Changes In Teaching Practices Research Articles

Redefining our Roles as Teachers, Learners, and Leaders through Continuous Cycles of Practitioner Inquiry

ABSTRACTPractitioner inquiry is an alternative form of professional learning that can result in significant changes in teacher practice and student learning. We share our evolution as teacher learners within our classrooms and teacher leaders within our school as we progressed through 10 years of continuous cycles of practitioner inquiry. Beginning as novice inquirers examining classroom-specific problems of practice and evolving into experienced facilitators of practitioner inquiry, we have expanded our roles as teacher leaders among our colleagues as we collaboratively lead a secondary change initiative in equitable assessment practices, a direct result of continuously making our learning through engagement in practitioner inquiry public.

The Implications of Learning Theories to Assessment and Instructional Scaffolding Techniques

Learning theories, which provide a profound coherence and understanding in changing teaching practices and standards, are imperative to the choice and employment of assessment and instructional scaffolding techniques. The paradigm shift of assessment “of” learning to assessment “for” learning has brought diversity to educational practice especially in the propagation of creativity and critical thinking among students. Faculty members are to embrace this challenge of systematization of assessment and instructional scaffolding techniques if they are committed to effective teaching and learning. Hence, they need to extend feedback and feed-forward mechanisms and model situations for the learners to engage in appropriate action which lead them to the closure of the gap between current and good performance.

Mathematics teachers’ conceptions and constraints for changing teaching practices in Brazilian higher education: an analysis through activity theory

ABSTRACTIn recent years, changes in the Brazilian economic and social scenario have generated a growing demand for higher education in the country. In response to this new context, the federal government launched in 2007 a programme aiming at expansion of the enrolment to public higher education. In such environment of changes, several proposals have emerged to adapt the Brazilian federal universities to a new reality. Taking this context into account, the focus of our study is on proposals from the Mathematics Department of the Federal University of Minas Gerais. Their aim is to create a new model of teaching practices for the freshman lessons of the Exact Sciences area, which at first were being experimented in special classrooms of students attending their first course on differential and integral calculus. The data were collected from interviews with students and professors from the mathematics department. They were analyzed and systematized using an activity theory approach. We became instigated by a model developed by Engeström in his study on the changes in the Finnish public health system, considering it as a test (testbench) for activity theory in its application to a particular case. Following Engeström's footsteps when developing his research, we arrived at our own model showing the internal tensions in the activity of reformulation of the courses offered by the Department of Mathematics and in the conceptions of teachers that promote – and constraint – the proposals for change.

Change and obduracy in university teaching practices: tracing agency in professional development

Research into effectiveness of teaching practices and professional development invites questions of teaching and learning change: how it takes effect and is accounted for, and where its agency is claimed and contested across a range of institutional, disciplinary and pedagogical actors. This article investigates change in teaching practices and professional development through the notion of obduracy (Law, 2003): ordered arrangements that persist in the background and surface in a process of change. In focussing on practice as the object of inquiry, this study is part of a shift away from the study of professional learning drawing on individualist, cognitive traditions towards practice-oriented understandings of change and agency as an effect of social and material arrangements. The setting for this study of teaching practice is two disciplinary academic collectives, or workgroups, in one Australian university. Rather than approaching change as a human-centred and intentional process, the method of sociomaterial tracing was applied to teaching practice undergoing an institutional change process. The study highlights the process in which change is assembled, resisted or accomplished through heterogeneous networks of curriculum, discourses, technologies, and policies. Teaching and learning change, it is argued, involves recognising how obduracy is embedded in distinct networks across the university. The contribution of this study is to draw attention to the agentic role of materials and spaces in the negotiation and stabilisation of teaching practices and in approaches to professional development.

A mandala of faculty development: using theory-based evaluation to explore contexts, mechanisms and outcomes.

