Individual Teachers Research Articles

Validazione e standardizzazione del questionario «Quin – Quando insegno»

Validation And Standardization Of The Questionnaire «Quin – When I Teach» The professionalism of a teacher is the topic of a wide-ranging debate aimed at overcoming crises of confidence in this category and reaffirming the teacher as a valuable source for students’ growth and cognitive and socio-emotional development. This questionnaire shows the validation and standardization process of a self-perception instrument aimed at teachers and designed to explore some of the main dimensions of teaching that, overcoming the limitations found in the literature, highlights the need to encourage teachers to reflect on themselves in their work. The tool can be used both by individual teachers and by schools as support in their self-evaluation processes. The information that emerges can be shared within the educating community to orient work and teaching practices in a specific school context. In perspective, the tool will be used in combination with others, intended for teachers and students, and accessible via a dedicated digital platform. The system as a whole will allow us to detect experiences, needs and requirements aimed to focus on the good practices implemented and to design targeted improvement actions.

Ideology and policy: exploring barriers to translanguaging between Chinese teachers and learners in a UK university

ABSTRACT Over the past few decades, there has been a sharp increase in the number of international students enrolling in postgraduate courses at UK universities, with students from China making up the single largest national group. At the same time, there has been a gradual increase in Chinese teachers and faculty members, as these same students continue their studies and build a life in UK academia. Ideally, this demographic shift should offer the opportunity for a flourishing multilingual and translingual academic space in UK universities. However, this is often not the case, with English remaining the default and often only option in teacher/student interactions, regardless of the linguistic and cultural background of the interlocutors. In this study, we explore the barriers to translanguaging practices between Chinese students and their Chinese dissertation supervisor. Through observation of supervisory sessions and interviews with students, we found considerable resistance to translanguaging practices involving the use of shared first language whilst in the UK learning environment. This resistance was seen to be driven by native-speakerist and monolinguistic ideologies, lack of institutional language policy, and actions and attitudes of individual students and teachers.

INDIVIDUALIZED INSTRUCTION METHODOLOGY IN ENGLISH TEACHING

INDIVIDUALIZED INSTRUCTION METHODOLOGY IN ENGLISH TEACHING

Radiologic Changes After 10 Years Postreduction in Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip Treated With Different Reduction Methods and Risk Factors for Osteoarthritis.

This study examined how radiologic indices at 10 years postreduction change over time and influence the final outcome through a comparative study of 3 reduction methods for developmental dysplasia of the hip, including the Pavlik harness, closed reduction, and open reduction (OR). Patients treated from 1990 to 2000 for dysplasia of the hip and followed up for >20 years were included in this study. Radiologic indices at 10 years postreduction and final follow-up (average 24 years postreduction) were measured in the 3 groups. The relative joint space of <66% compared with the healthy side was defined as positive osteoarthritis (OA) at the final follow-up. The relationship between OA and factors such as age, sex, method of reduction, radiologic indices, and Severin and Kalamchi classifications at 10 years postreduction were examined. Clinical evaluation was performed using the modified Harris Hip Score; a score of ≥80 was defined as good performance at the final follow-up. Sixty-five patients (totaling 74 hips) were included. There were no significant differences in radiologic indices between the 10-year postreduction time and final follow-up. Excluding 9 bilateral patients, based on the relative joint space, 21% of the patients (13/56 hips), were positive for OA. Univariate analysis showed that the incidence of positive OA was significantly associated with OR and Kalamchi grade 4 at 10 years postreduction. The modified Harris Hip Score was 80 or higher in 90% of the cases at the final follow-up. No significant changes in hip morphology were observed at 10 years postreduction. The Kalamchi classification at 10 years postreduction and OR were significantly associated with the incidence of OA at the final follow-up. Therefore, patients who undergo OR and/or display Kalamchi grade 4 have a high risk of developing OA and would require individual instructions for their daily lives to prevent further progression of OA and longer follow-up. Level Ⅲ-case-control study.

English Teachers' Self-development of Teaching Abilities

With the development of the society and the educational technology, teachers' self-development is becoming more and more important just like the life-long learning, so are the English teachers. However, there are some misconceptions in the self-development of teachers' teaching ability, which hinder their further development. Of course, these misconceptions have their own roots. In order to solve these problems, individual teachers should first have the consciousness of self-development, know more theories about the teaching ability, and make reflection on teaching timely, regularly, and systematically. Meanwhile they also need to strengthen the cooperation and communication with other teachers. In conclusion, self-development as well as the self-learning relies on perseverance and lifelong conduction.

