in technical communication and to provide a constructive critique of current practice. A practical collection, the approaches recommended here are readily adaptable to a range of technological and institutional contexts, as well as being theoretically grounded and pedagogically sound. Throughout the collection, its editors and contributors demonstrate the importance of critically engaging students through creative and innovative pedagogies. Programs in technical writing, technical communication, and/or professional communication have recently grown in enrollment as the demand among employers for formally prepared technical writers and editors has grown. In response, scholarly treatments of the subject and the teaching of technical writing are also burgeoning, and the body of research and theory being published in this field is many times larger and more accessible than it was even a decade ago. Although many theoretical and disciplinary perspectives can potentially inform technical communication teaching, administration, and curriculum development, the actual influences on the field\u27s canonical texts have traditionally come from a rather limited range of disciplines. Innovative Approaches to Teaching Technical Communication brings together a wide range of scholars/teachers to expand the existing canon. The editors and authors in this volume suggest that, for various reasons, the field has not been as flexible or open to innovation as it needs to be. Given pervasive technological and workplace changes and changing cultural attitudes, they say, new and more dynamic pedagogies in technical communication are warranted, and they are addressing this collection to that need. Contributing authors include a number of scholars with a strong record of work in composition, technical writing, professional communication, and allied areas (e.g., Selfe, Wahlstrom, Kalmbach, Duin, Hansen), who deliver a variety of approaches that are grounded in current theory and represent pedagogical creativity and innovation.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs/1146/thumbnail.jp

Developing, structure, functionality, organizing and delivering

Denne rapporten beskriver og presenterer resultater fra forsknings og utviklingsprosjektet PedTek (Pedagogikk og Teknologi). Prosjektet ble startet i 1997 og Det Kongelige Kirke, undervisnings og Forskningsdepartement bevilget 1 mill. kroner i økonomisk støtte til prosjektet. Den overordnede målsettingen for PedTek prosjektet var å utforme utdanningsløsninger for studenter med bevegelseshemning og studenter som av andre grunner ikke kunne følge ordinær undervisning med fysisk tilstedeværelse ved et lærested. En fire komponents NBLM prototyp ble testet og kontinuerlig modifisert i løpet av eksperimenteringen. Med referanse til det forhåndsdefinerte målet for utviklingsarbeidet kan det konkluderes med at Høgskolen i Hedmark (HH) spesielt og lesere av denne rapporten generelt nå er bedre i stand til å tilby nettbaserte læringsløsninger for fjernstudenter ved å anvende PBL og samarbeidslæring. Den fire komponents NBLM strukturen består av Forhåndsprodusert læringsmateriell, Nett-basert kursstøtte system, Veiledning og oppgaver og Ansikt til ansikt møter og representerer en hensiktmessig modell for etablering av læringsprosesser for fjernstudenter. Av de mer åpenbare effektene av FoU prosjektet kan det pekes på identifiseringen av et sett kritiske variabler som gir bakgrunn for å foreslå brukertilpassede utforminger av NBLM. Ved å trekke inn studentenes motivasjon, læringskultur, konsekvenser av å ikke nå oppsatte læringsmål, læringsprosessens varighet og type pensum, kan det framsettes hypoteser om at pedagogikk basert på ulike læringsteorier bør anvendes. Anbefalinger knyttet til bruken av resultatene i praktiske situasjoner er at implementering av nett baserte læringsmiljøer i organisasjoner ikke må betraktes som enkle og trivielle oppgaver. Implementeringsprosessen bør defineres som et virkelig eksperimentelt systemutviklingsprosjekt.English: This report describes and presents results from the PedTek (Pedagogy and Technology) Research and Development (R&D) project. The project was started in 1997 and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research granted 1 million Norwegian Kroner (approximately USD 140 000) in economical support. The overall goal of the PedTek project was to design educational solutions for physically handicapped and other students unable to comply with the requirements of ordinarily on-campus teaching. A four-component NBLE prototype was tested and continually redesigned during the experimentation. With reference to the predefined development goals it can be concluded that Hedmark University College (HUC) in particular and readers of this report in general now are in a better position than before to provide efficient net based education programs for off-campus students applying PBL and CL based pedagogy. The four-component structure NBLE, consisting of Pre-produced learning material, Learning Management System, Supervision and exercises and Face to face meetings and workshops, represents a convenient model for implementing computer-supported learning processes for off-campus students. The more obvious research results include the identification of a set of critical variables, providing a background for suggesting designs of user adaptive NBLEs. By considering Learner’s motivation, Learning culture, Consequence of failure, Duration of the learning process and Type of curriculum it is hypothesized that pedagogy based on different learning theories should be applied. Recommendations related to the use of the R&D results in practical situations are that the implementation of Net Based Learning Environments in organizations not should be considered a trivial task. The implementation process should be defined and conducted as a proper experimental systems development project