Demonstrating the impact of faculty development, is an increasingly mandated and ever elusive goal. Questions have been raised about the adequacy of current approaches. Here, we integrate realist and theory-driven evaluation approaches, to evaluate an intensive longitudinal program. Our aim is to elucidate how faculty development can work to support a range of outcomes among individuals and sub-systems in the academic health sciences. We conducted retrospective framework analysis of qualitative focus group data gathered from 79 program participants (5 cohorts) over a 10-year period. Additionally, we conducted follow-up interviews with 15 alumni. We represent the interactive relationships among contexts, mechanisms, and outcomes as a "mandala" of faculty development. The mandala illustrates the relationship between the immediate program context, and the broader institutional context of academic health sciences, and identifies relevant change mechanisms. Four primary mechanisms were collaborative-reflection, self-reflection and self-regulation, relationship building, and pedagogical knowledge acquisition. Individual outcomes, including changed teaching practices, are described. Perhaps most interestingly, secondary mechanisms-psychological and structural empowerment-contributed to institutional outcomes through participants' engagement in change leadership in their local contexts. Our theoretically informed evaluation approach models how faculty development, situated in appropriate institutional contexts, can trigger mechanisms that yield a range of benefits for faculty and their institutions. The adopted methods hold potential as a way to demonstrate the often difficult-to-measure outcomes of educational programs, and allow for critical examination as to how and whether faculty development programs can accomplish their espoused goals.

Closing the Racial Discipline Gap in Classrooms by Changing Teacher Practice

.Black students are issued school discipline sanctions at rates higher than members of other racial and ethnic groups, underscoring the need for professional development that addresses this gap. In 86 secondary school classrooms, a randomized controlled trial examined the effects of a 2-year teacher-coaching program, My Teaching Partner Secondary (MTP-S). Results from the second year of coaching and from the year after coaching was discontinued replicated previous findings from the first year of coaching—intervention teachers had no significant disparities in discipline referrals between Black students and their classmates, as compared with teachers in the control condition, for whom racial discipline gaps remained. Thus, MTP-S effects were replicated in the second year of coaching and maintained when coaching was withdrawn. Mediational analyses identified mechanisms for these effects; Black students had a low probability of receiving disciplinary referrals with teachers who increased skills to engage students in high-level analysis and inquiry.

Stirring the Pot: Supporting and Challenging General Education Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty to Change Teaching and Assessment Practice

Abstract Evidence-based instructional practices (ebips) have been associated with positive student outcomes; however, institutions struggle to catalyze widespread adoption of these practices in general education science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) courses. Further, linking ebips with integrated learning assessment is rarely discussed in the literature, even though principles of continuous course design for quality higher education assume the connection of learning outcomes, teaching practices, and assessment. This qualitative action research study documents faculty attempting to utilize ebips and authentic assessment when they were provided support and accountability over multiple semesters. It documents participants' current practices and encourage shifts in both teaching and assessment practices targeting greater student success in stem general education courses. Narrative data drawn from interviews and written reflection describe the impact of structured faculty observation and cross-disciplinary conversation on participants' pedagogical and assessment choices. The faculty participants' voices vividly illustrate our findings: incentives, reflection, mentorship, and collaboration over multiple semesters support changing pedagogical practices and integrating outcomes assessment. While stem-based, the study findings are applicable across the general education curriculum.

Stirring the Pot: Supporting and Challenging General Education Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty to Change Teaching and Assessment Practice

Abstract Evidence-based instructional practices (ebips) have been associated with positive student outcomes; however, institutions struggle to catalyze widespread adoption of these practices in general education science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) courses. Further, linking ebips with integrated learning assessment is rarely discussed in the literature, even though principles of continuous course design for quality higher education assume the connection of learning outcomes, teaching practices, and assessment. This qualitative action research study documents faculty attempting to utilize ebips and authentic assessment when they were provided support and accountability over multiple semesters. It documents participants' current practices and encourage shifts in both teaching and assessment practices targeting greater student success in stem general education courses. Narrative data drawn from interviews and written reflection describe the impact of structured faculty observation and cross-disciplinary conversation on participants' pedagogical and assessment choices. The faculty participants' voices vividly illustrate our findings: incentives, reflection, mentorship, and collaboration over multiple semesters support changing pedagogical practices and integrating outcomes assessment. While stem-based, the study findings are applicable across the general education curriculum.

