60 research outputs found
The Invisible Student: Benefits and Challenges of Part-time Doctoral Studies
This autoethnographic study explores the experiences of two part-time doctoral students as we document our journey of balancing our multiple competing roles. As we reflected and consulted the literature, we began to identify many benefits and challenges that part-time candidature brings to students, universities and employers. Through our autoethnographic analysis, considered in the context of research, we hope to shed light on the part-time doctoral student experience and raise awareness of the benefits that part-time students can bring to universities and to society.Cette Ă©tude auto-ethnographique explore les expĂ©riences de deux Ă©tudiants au doctorat Ă temps partiel qui documentent leur parcours alors quâils tentent dâĂ©quilibrer leurs divers rĂŽles concurrents. Au cours de rĂ©flexions personnelles et de consultation de la littĂ©rature, nous avons commencĂ© Ă identifier plusieurs avantages et dĂ©fis que prĂ©sentent aux Ă©tudiants, aux universitĂ©s et aux employeurs les Ă©tudes doctorales Ă temps partiel. Nous espĂ©rons que cette analyse auto-ethnographique, considĂ©rĂ©e dans le contexte de la recherche, mettra en lumiĂšre lâexpĂ©rience dâĂ©tudiants au doctorat Ă temps partiel, et fera mieux connaitre les avantages quâapportent aux universitĂ©s et Ă la sociĂ©tĂ© les Ă©tudiants Ă temps partiel
Public Elementary School Teachers\u27 Experiences With Implementing Outdoor Classrooms
Children experience limited time outdoors and have few opportunities for outdoor learning in schools, putting them at risk for being unprepared to engage in solving environmental and societal problems. Researchers have examined outdoor learning at the preschool and high school levels; elementary school experiences have been explored less frequently. Guided by a conceptual framework informed by social emotional learning (SEL), ecological literacy, and teacher self-efficacy, this study investigated public school elementary teachers\u27 experiences with outdoor classrooms including barriers and supports to creating and using outdoor classrooms. A qualitative design using in-depth interviews with interpretive phenomenological analysis techniques was conducted with 9 elementary teachers who had at least 2 years of recent experience working with outdoor classrooms in the U. S. Pacific Northwest. Thematic analysis of interview data, using a combination of a priori and open coding, identified primary themes related to academic rigor, district policies and budgets, and motivations for teaching ecoliteracy. Barriers including a lack of time and money needed to teach effectively using outdoor classrooms and the need for a stronger integrated curriculum that connects SEL, environmental education, and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) emerged as areas of concern. Recommendations based on these findings include ecoliteracy professional development for teachers which may contribute to positive social change by increasing teacher understanding of and involvement with outdoor learning and the integration of ecoliteracy in the pedagogy of K-6 programs
Conceptions of Quality and Approaches to Quality Assurance in Ontarioâs Universities
Many international, political, and economic influences led to increased demands for development of new quality assurance systems for universities. Like many policies and processes that aim to assure quality, Ontarioâs Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) did not define quality. This study sought to explore conceptions of quality and approaches to quality assurance used within Ontarioâs universities. A document analysis of the QAFâs rationale and structure suggested that quality was conceived primarily as fitness for purpose, while suggested indicators represented an exceptional conception of quality. Ontario universities perpetuated such confusion by adopting the framework without customizing it to their institutional conceptions of quality. Drawing upon phenomenographic traditions, a qualitative investigation was conducted to better understand various conceptions of quality held by university administrators and to appreciate ways in which they implemented the QAF. Three main approaches to quality assurance were identified: (a) Defending Quality, characterized by conceptions of quality as exceptional, which focuses on administrative accountability and uses a hands-off strategy to defend traditional notions of quality inputs and resources; (b) Demonstrating Quality, characterized by conceptions of quality as fitness for purpose and value for money, which focuses on accountability to students and uses centralized engaged strategies to demonstrate how programs meet current priorities and intended outcomes; and (c) Enhancing Quality, characterized by conceptions of quality as transformation, which focuses on reflection and learning experience and uses engaged strategies to find new ways of improving learning and teaching. The development of a campus culture that values the institutionâs function in student learning and quality teaching would benefit from Enhancing Quality approaches to quality assurance. This would require holistic consideration of the beliefs held by members of the institution, a clear articulation of the institutionâs conceptions of quality, and a critical analysis of how these conceptions align with institutional practices and policies
