Enhancing active learning and critical thinking in higher education: university teachers' perceptions of the ALCT program

This paper describes the transformation of the Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking (RWCT) program into the Active Learning and Critical Thinking in Higher Education program (ALCT) as implemented in the higher education context in Croatia, based on the RWCT Prague conference in 2001. The initial experiences with program implementation are described, with a particular emphasis on innovations intended to increase the relevance of the program for university teachers. Preliminary evaluation results are presented

Razvoj pogledov uciteljev kot temeljne komponente njihove poklicne identitete v zacetnem izobrazevanju uciteljev: longitudinalna perspektiva

The main aim of this research is to longitudinally examine the shift in teaching students’ professional beliefs about the teacher-pupil role during the course of their studies. The starting assumption has been that teachers’ professional development is largely dependent upon their beliefs about various aspects of their professional role. The beliefs about the teacher-pupil role are the building blocks of teachers’ professional identity, which strongly influence the way they teach and communicate with pupils. The participants in the research are 62 student teachers, from three teacher education faculties, who were prepared to teach in the lower grades of primary school. The research was carried out in two waves, at the beginning and at the end of the five-year study programme. The beliefs were explored using a metaphor technique derived from the cognitive theory of metaphor. The results indicate that exposure to the study programme did not considerably affect the change in the belief orientations, meaning that pre-professional beliefs remained unchanged, especially in the perception of the pupil’s role. That finding has been discussed in relation to the possible implications for the initial teacher education curriculum and its implementation. (DIPF/Orig.