SKILLS OF THE TEACHER AS AN EDUCATOR

This article provides information about the competencies of the teacher, the diagnosis of student learning, individual and collective teacher training, the main criteria for studying a group of students, and the organizational activities of the teacher. It also focuses on the main criteria for studying a student group, diagnostics of a teacher's activity, teacher's activity, teacher's activity system, and basic teacher skills.

A Career Ready Curriculum for Anthropologists

Abstract Anthropology has never had an organizing framework or template for teaching an agreed-upon set of courses, a sequence in which those courses should be offered, or the knowledge, skills, and experiences that should be acquired in those courses. Instead, teaching has been left up to individual instructors. Significant changes in the job market for graduates, involving a decrease in academic opportunities and the growth of opportunities in industry, non-profits, and government, have led to a reconceptualization of how and what we teach to prepare students for successful careers. With that in mind, we draw on recent work by the Anthropology Career Readiness Network, as well as earlier research, to construct a framework for curriculum change focused on bringing issues of practice and application into our teaching. We believe this framework will improve the career readiness of all students, whether they intend to become academics or practitioners.

An Investigation of Pre-Service English Teachers' Proficiency in Basic Teaching Skills During Classroom Practice

English teachers need basic teaching skills. This study examines how seven pre-service English teachers employ the eight core teaching skills. A qualitative study analyzed learning records from teaching practice assessments to explore how pre-service English teachers utilized these skills. It identified eight basic teaching techniques with varying levels of proficiency. First, explanation (93.88%), variation (92.06%), and small group and individual instruction (92.86%). Second, good skills include opening and closing lessons (75.51%), questioning (67.86%), and classroom management (78.57%). Finally, skills reinforcement (61.9%) and leading small group discussions (63.27%) are sufficient. The study indicates some pre-service English teachers need basic skills training.

단위학교의 초등 저학년 기초학력 진단과 지원에 관한 구조적 탐색

After COVID-19, as the overall problem of poor academic performance intensified, concerns about the poor basic academic ability of students in the lower grades of elementary school spread. In order to respond to these concerns, this study explored the school structure related to guaranteeing basic academic ability in order to find a plan to support basic academic ability in the lower elementary grades of unit school. We selected 4 elementary schools in the Gyeonggi area. Interviews were conducted with school administrators, external instructors, parents, superintendents at the Office of Education, and counselors at the Learning Comprehensive Clinic Center. The study have shown that the structural problems related to support for basic academic ability include project-oriented support rather than student-centered support, individual teacher's individual battle-style support rather than teacher community-centered support, low utilization of online platforms, and basic academic ability dependent on external support instructors. Also ,the support was focused on a specific area (literacy). Solutions to these structural problems were discussed, and plans for establishing a systematic basic education support system centered on unit schools were presented.

Blending “hard” and “soft” TQM for academic excellence: the University of Siena experience in the field of Life Sciences

PurposeFocusing on the adoption of Total Quality Management (TQM) principles in universities, this research paper explores how the “soft” dimensions of TQM trigger its “hard” dimensions considering them at the individual (micro-) and the university (meso-), and eventually at cluster (system-), levels.Design/methodology/approachAdopting a qualitative approach, this study presents an in-depth, longitudinal case study of University of Siena, one of the oldest Italian universities, that has been at the core of the research-based cluster on vaccines, today converged in the Tuscan Life Science Cluster. In particular, data were collected between 2018 and February 2022 and consists of archival data (press articles, websites, books), nine interviews to key informants, multiyear experience of the Life Sciences sector by two of the authors and other material put at disposal by university offices, and emails. Data analysis relied on a timeline, a coding procedure that considered three levels of analysis (individual, organization and cluster). Finally, the authors looked at the “how” and “why” the emerged themes have contributed to academic excellence.FindingsThis paper unveils how “soft” and “hard” sides of TQM are blended across multiple levels for reaching academic excellence. The grounded model emerged enlightens the importance of an individual “soft” dimension, academic passion (composed by its three subdimensions of individual research, teaching and entrepreneurial passion) and also sheds light on the organizational “soft” and “hard” sides that the university has been able to design for encouraging research, teaching and third mission quality. Academic excellence has been possible thanks to the capitalization of the individual and organizational “soft” sides into real outcomes as represented by the organizational and individual “hard” sides.Practical implicationsThe paper suggests the importance of TQM principles applied at universities' level, providing an in-depth description of “soft” and “hard” sides dimensions of TQM and their impact on all the three pillars of academic excellence. The study findings suggest implications for managers and professionals in the higher education domain as well as for policymakers emphasizing the importance of supporting the individual and organizational soft sides of TQM. The authors provide practical implications recommending universities to consider not only the organizational dimensions but also individual ones when pursuing higher education excellence. In particular, individual passion plays a crucial role and universities need to identify ways of nurturing it. The authors also recommend policymakers to think about new ways to sustain universities as crucial actors in boosting a cluster development, as well as to consider higher education institutions, especially in more rural areas, as a privileged player not only capable of nurturing academic excellence but also able of creating an internationally renowned cluster.Originality/valueTQM principles have been intensively analysed from an industrial perspective focusing on manufacturing and services, while this paper focuses on TQM in universities, presenting a grounded model that blends the individual and organizational “soft” and “hard” sides.