The Implementation of Project Method: Educating Golden Generation or Conservation Nation On Exhibition Subject ECE Department

The efforts to improve and enhance the quality of education by making curriculum changes, both structural and its formulation procedures would be more meaningful if accompanied by changes in teaching practices that support the successful implementation of the curriculum. One method that can be used is Project Method, whereby it is expected that the quality of student learning experiences in the classroom is more effective and instill the character associated with the environmental, cultural, and natural resources conservation. The purpose and benefits of this research are to provide an overview of procedures or mechanisms of implementation and find out how much the success rate of the method used in learning, especially in exhibition subjects with project method. This research is a classroom action research with the approach used in this study is a descriptive qualitative approach. The population in this study was all 90 studentsofEarly Childhood Education Department at Semarang State University who are on 6th semester who are taking exhibition subject. The result shows that the procedure of project method activities have to go through stages of actions and observations, which showed at the beginning of the first cycle obtained an average of student ability in this activity amounted to 59.25% and increased in the second cycle achieving 93.08%. It shows that by using the project method, it is very effective to improve the quality of learning for students. How to cite Diana & Eka, R. A. A. (2015). The Implementation of Project Method: Educating Golden Generation or Conservation Nation On Exhibition Subject ECE Department. Indonesian Journal of Early Childhood Education Studies , 4(2), 96-100. doi:10.15294/ijeces.v4i2.9463 DOI 10.15294/ijeces.v4i2.9463

Using Bug-In-Ear Coaching to Improve Instruction

Feedback on teaching has traditionally been provided through observation and subsequent discussion. However, Rock et al. (2009) state that "researchers have demonstrated that consistent delivery of immediate, positive, corrective, and specific feedback can influence both teacher attitudes and teacher behavior" (p. 65). Using the combination of video streaming and bug-in-ear technology, Rock and colleagues have been able to coach teachers while they are delivering instruction to use effective practices (e.g., Rock et al., 2014).This presentation will highlight findings from an ongoing project to use bug-in-ear coaching to improve teacher use of effective instructional practices in K-12 and in higher education. We will describe our process and pitfalls in establishing the project as well as preliminary results for changing teacher practice with interns teaching in local schools as well as doctoral students and faculty. Results from participants' reflections, changes in teacher instructional behavior, and changes in coaching behavior will be presented. We will include a demonstration of real time BIE coaching.Discussion will include:The need for real-time coaching, especially for doctoral studentsThe impact of coaching on teacher and coach behaviorThe importance of appropriate development and introduction of coachingFuture research directions.

The impacts of professional learning communities on science teachers’ knowledge, practice and student learning: a review

The purpose of this article is to provide a review of empirical studies investigating the impact of professional learning communities (PLCs) on science teachers’ practices and knowledge. Across 14 articles that satisfied the definition we embraced, most were devoted to the change in science teaching practices, disciplinary content knowledge (DCK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of K–12 science teachers. Although a small number of studies have implicit focus on comparing measures of student learning, we set out to examine the studies in science education and present how teachers engaged in PLCs focusing on examining and exploring strategies to promote student learning. Analysis of the related studies resulted in the following: PLCs can help teachers increase their PCK and DCK; increases in PCK and DCK may facilitate the change in teacher practices from traditional into more inquiry-based approaches; science teachers collaboratively focusing on student learning in PLCs are more likely to change their practice; and studies do not embrace student learning as an essential feature of PLCs. Methodological flaws and future directions along with implications for science teachers’ professional development are discussed.

Opportunities for learning given to prospective mathematics teachers: between ritual and explorative instruction

The mathematics education field, including prospective teacher education program, has seen a continuous effort to change teaching practices to be more cognitively demanding, conceptually oriented and student centred. Our goal in this study was to examine how certain underlying assumptions about mathematical learning, as reflected in a skilled instructor’s discourse, align with opportunities to learn. The data included a set of fully transcribed 11 lessons from an introductory algebra course. The method of analysis was built upon the communicational (commognitive) framework and included discerning between the instructor’s mathematizing and identifying talk. This framework was extended to quantify the instructor’s identifying talk over the whole set of lessons. Our findings showed that at the surface level, the instruction in the class seemed to align with “explorative” goals. On a deeper level, however, it was more aligned with “ritual” goals that are concerned with producing narratives about people, not about mathematics.