Codification Pedagogy for Introductory Procedural Programming Courses

Generally, students in introductory programming courses (CS1) do not devote time to designing solutions to their programming problems, even though it is a necessary part of the problem-solving process. Without the design process to reflect on a problem, students might haphazardly solve them, but with incomplete solutions. Students might skip the design process because they have limited design knowledge and lack the skills to help them identify goals and create a plan for solving a problem. Students might also ignore problem-solving information provided to them and instead rely on past problem-solving approaches, which keeps them from learning both new problem-solving strategies and new programming concepts. This research explores a pedagogical approach for procedural programming assignments facilitated within an online learning environment that encourages CS1 students to incorporate the design process into their problem-solving process. This thesis refers to the pedagogical approach as the Codification Pedagogy, a teaching approach for ordering rules corresponding to a plan. The pedagogy is designed to help students identify goals and create plans for solving problems. The pedagogy is comprised of three learning activities: 1. A scaffolded assignment presentation designed to help students better understand the programming problem. The assignment presentation helps students identify the problem’s goals and provides additional support for struggling students. This research produces a framework that educators can use to develop scaffolded presentations for CS1 programming assignments. 2. A questioning activity that encourages students to engage their internal knowledge to solve the current problem. This research produces a questioning framework. The framework contains instructional questions mapped to the Bloom’s Taxonomy cognitive levels. The framework can help educators construct learning activities through questioning to help elevate students’ cognitive level appropriate for their learning. 3. A Parsons problems activity designed to help students organise an implementation plan. Parsons problems is a learning tool that has students arrange code fragments to form a working program. The research demonstrates that Parsons problems can be used to help students organise plans to solve programming problems. The Codification Pedagogy is integrated into CS1 programming assignments. Studies were conducted for three semesters in an introductory programming course offered at the University of Adelaide. The research comprises quantitative studies using interactive analytics and variable-oriented analysis, along with qualitative studies using mixed methods that include pre-post tests, think-alouds, and interview sessions. The pedagogy is designed to help students better understand the programming problem and support their learning of problem-solving strategies for practical programming assignments. The results from this thesis demonstrates the pedagogy can support students during the design process. The studies presented in this thesis shows the pedagogy supporting students’ use of problem-solving strategies that help them to identify goals for the problems and enable them to validate their programming solutions. The results also show the learning activities encouraging students to analyse the assignment, promoting self-reflection that reduce misconceptions. Through its design-based support, the pedagogy can support students to successfully complete programming assignments.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Computer Science, 202

Designing in creativity: an investigation into the role of creativity in graphic design

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.Graphic design practice is currently entrenched within a process-driven, formulaic approach to design that is time constrained and closely aligned with the working practices of the business environment. This approach is not conducive to creativity. Although design institutions recognise the call from UK governments for increased creativity and innovation in support of economic, social, and cultural initiatives the current commodification of knowledge, developed in response to the needs of business and industry, has its limitations. There is today a tension in the academic community between the pursuit of creative practice as a valuable entity in itself and the preparation of graduates for employment. There is a growing concern within the industry at the educational marginalisation of creativity within the design process in an attempt to remain current with technological and professional skilling. The intellectual and theoretical underpinning of graphic design is weak with little scholarly debate in relation to creativity and critical thinking. The aim of this research therefore is to support future practice and educational initiatives by developing a new theoretical and contextual framework from which to engage with both industry and education. Utilising a mixed method approach together with the insider/outsider status of the researcher working as both a design practitioner and design educator the research addresses the following questions: what is the role of creativity in graphic design? Why is creativity important to graphic design education and industry practice? How can creativity be facilitated within graphic design education and industry practice? A small-scale qualitative online survey was conducted initially in the form of a targeted emailed questionnaire. It collected opinions, knowledge, and experiences from 9 universities within the UK Higher Education sector and a small number of industry practitioners. The aim was to gain insights from a cross-section of individuals most likely to have special knowledge about the research topic and provide a snapshot of how things are currently. The study built on these insights by considering creativity in different contexts and demonstrates through substantial critical investigation and analysis the theoretical and contextual knowledge underpinning discussions in relation to creativity. It explores the significance of creativity as a term and an activity in graphic design. It examines possible explanations for the marginalisation of creativity in graphic design by looking at the historical precedents for the split between the fine and applied arts and the impact that this has had on the way that design has been taught and practiced. The findings confirm that understanding the role of creativity within practice is fundamental to ensuring that graphic design remains relevant in twenty first century culture and society. However, what creativity is and the various forms it can take may be different to what is currently recognised by education and industry practice

Assessment of higher order thinking skills in a literature based curriculum : challenges and guidelines

The study focused on pertinent challenges and key guidelines in introducing and assessing students’ higher order thinking skills (HOTS) in a literature based English foreign language (EFL) curriculum. A curricular initiative in Israel, namely to integrate HOTS in the teaching and learning of literature in the high school EFL classes, prompted this study to measure its effectiveness on students’ abilities to understand and apply the HOTS in their reading and writing. This mixed-methods study dealt with the following research questions: Are HOTS innate skills or must they be purposefully taught in order for students to learn and to apply them? To what extent has 10th and 11th grade EFL Israeli students’ ability to apply HOTS to their bridging essays, after completing two years in the English literature programme, been improved? How accurately could students demonstrate an understanding of HOTS by naming them and by providing an example of how they could apply them in the areas of reading and writing? The overall key findings showed that; HOTS must be taught and practiced in order for students to learn and to apply them and that teaching students to use HOTS will improve their reading and writing capabilities in regard to higher order thinking as well as their understanding of specific HOTS. It was also found that students enjoy the challenge of infusing HOTS into a literature curriculum and expressing what they learn in their writing. They are consequently motivated to learn when they are challenged with a programme that infuses HOTS into an EFL literature curriculum. Implications of the findings are that the subject specific approach and infusion method for teaching HOTS are successful in the EFL classroom. The findings provide a novel contribution to the study of HOTS pedagogy within a literature based EFL curriculum programme. Recommendations for further studies are made, particularly on HOTS vis-à-vis weaker EFL students as well as on examining different writing formats, such as opinion essays, to determine if HOTS are transferring to other types of writing after students’ participation in this curricular initiative.Curriculum and Instructional StudiesD. Ed. (Curriculum Studies