Basic RISC-V Instruction Set Architecture: Design and Validation

Abstract: This project's primary goal is to design and implement a simple RISC V instruction set architecture. This paper offers insights into the architecture of the risc v instruction set. This system employs the RISC V R-type (register) type instruction format. Using this format, we designed the fundamental isa and tested its functionality using verilog code. There is no licence fee for using RISC V, an open source isa that is available to everyone. Reduced instruction set (RISC) computers are created to make the individual instructions given to computers to perform various tasks more manageable. Most instruction set architectures, or isas, are proprietary and cannot be used or modified without permission from the companies; as a result, an isa that is free and open source, which is provided by risc v, will help in increasing the speed and lowering system costs by using these instruction set formats, and we are designing 32 bit isa architecture. instruction formats for the risc v instruction set architecture

Professed vis-à-vis Enacted Knowledge: Topic-Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge of University Mathematics Teachers

This study aimed to determine and observe the topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge of university mathematics teachers before and during limit and continuity concept instruction, and compare the teachers’ perceptions of their teaching to what happened in their classrooms using the case study method. The study involved five university mathematics teachers who teach ‘Applied Mathematics I’ to pre-engineering students at Assosa University, Ethiopia. Classroom observation sessions and pre-lesson teacher interviews were used as data sources. The data were analyzed by identifying common themes in each of the knowledge components prior to and during the lesson, and then by comparing the two phases. The findings from the teacher cases provided detailed contextual information and revealed knowledge manifestations in their lesson design and actual teaching processes. The study’s findings revealed that teachers had a good understanding of topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge components prior to the lesson, but did not demonstrate most of these in their actual teaching of limit and continuity; their reported and enacted knowledge differed. According to this study, individual teachers varied in their implementation of what they had mentioned about various components of topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge. The study proposes that understanding teachers’ knowledge during the lesson design phase and actual teaching could help fill the gap as a means of professional development, and thereby, improve pre-engineering students’ mathematics learning.

Evaluation of a New Faculty Teaching Workload Model.

Creating an equitable faculty workload model is an ongoing concern. This research evaluated the effectiveness of and satisfaction with a new faculty teaching workload model 1 year after implementation. Data were collected through secondary analysis of faculty assignment spreadsheets, online survey of all full-time nursing faculty members, online survey of college of nursing administrators, and financial analysis. Individual faculty teaching loads were not consistent with the workload model. Tenure-track faculty members were assigned higher workloads than the model. Faculty members strongly preferred to have input into their schedule. Both faculty members and administrators identified strengths and opportunities for the model. Creating equitable faculty assignments is complex. Administrators and faculty members need to establish a mutual understanding of the process used to calculate equitable workloads and protect time for service and scholarship commensurate with faculty rank.

