The Ongoing Educational Anomaly of Earth Science Placement

This paper examines the implications of an unplanned experiment in which a high-school level earth science curriculum was presented to college juniors and seniors. The study confirmed the difficulty of a science that has traditionally been viewed as one of the least challenging options at the college level. It showed that most people arrive at college with little or no prior knowledge in the geosciences, a failing of our current K-12 science requirements and sequencing. Furthermore, it suggests that Earth Science may be best suited for pre-college students who have mastered physical/biological science foundations, and have attained the ability to reason and think abstractly. The report concludes that Earth Science should not be relegated solely to earlier grades, or solely to under-achievers, but that it must be viewed as a culminating course, offering its students the ability to tie in prior knowledge with widely-observed everyday geoscience applications. Educational levels: Graduate or professional

Linking proportionality across the science and mathematics curricula through science literacy maps.

Middle level science and mathematics teachers should collaborate to clarify concepts for students in each of these disciplines. The topic of proportionality is an excellent choice for a collaborative effort, as understanding proportionality is important in both science and mathematics

Social Studies Preservice Teachers’ Views on and Experiences with WebQuest

The current study aims to determine prospective teachers’ opinions about WebQuest applications by both introducing them to the WebQuest teaching materials and obtaining their experiences in the WebQuest design process. This study employs phenomenology as a qualitative research approach. The study was conducted in the spring semester of the 2017-2018 academic year with the third year undergraduate students in the social studies education department of a state university in Ankara. Two different data collection tools, a Peer Evaluation Form and an Interview Form, were used. Content analysis was used to analyze the data obtained. According to the findings of the study, social studies preservice teachers think that teacher supervision of Webquest teaching activities is advantageous. Preservice teachers defined the specific principles of WebQuest teaching activities as a weak factor. Additionally, preservice teachers emphasized that WebQuest teaching activities are difficult to implement in environments where Internet and computer facilities are not available. Even though almost half of the participants stated that they wanted to include WebQuest teaching activities in their classes when they started the teaching profession, they expressed about their concerns

La webquest: un recurso digital para innovar e investigar en la Enseñanza Superior

Una de las estrategias didácticas digitales que se enmarca dentro de la Web 2.0 corresponde a la WebQuest, caracterizada principalmente por el uso de Internet por parte del alumnado, previo a una cuidadosa selección de enlaces realizada por el profesorado. Esta estrategia digital se sustenta teóricamente en las corrientes constructivistas y el aprendizaje colaborativo, por lo que es plenamente pertinente a los postulados del EEES, a la vez que contribuye a innovar en las prácticas docentes. En este documento se expone la segunda fase de un trabajo que empezó a desarrollarse en el curso 2013-14, y cuyo objetivo principal ha sido el diseño de WebQuests que cumplan con criterios de calidad en el marco de la Enseñanza Superior. En el diseño de estas WebQuests se ha tenido en cuenta la plena accesibilidad del alumnado y la pertinencia a las distintas disciplinas en las que se desempeñan los miembros que conforman esta Red

Technology Use in Middle Grades Teacher Preparation Programs

Changes in reading and reading comprehension precipitated by the emergence of the Internet and related to information and digital communication applications have been noted in the reading and literacy fields for some time now. Teacher education programs play a special role in preparing teachers for instruction that capitalizes on such changes. The purpose of this study was to explore the ways in which teacher education programs help teachers to embrace and critique technology, and literacies they engender, in teaching reading at the middle-school level. The study found the middle grades teacher education programs in this study to encourage the use of a range of technology tools. While traditional technology was viewed and used frequently for the purpose of teacher and student productivity (e.g., to record, display, or deliver information), information/communication as well as multimedia applications were viewed more often as sources of multimodal and interactive texts and as tools for meaning representation. Although the new generation web tools such blogs, Google tools, or webcasting applications were recognized as new types of texts, many of the multimodal texts and media that pre-service teachers were exposed to or explored for classroom use in this study were, however, older generation applications such as PowerPoint presentations, magazines, or environmental signs and symbols. Additionally, teacher educators’ and their students’ access to basic reading software, including fluency and comprehension programs, was limited. Implications from these findings are further discussed