Is changing teaching practice the mission impossible? A case study of continuing professional development for primary school teachers in Senegal

This paper reports on research into a continuing professional development (CPD) project, Projet de Renforcement de l’Enseignement des Mathématiques, des Sciences et de la Technologie (PREMST) [Strengthening Mathematics, Science, and Technologies in Education Project]. The literature review reveals few examples of CPD changing the teaching practices of teachers, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. By using the cases of five teachers, this research seeks to understand the complexities of pedagogical change. The research found that PREMST has helped teachers envision how teaching should be conducted, but it has not necessarily brought a positive change in the learning of pupils because it has not changed how teachers think about teaching. Given the difficulties involved in pedagogical change, emphasising specific skills may have been the necessary and practical first step, but changing these teaching practices is not enough. The research found that teachers still paid little attention to the learning of individual pupils. The research concludes that the recently initiated practice of lesson study shows considerable potential to build on what has already been achieved.

Sustainable changes in teacher practices: a longitudinal analysis of the classroom practices of high school mathematics teachers

This study examines the effects of professional development on various aspects of teachers’ mathematics instruction. Using data collected between 2005 and 2009, we examined the extent to which the instructional practices of 49 US high school teachers who participated in content-based, sustained professional development changed over time. We found that changes in several aspects of their instructional practices followed somewhat different patterns. Teachers made statistically significant and steady changes in mathematical discourse, instructional clarity, and the development of students’ mathematical habit of mind, but not in student interactions or in the use of multiple representations.

Crossing Boundaries: Teacher Trainers and Science Curriculum Implementation in East Timor

In-service teacher training is being implemented in East Timor in order to help Timorese teachers, who are ill-prepared to exploit new educational resources, as part of the restructuring of the secondary education curriculum in Portuguese. Such in-service teacher training has been implemented for all 14 disciplines, including the science and technology ones. Taking into account such issues, the purpose of the study is to i) characterize the Chemistry, Geology and Physics teacher training being implemented, using the new educational resources; ii) identify changes in the pedagogical practices of Timorese teachers resulting from such training and iii) identify possible constraints on quality pedagogical practice. The research paradigm adopted in this study is constructivist-interpretative, with the qualitative study as its organizing perspective. In conducting this study, semi-structured interviews were carried out with three Portuguese trainers at the beginning of 2014 and some training sessions were directly observed and audio recorded. Content analysis, guided by specific categories, was used to analyse the collected data. Findings show that the in-service teacher training developed in all of the three areas focused on subjects and teaching and learning methodologies regarding the new educational resources produced. The Timorese teachers have introduced some changes in pedagogical practices, such as group work and questioning. However, there is still much to do. The in-service teacher training needs to continue to support an appropriate use of these resources. It is also important to simultaneously focus on improvements in Timorese school infrastructures, and on the continuous training of Timorese trainers in the Portuguese language.

A política de cotas raciais e as mudanças na prática pedagógica

Este estudo teve como objetivo identificar as mudanças na prática pedagógica após a implantação da política de cotas raciais, com ênfase na população negra em um curso técnico. Trata-se de pesquisa qualitativa exploratória, desenvolvida com sete professores. Como práticas pedagógicas que contribuem para a implantação do sistema de cotas raciais, evidenciaram-se as metodologias ativas de ensino e a leitura de materiais acadêmico-científicos. Como práticas que desfavorecem a implantação da política estão a postura do docente e o modelo convencional/tradicional de ensino. Sugere-se a formação continuada dos docentes como estratégia que pode auxiliar para um repensar coletivo dos professores, atentando para as questões étnico-raciais e construindo uma prática pedagógica contextualizada.Palavras-chave: política de cotas, ensino, práticas pedagógicas.

