Web assisted teaching: an undergraduate experience

The emergence of the Internet has created a number of claims as to the future of education and the possibility of dramatically changing the way in which education is delivered. Much of the attention has focussed on the adoption of teaching methods that are solely web-based. We set out to incorporate web-based teaching as support for more traditional teaching methods to improve the learning outcomes for students. This first step into web-based teaching was developed to harness the benefits of web-based teaching tools without supplanting traditional teaching methods. The aim of this paper is to report our experience with web-assisted teaching in two undergraduate courses, Accounting Information Systems and Management Accounting Services, during 2000. The paper evaluates the approach taken and proposes a tentative framework for developing future web-assisted teaching applications. We believe that web-assisted and web-based teaching are inevitable outcomes of the telecommunications and computer revolution and that academics cannot afford to become isolated from the on-line world. A considered approach is needed to ensure the integration of web-based features into the overall structure of a course. The components of the course material and the learning experiences students are exposed to need to be structured and delivered in a way that ensures they support student learning rather than replacing one form of learning with another. Therefore a careful consideration of the structure, content, level of detail and time of delivery needs to be integrated to create a course structure that provides a range of student learning experiences that are complimentary rather than competing. The feedback was positive from both extramural (distance) and internal students, demonstrating to us that web sites can be used as an effective teaching tool in support of more traditional teaching methods as well as a tool for distance education. The ability to harness the positives of the web in conjunction with more traditional teaching modes is one that should not be overlooked in the move to adopt web based instruction methods. Web-based teaching need not be seen as an all or nothing divide but can be used as a useful way of improving the range and type of learning experiences open to students. The Web challenges traditional methods and thinking but it also provides tools to develop innovative solutions to both distance and on campus learning. Further research is needed to determine how we can best meet the needs of our students while maintaining high quality learning outcomes

The Impact of Teaching Experience, Education Level and Participative Decision Making of Teaching Staffs on Student Outcomes in Accounting Department at Private College

Keberhasilan rnahasiswa daIarn proses bell\iar rnengajar rnenjadi acuan daIarn penyelenggaraanpendidikan. Berbagai upayadilakukan untuk rnenemukan faktor pernicu (triggeringfactor) keberhasilan rnahasiswa. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji ernpiris apakah pengalaman rnengajar (teaching experience), jenjang pendidikan (education level), dan partisipasi dalam proses pengarnbilan keputusan (participative decision making) staf pengajar, mernpengaruhi hasil beIajar mahasiswa (student outcomes) di JurusanAkuntansi pada Perguruan Tinggi Swasta di Yogyakarta. Data dikumpulkan dengan menggunakan semi open ended questioner yang sebelumnya telah diujicobakan dan ditest validitas dan reIiabiIitasnya. Sarnpel penelitian diarnbil dari seluruh dosen yang rnengajar pada perguruan tinggi swasta pada Jurusan Akuntansi di DIY dengan menggunakan teknik purposive sampling. Hipotesis diuji dengan rnenggunakan teknik analisis regresi linear. Sebelurn dilakukan pengujian hipotesis, terIebih dahulu dilakukan uji prasyarat analisis yang meliputi uji normalitas, uji rnuitikolinearitas, uji linearitas. Berdasarkan hasil analisis diperoleh kesimpulan tiga hal, yakni (I) pengalaman mengajar (teaching experience) danjenjang pendidikan (education level) tidak berpengaruh terhadap hasil belajar mahasiswa, yang ditunjukkan dengan nilai F sebesar 0.9980 dengan tingkat signifikansi 37.2% jauh berada di atas tingkat signifikansi yang dipersyaratkan (5%), (2) partisipasi dosen dalam proses pengambilan keputusan (participative decision making) berpengaruh terhadap hasil belajar mahasiswa. Hal ini didasarkan pada nilai F sebesar 4.406 dengan tingkat signifikansi 3.8% berada dibawah tingkat signifikansi yang dipersyaratkan (5%), (3) secara bersama"sama pengalaman mengajar (teaching experience),jenjang pendidikan (education level), dan partisipasi dosen dalam proses pengambilan keputusan (participative decision making) tidak berpengaruh terhadap hasil belajar mahasiswa, yang ditunjukkan dengan nilai F sebesar 1.858 dengan tingkat signifikansi 14.2% jauh berada di atas tingkat signifikansi yang dipersyaratkan (5%). Berdasarkan hasil pene1itian ini direkomendasikan (1) perbaikan gaji dosen harus segera dilakukan oleh pemerintah, (2)pelatihan caramengajaryang baik untuk dosen perguruan tinggi swasta, (3) pimpinan sela1u me1ibatkan dosen dalam setiap proses pengambilan keputusan, dan (4) tipe kepemimpinan demokratis dan struktur organisasi tipe desentralisasi dapat dipakai sebagai salah satu strategi yang efektifuntuk meningkatkan kineIja perguruantinggi