Removing dust bunnies and expensive paperweights from the classroom : effective staff development in educational technology

With major funding directed toward putting technology in the classroom and training students to be tomorrow\u27s workers, there needs to be an effective technology staff development program in place for the teachers. Developers of staff development programs need to include the learning style of adult learners (andragogy), instead of pedagogy. Successful staff development for the teachers must include innovation, release time, and quality equipment. The learning styles of adult learners should be foremost in the development of courses and workshops. Staff development is more than just the technical side of the technology. It should provide teachers with the tools to develop and implement meaningful, educationally relevant projects into their classroom curriculum

Fifth Grade Website: Improving Leaming Through the Use of the Web

The Internet has improved the way that information can be presented to students in an educational setting. Teachers have taken advantage of improving education through the Internet by creating their own websites. However, some of these websites are not created in a way that allows them to be used effectively by students .. The author of this paper has created a website that will be used with his fifth grade students entitled The Fifth Grade Website (http://homepage.mac.com/brthiessen). The goal of the website is to enhance the educational experience of the students who use it. The website was designed in a way that would allow students to easily use it without any of the common errors that are found in many sites. Students can visit school related websites, practice math facts, and complete assignments simply by accessing the Fifth Grade Website. This website uses the power and resources of the Internet to create an educational website that can be used by students to enhance their learning experiences

Changing from a traditional approach to learning: Teachers’ perceptions of introducing WebQuests into mathematics and science classrooms in Qatar

Several studies have identified stress factors that teachers might experience in changing from a traditional approach to a more student-centred IBL approach. In this study, we report on teachers’ perceptions following PD that introduced WebQuests as a didactic tool alongside ongoing classroom support into Qatari mathematics and science classrooms with students grades 4 to 8. The findings suggested that the use of WebQuests as a didactic tool provided a structure for many of the teachers that supported a change in teaching towards a student-oriented approach. Nevertheless, some stress factors remained, in relation to control of learning, managing time and classroom behaviour, and the integration of IT

Confidence and Willingness among Preservice Teachers to Use Technology to Support Learner-Centered Strategies that Address the Diverse Needs of Students: A Multimedia Experience

The purpose of this study was to examine the change in preservice teachers\u27 attitudes towards using technology to meet the needs of diverse students as noted by the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS*S) III. B. This research included two interventions: a research paper assignment and a hands-on practice using technology to assist students with special needs. The study took place within the coursework in an instructional technology class offered for preservice teachers. After the pre-intervention survey was collected on the 10th week of the semester, the instructor explained the research paper assignment for assisting students with special needs with technology. The research question each student formulated was How can I meet the needs of ____ with technology? Each student selected his or her target group by filling in the blank. The second set of data was collected immediately after the paper was due. During the 13th week of the semester, there was a collaborative lecture delivered by the course instructor and a special education faculty member about readers\u27 theater multimedia. The lecture suggested readers\u27 theater as a way of including weak readers in a general classroom. Following the lecture, the class had a discussion to connect the knowledge that they gained from the research paper and an example of mainstreaming provided by the faculty members. During the 14th and 15th weeks, preservice teachers got into groups to create readers\u27 theater multimedia productions using PowerPoint. The third survey was filled in at the end of the readers\u27 theater multimedia production. The data analysis indicated that the research participants generally had positive attitudes about assistive technology prior to the interventions. Therefore, a significant change of attitude for positive direction occurred in limited items. The results of this study indicated that preservice teachers may have positive attitudes about special education-general education collaboration prior to their field practicum or student teaching and increased knowledge about assistive technology may affirm this positive attitude

CONTENT-BASED SYLLABUS

There is growing interest in a model of language education that integrates language ad content instruction in EFL/ESL classroom. The current paper looks at content-based syllabus, with content (subject matter) providing the point of departure for it. Influences leading to the emergence of content-based instruction are discussed, followed by a brief description of the syllabus as well as the relevant frameworks for organizing and integrating. The paper then deals with several rationales for the integration of language and content. Next, some techniques, strategies, and activities used in implementing content-based syllabus are briefly mentioned. It is also suggested that pre-service and in-service teacher education can benefit from a focus on language and content integration. Some advantages and disadvantages of the syllabus are discussed at the end