Central practitioners’ developing legitimate peripheral participation in a community of practice for changing schools

<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><p>As new technologies continue to shape society, there has been a greater need for communities of practice to facilitate changing teaching and learning practices through technology in schools. Legitimate peripheral participation through these communities of practice has become an essential means to spread and support this technology integration movement, but understanding this participation in communities has been limited. This paper reports on a study of how central practitioners developed legitimate peripheral participation episodes in an inter-organisational, international community of practice. It describes the qualitative, case study approach to the study, and outlines the community of practice, its central practitioners and the legitimate peripheral participation episodes in which they participated. The paper presents and discusses essential central practitioner individual and organisational factors which enabled the continuity and change of legitimate peripheral participation episodes in the community. Individual factors to emerge from the study include central practitioners’ desire for continuous professional development and individual agency. Organisational factors include an organisation’s distinctive mission, its distinctive roles, and constant negotiation, including conflicts of interest, between organisations and their members. The paper concludes with considerations of the value and relevance of legitimate peripheral participation in an inter-organisational community of practice for changing practices.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 28.35pt 0pt; line-height: normal;"> </p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span>

An Analytic Study of the Professional Development Research in Early Childhood Education

Research Findings: The goal of this study was to examine empirical research on the design, delivery, and measurement of the effects of professional development (PD) for early childhood educators in order to provide insight into what the field has accomplished as well as suggest directions for future PD programs and research. Through the use of rigorous inclusion criteria outlined by S. M. Wilson, R. E. Floden, and J. Ferrini-Mundy (2001), 73 studies were included and analyzed. On average, 25% (M = 12.68, SD = 9.99) of references in each study were specifically about PD. The majority of studies (n = 39) targeted some form of language and literacy instruction, whereas only 5 studies targeted math and 1 study targeted science. A total of 35 different delivery mechanisms were used to provide PD, with 40 studies including some form of coaching and 45 including training workshops. The studies used a wide range of methods to measure PD-related outcomes: 51% (n = 37) of studies examined changes in teacher practice, 18% (n = 13) measured changes in teachers’ knowledge, 40% (n = 29) measured changes in children’s learning, and 11% (n = 8) measured changes in children’s behavior. Practice or Policy: Based on the results of this study, there are 4 major ways in which PD for early childhood educators can be developed. Researchers and providers of PD should (a) continue to draw from multiple resources to inform PD implementation designs, (b) include more diversity in the content of instruction targeted by PD, (c) experiment with innovative formats for delivering PD, and (d) create better means of evaluating PD.

The Effect of Real-time Visual Performance Feedback on Teacher Feedback: A Preliminary Investigation

Although researchers have identified a number of instructional strategies as evidence-based, teachers often do not employ these practices sufficiently, perpetuating a research-to-practice gap. Traditional professional development is often insufficient to change teacher practice, resulting in a need for specific, supplemental interventions. Performance feedback is one such method that has a growing evidence base. However, while feedback has been demonstrated to be most effective when delivered immediately, performance feedback is often provided to teachers on a deferred schedule (e.g., the next day). In this preliminary investigation with one middle school mathematics teacher, we used a withdrawal design to evaluate a method for delivering visual performance feedback (VPF) in real-time using commonly available technology. Results demonstrated that the teacher’s overall frequency of positive feedback increased following VPF delivery, with positive collateral effects on student behavior. Findings suggest the intervention warrants further study; implications for practice and future research are discussed.

A One-Day Training Workshop has the Ability to Motivate Teachers and Bring about Real Change in Teaching Practice: A Case Study

In this article the researcher sought to find out if a single, short continuing professional development music workshop could cause any change in the classroom and what effect it would have on the professional and personal development of the attendees. The article focused on a case study that described the emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual impact that a training workshop for black musically untrained pre-school teachers had on a pre-school teacher from an Informal Settlement in Germiston, East Rand of Johannesburg. Observation at her pre-school site and an in-depth interview revealed the meaning, importance and function the music training had for her. The findings showed that the music training provided this teacher with ways of understanding, developed her music skills and developed her self-esteem. The study highlights how the methodology that was used to expose a pre-school teacher who have never been exposed to Western classical music before changed her attitude towards this specific music style, developed her creativity and motivated her to such an extent that she felt competent and confident to teach Western classical music. The results of the evaluation suggest that a short-duration, well- structured music education workshop based on practical and interactive teaching ideas, presented to teachers with no previous experience of Western classical music can impact their learning positively in the long run. The research found that short induction sessions by experienced presenters, can change teachers’ attitudes towards Western classical music and motivate them in a positive way and also uplift their personal development in the process.