Selecting the teacher-librarian: A compendium of interview questions

Presents a complete summary of potential questions to ask a prospective teacher-librarian who has the leadership ability, training and experience to implement a cooperatively planned program. Personal; Education; Teaching experience; Professionalism and leadership. Cooperative program planning and teaching; More

Stars and statistical physics: a teaching experience

The physics of stars, their workings and their evolution, is a goldmine of problems in statistical mechanics and thermodynamics. We discuss many examples that illustrate the possibility of deepening student's knowledge of statistical mechanics by an introductory study of stars. The matter constituting the various stellar objects provides examples of equations of state for classical or quantal and relativistic or non-relativistic gases. Maximum entropy can be used to characterize thermodynamic and gravitational equilibrium which determines the structure of stars and predicts their instability above a certain mass. Contraction accompanying radiation induces either heating or cooling, which explains the formation of stars above a minimum mass. The characteristics of the emitted light are understood from black-body radiation and more precisely from the Boltzmann-Lorentz kinetic equation for photons. The luminosity is governed by the transport of heat by photons from the center to the surface. Heat production by thermonuclear fusion is determined by microscopic balance equations. The stability of the steady state of stars is controlled by the interplay of thermodynamics and gravitation.Comment: latex gould_last.tex, 4 files, submitted to Am. J. Phy

Learning to Teach Writing Across Contexts

The purpose of this study is to examine how Jacob (pseudonyms are used), a preservice teacher, understood and implemented writing instruction during an early field experience and then again during his student teaching placement. This study contributes to the literature suggesting that the context where the teaching occurs significantly influences preservice or novice teachers’ instructional decision-making. Examining how Jacob appropriated conceptual and pedagogical tools during his early field experience with his implementation, or lack of, at his student teaching site, deepens the field’s understanding of how context influences instructional decisions and how preservice teachers may hold on to certain beliefs even when not consistent with the context

Tracking Transfer of Reform Methodology from Science and Math College Courses to the Teaching Style of Beginning Teachers of Grades 5-12

The purpose of this study was to determine if reformed science and math courses at community colleges and the university were impacting education majors as they began a teaching career. The reformed courses, in contrast to typical lecture classes, implemented inquiry-based methods that emphasized deep understanding of fundamental science and math concepts. Trained evaluators, utilizing the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) gathered a total of 86 classroom observations to gauge the level of reform that beginning teachers (one to three years’ teaching experience) were implementing in grades 5-12. The pre-service experience of the beginning teachers varied from having had zero to four reform courses. Results indicated that teachers who had completed reform college courses instructed in a significantly more reformed manner. Furthermore, analysis of years of teaching experience revealed that, while both control and experimental groups achieved higher RTOP scores as they progressed from year to year, the experimental group significantly outpaced their counterparts

Promoting teacher–learner autonomy through and beyond initial language teacher education

With the growing international market for pre-experience MA in ELT/TESOL programmes, a key curriculum design issue is how to help students develop as learners of teaching through and beyond their formal academic studies. We report here on our attempts at the University of Warwick to address this issue, and consider wider implications for research and practice in initial language teacher education. At the Centre for Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick, we run a suite of MA programmes for English language teaching professionals from around the world. Most of these courses are for students with prior teaching experience, but our MA in English Language Studies and Methods (ELSM) programme is designed for students with less than two years’ experience and, in fact, the majority enrol straight after completing their undergraduate studies in their home countries

Factors that Determine Preschool Teacher Self-Efficacy in an Urban School District

The aim of the present study is to determine what teacher variables are predictive of preschool teacher self-efficacy in an urban school district. A total of 83 preschool teachers participated in the study. Teacher variables, such as years of teaching experience, job satisfaction, location of employment, age, and self-efficacy were included in a series of ANOVA analyses. Linear regression modeling reported years of teaching experience outside the birth-2nd grade setting (β= -.232, t(1,79) = -2.124, p\u3c .05) and job satisfaction (β = .294, t(2,78) = 2.793, p\u3c .01) were statistically significant predictors of preschool teacher self-efficacy. This study found that teachers with a greater amount of teaching experience outside of the birth-2nd setting feel less efficacious about themselves and their abilities to positively influence student achievement and outcomes in the preschool classroom. Further policy implications, such as hiring practices are discussed

The Method of Teaching New Testament Greek

Based on teaching experience the author proposes an approach to teaching New Testament Greek which has resulted in greater use of the langauge and less fear of its study