THE CHALLENGES, RISKS AND PROSPECTS OF THE REALISATION OF THE MUSIC METHODOLOGY MODULE OF ONE – YEAR EDUCATION PROGRAMME

The reform of teachers’ education commenced by the Ministry of Education and Science provides an opportunity to obtain a qualification as a teacher within one year, encompassing studies based in a working environment for those who already have higher education. The goal of the research is to identify the challenges, risks and perspectives of the realization of the module “Music methodology” of the study course “Integrated methods in Teaching Culture Understanding and Self-expression in Art” within the one-year study programme “Skolotājs”. The research compared study course plans in music teaching and choir work methodology at two Latvian higher education institutions, as well as at two foreign higher education institution, where a qualification as a music teacher at a comprehensive school can be attained. The research was undertaken based on an analysis of theoretical sources, providing an understanding about a synthesis of varying contemporary methodological approaches. It encompasses the acquisition of a knowledge of cultural history and the history of music, the style and future directions of popular music, desirably not just theoretically but practically as well, in the education of the students. The actualization of such study courses as music teaching methodology, the research process in music teaching, music history and stylistics, the psychology of music, conducting, choir/vocal ensemble work, methodology and music project management are important for the high quality and integrated acquisition of music teaching methodology

Promoting excellence in teaching in health education through the development of partnerships

INTRODUCTION: The Faculty of Community and Health Sciences (FCHS) reviewed its curricula for 1994, allowing the Primary Health Care (PHC) approach to be the foundation of teaching and learning in health. To institutionalize a PHC approach, the teaching methodology of service-learning which is premised on the development of partnerships, proved useful in realizing the faculty's goal. AIM: The aim of this study was to identify how to ensure that partnerships develop optimally and in a sustainable fashion to promote excellence and relevance in teaching and development of professional skills in FCHS. Methods: A qualitative study was employed using focus groups with the partners in 2 service-learning programmes in FCHS. RESULTS: Key findings included that capacity building programmes for all partners promotes good training and education in health sciences; partners' roles should be clarified and it's imperative that formalized partnership agreements exist to ensure collaboration and enhance teaching. CONCLUSION: Service-learning serves as an impetus to move higher education in the direction of multi-disciplinarity

ANALYSIS OF TEACHING COMPETENCIES IN RELATION TO THE COSTS OF ADAPTATION TO THE ONLINE MODALITY

Teaching and learning in Higher Education is constant regardless of the time or space in which we find ourselves, since there will always be something to learn. The knowledge that a teacher possesses is very valuable for the development and subsistence of life. Each one of us wishes to leave our mark in history, a positive legacy, and this can be achieved in different ways. One of them is to pass on to others the knowledge acquired in life's journey.  Teachers have been adapting their teaching methods to the technological evolution and using tools at their disposal, their main objective and goal is to provide teaching and understanding for their students. Each teacher has his or her own teaching-learning methodology depending on his or her skills, the equipment or implements he or she has and above all his or her attitude. The present research aims to investigate the knowledge, skills, and creativity that higher education teachers have in the technological field, as well as the strategies that teachers choose to stay updated, we will analyze the attitudes that teachers show in the face of this challenge and discover the drawbacks and cost benefits that teachers have to adapt to technological changes in the field of education presented by the COVID-19 pandemic

Exploring Cross-Cultural Teacher Perspectives on Student Engagement in Virtual Learning Environments During The COVID-19 Pandemic

The rapid transition to emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges for teachers, students, and higher education institutions, impacting students\u27 learning and engagement in the learning process. Based on Self-Determination Theory, this paper employs a collective case study research methodology to examine teachers\u27 strategies for supporting students\u27 learning and engagement in virtual learning environments during emergency remote teaching in the pandemic era, with the goal of offering guidelines to assist teachers in fostering student learning and engagement in these virtual settings. The inductive thematic analysis of eight semi-structured interviews with teachers from Spain, Oman, Nigeria and Cambodia revealed some challenges faced by teachers in engaging their students in virtual environments and some teaching and support strategies that teachers adopted to enhance students’ engagement in virtual classrooms. The study synthesised a set of strategies for teachers in higher education to support students’ engagement and learning in online environments. Teachers’ autonomy, structure and involvement support strategies had a behavioural, emotional, cognitive, and agentic engagement on students’ learning process. The paper discussed limitations and future research endeavours in online teaching and learning and students’ engagement

Impact of Public Examination on Teaching of English: A Washback Perspective

Washback speaks of influence of test on teaching and learning. This paper investigates the wash back effect of Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) exam on English language teaching and learning in Pakistan. The purpose of this study is to explore the causes of low level of English language proficiency at the completion of 12 years of academic education with English as a compulsory subject. To achieve this goal it examines the effect of HSSC exam on teaching methods and materials. Population of the study was all the teachers teaching English in colleges at HSSC level in Sargodha, Pakistan. A survey questionnaire consisting of ten questions was administered to the teachers of English. The questionnaire aimed at investigating the effect of HSSC on English teaching methodology and materials used by the teachers. Findings of the study affirmed that HSSC instead of supporting has negative washback effect on teaching methods and materials. Keywords: washback, HSSC exam, teaching method, teaching material