Evaluating the Outcomes of a Peer-Mentoring Program for Transitioning Postsecondary Students
A peer-mentoring program was initiated in 2003 for students in an introductory
biology course at a university in Ontario, Canada. Students could attend up to 5 peer-mentoring sessions during the 12-week fall semester. Quantitative-survey, participation,
and academic data spanning 5 years were reviewed for the purpose of evaluating the
program. An objectives-oriented approach was used to determine if the program was
meeting its goals to improve students' introductory biology grades, facilitate transitioning
experiences, and encourage students to pursue studies in biology. Data analysis revealed
characteristics of participants and showed that students who participated in the program
felt that it was a valuable experience. Students attending 3 or more sessions performed
significantly better in their introductory biology courses than those attending fewer
sessions. There were no indications that the peer-mentoring program had any impact on
students' perceptions of transitioning to university or on their program selection
preferences. Recommendations are made to improve the peer-mentoring program to
better align its components and objectives
The Administration Of Nebraska Public Schools: Present Perceptions and Future Needs
The next generation of children will live in a world that promises to be substantially different than ours
Engagement and Learning from a team-based mini-project in mechatronic engineering
We outline our experiences with hidden and unsignposted learning by us and by our students arising from a team-based project activity in a 3rd-year undergraduate engineering module in the general Mechatronics area. We discuss the hidden learning achieved in areas such as team communications, team management, problem-solving skills, and communication through the media of student-produced video and presentations, as well as technical engineering reports. We describe the enablement of student reflection on their learning and its benefits and use these reflections to evidence various aspects of their learning. The work is situated within the literature on innovations and quality of STEM education
Teaching Culture Indicators: Enhancing Quality Teaching
Canadian postsecondary institutions are committed to providing students with high quality teaching and learning experiences. In recent years, provincial and institutional stakeholders have shifted their focus toward better supporting this effort and enhancing an evolving, teaching- and learning-centred institutional culture. As Cox, McIntosh, Reason, and Terenzini (2011) note, a culture with improved teaching quality is likely to lead to improved student engagement and learning. Researchers in the United States, Europe, and Australia have investigated institutional culture and its relationship to high quality teaching over the last 20 years (Aitken & Sorcinelli, 1994; Cox et al., 2011; Hodge, Nadler, Shore, & Taylor, 2011; Gosling, 2013; Harvey & Stensaker, 2008; Kallioinen, 2013; Hunt, 2013, Prosser, 2013); however, to date, there is little, if any, research done in this area in the Canadian context.https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ctlreports/1004/thumbnail.jp
Learning Outcomes Assessment A Practitioner\u27s Handbook
Ontarioâs colleges and universities have made strides in developing learning outcomes, yet effective assessment remains a challenge. Learning Outcomes Assessment A Practitioner\u27s Handbook is a step-by-step resource to help faculty, staff, academic leaders and educational developers design, review and assess program-level learning outcomes.
The handbook explores the theory, principles, reasons for and methods behind developing program-level learning outcomes; emerging developments in assessment; and tips and techniques to build institutional culture, increase faculty involvement and examine curriculum-embedded assessment. It also includes definitions, examples, case studies and recommendations that can be tailored to specific institutional cultures.https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ctlreports/1005/thumbnail.jp
Teaching Culture Perception: Documenting and Transforming Institutional Teaching Cultures
An institutional culture that values teaching is likely to lead to improved student learning. The main focus of this study was to determine faculty, graduate and undergraduate studentsâ perception of the teaching culture at their institution and identify indicators of that teaching culture. Themes included support for teaching development; support for best practices, innovative practices and specific effective behaviours; recognition of teaching; infrastructure; evaluation of teaching and implementing the student feedback received from teaching evaluations. The study contributes to a larger project examining the quality of institutional teaching culture
RNA-Seq analysis of seasonal and individual variation in blood transcriptomes of healthy managed bottlenose dolphins
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