Interactive Lecturing by Integrating Mobile Devices and Micro-blogging in Higher Education

Following the recent advances in both technology and social interaction, implementation of interactivity to large lecture rooms presents itself as a promising new methodology to improve the learning and teaching process in academia. Namely, based on the underlying ideas of Web 2.0, learners should be able to collect and share online resources during a lecture, additional communication channels such as discussion forums, chat and micro-blogging helping to achieve interactivity on traditional face-to-face teaching. Building on such premises, first experiences have been acquired by the use of mobile devices and instant messaging in enhancing the learning and teaching behavior, with the help of a university wide available Learning Management System (LMS), which has accordingly been adapted and extended to the specific needs of supporting interactivity through mobile devices. The LMS is intended to use common and existing software and hardware (devices of the learners). The goal of the above research is to find out the potentials of interactivity in order to enhance students\u27 engagement in traditional face-to-face teaching in Higher Education. The paper describes the outcomes of the first experiments in implementing interactivity in Higher Education in such a framework within the Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) and comments on the methodology applied. The experiments, which have been performed during lecturing within the course "Social Aspects of Information Technology" at the BSc level, attended by about 200 students, have shown that such kind of interactivity has a positive effect on the learners\u27 engagement

Does management education create responsible managers? Viewpont

The integration of sustainability and responsibility into management education is a widely discussed issue in the literature and in practice. As a result of a lifelong experience of teaching sustainability, environmental management and further related courses at university level, the authors aim to give their viewpoint about Responsible Management Education (RME). The concept of RME relies on the basis of several similar categories, used in today’s higher education but is aimed to mean more than just another slogan for the same content. Three issues are discussed in the paper. (Q1) Should we limit the focus of management education on the classical business targets like profit and growth, as well as the preconditions to achieve those targets – or should we establish a different philosophical background for business thinking and teaching: the Responsible Management? (Q2) Should the concept of Responsible Management be integrated in the classical business courses or should it be a specific, independent course? (Q3) How to combine teaching methods to reach the ultimate goal of creating responsible managers via management education? The literature review is aimed to give a profound background to the relevance and development of the term Responsible Management Education, followed by the explanation of sceptical and positive arguments regarding the introduction of the concept into the existing course structure. The authors also elaborate a potential methodology for teaching Responsible Management

Towards the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals through Engineering Training for Labor Market Reintegration of Older Workers

The inclusion of training in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in higher education is essential to achieve them. In addition, labor market reintegration or improvement of older workers is a goal that an increasing number of people have set for themselves, especially in countries severely affected by crises. The union of these two premises has given rise to the application of a methodology in a master’s degree in engineering. This manuscript makes a double contribution: on the one hand, it presents the methodology with its application through a practical case; on the other hand, it covers how students perceive the application of non-traditional training techniques. The methodology is based on student-centered learning, using case-based teaching and inquiry-based learning. The students’ perception of this change in training was evaluated through a qualitative methodological approach for five consecutive years and through two types of surveys carried out each year, one of which involves comparison with traditional training methodologies. The results of the surveys show the favorable acceptance of this form of teaching, surpassing the results of traditional teaching methods by more than 25%. As a practical implication, this research identifies new ways of teaching complex subjects that facilitate training in SDGs and the subsequent labor market reintegration of older people

Assessing the infusion of sustainability principles into university curricula

open3siThe current paper presents the assessment of the infusion of sustainability principles into university curricula at two Jordanian universities. The peer review process of revising the curricula infusing sustainability principles is also discussed. The research methodology involved quantitative methods to assess the revised courses. The results revealed the following: the most relevant ESD themes in the revised curricula were ìhuman connections to the physical and natural worldî, and ìethics/valuesî. The most relevant ESD topics were: ìsustainable production/consumptionî and ìhealth promotionî. The most infused ESD pillars (competencies) were: ìlearning to knowî and ìlearning to doî. The most relevant ESD principles were: ìpracticed locallyî and ìresponds through applied learningî. The findings offered a rich scenario of the strategies applied by the university professors in revising the curricula, providing evidence of a mental attitude to adopt ESD strategies, as well as a goal-oriented approach in curriculum planning. The paper also discusses the implications of the study results for syllabus revision and development, as well as the refinement of the teaching methods that focus on infusing sustainability into university curricula. Keywords: education for sustainable development, higher education, professional development, curricula revision, Reorient University Curricula to Address Sustainability (RUCAS)openBiasutti, Michele; De Baz, Theodora; Alshawa, HalaBiasutti, Michele; De Baz, Theodora; Alshawa, Hal

Teaching methodologies and open source software: empirical application to econometrics and mathematics

Nowadays, the software open source represents an important teaching resource. However, it is not sufficiently explored as an higher education teaching methodology. In subjects with a very specific goal, applied contents and attended by a small number of students, the commercial software is still preferred to the open source software. Aware of this reality, this paper presents a reflection about the use of open source software in Applied Econometrics and Mathematics. The adoption of two different software programmes – Gretl and Octave – allows the discussion about a comprehensive set of pedagogical, economical and technical advantages and some observed practical limitations. In practice, the refereed advantages are stressed when the students’ results are analysed. Their academic results benefit from the adoption of software which is executed, distributed and improved freely