Teaching Students How to Think: A Longitudinal Qualitative Study of Preclerkship Clinical Reasoning Instruction

ABSTRACT Introduction An objective of undergraduate medical education is to teach students how to think like physicians through a process called clinical reasoning. Currently, clerkship directors often feel that students enter their clinical years with a marginal comprehension of clinical reasoning concepts; instruction in this area could be improved. Although there have been previous educational studies assessing curricular interventions to improve the instruction of clinical reasoning, it is not yet known what happens at an individual level between an instructor and a small group of students in the teaching of clinical reasoning. This research will identify how clinical reasoning is being taught in a longitudinal clinical reasoning course. Methods The Introduction to Clinical Reasoning course is a 15-month-long case-based course held in the preclinical curriculum of the USU. Individual sessions involve small-group learning with approximately seven students per group. Throughout the academic year of 2018-2019, 10 of these sessions were videotaped and transcribed. All participants provided informed consent. A thematic analysis was performed using a constant comparative approach. Transcripts were analyzed until thematic sufficiency was reached. Results Over 300 pages of text were analyzed; new themes ceased to be identified after the eighth session. Topics included obstetrics, general pediatric issues, jaundice, and chest pain; these sessions were taught either by attendings, fellows, or fourth-year medical students with attending supervision. The thematic analysis revealed themes associated with clinical reasoning processes, themes associated with knowledge organization, and a theme associated with clinical reasoning in the military. The clinical reasoning process themes included problem list construction and refinement, differential diagnosis, naming and defending a leading diagnosis, and clinical reasoning heuristics. The knowledge organization themes included illness script development and refinement and semantic competence. The final theme was military relevant care. Conclusions In individual teaching sessions, preceptors emphasized problem lists, differential diagnoses, and leading diagnoses in a course designed to strengthen diagnostic reasoning in preclerkship medical students. The use of illness scripts was more often implicitly used rather than explicitly stated, and students used these sessions to use and apply new vocabularies related to a clinical presentation. Instruction in clinical reasoning could be improved by encouraging faculty to provide further context to their thinking, by encouraging the comparing and contrasting of illness scripts, and by using a shared vocabulary for clinical reasoning. Limitations of this study include that it was done in the context of a clinical reasoning course and that it was done at a military medical school, which may limit generalizability. Future studies could determine if faculty development could improve the frequency of references to the clinical reasoning processes that could improve student readiness for clerkship.

The Status Quo and Analysis of English Teacher Identity in Rural Primary Schools

The identity of a rural teacher refers to the individual teacher’s perception and recognition of their teaching role in different contexts. This study focuses on English teachers in rural elementary schools, using a questionnaire to explore the current status quo of their identity from four aspects: environmental, professional, social and personal identity. Also, the study uncovers identity crisis and propose solutions. The results show that the level of identity among rural English teachers is relatively low. Specifically, they lack a sense of belonging to the rural environment, a large education gap that negatively affects their professional identity, and a personal identity crisis primarily manifested in the mismatch between work input and teaching satisfaction. Additionally, the level of their social identity is also low. This study recommends adjustments from three respects: society, school, and teachers, in order to enhance the identity of rural English teachers and promote the construction of a high-quality rural teaching team.

Reorienting toward complexity in teacher education

ABSTRACT We are teacher educators committed to reorienting toward complexity in teacher education, given the multiplex terrain of the education landscape that awaits teacher candidates (TCs) upon receiving their Bachelor of Education degree. Within our context, we are preparing teachers to work with a recently revised curriculum and many regional, national, and global challenges and mandates, especially the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Report of Canada (2015). By encouraging the agency of the TCs – the scholar-practitioners – with whom we work, we aspire to a reflective and deliberative approach of engaging with issues, needs, and problems as caring humans. This paper traces our journey of collaborative inquiry as we revisit, reframe and repurpose influential scholarship. This involves pedagogical conceptions of experience and reflective thinking, informing the mindful complexity of being and becoming in place, while foregrounding local Indigenous Ways of Knowing and experiential learning as illustrations of a scholar-practitioner stance. Through inquiry in community, recognising the importance of drawing upon individual Teacher Candidate identity, we articulate how we learn as teacher educators to address the complex, contemporary issues of: equity, diversity, inclusion; decolonisation; education in times of crisis; and the challenges of ecological well-being.

Slow breathing for reducing stress: The effect of extending exhale.

Slow breathing techniques are commonly used to reduce stress. While it is believed by mind-body practitioners that extending the exhale time relative to inhale increases relaxation, this has not been demonstrated. We conducted a 12-week randomized, single-blinded trial among 100 participants to compare if yoga-based slow breathing with an exhale greater inhale versus an exhale equals inhale produces measurable differences in physiological and psychological stress among healthy adults. Participants mean individual instruction attendance was 10.7± 1.5 sessions out of 12 offered sessions. The mean weekly home practice was 4.8 ± 1.2 practices per week. There was no statistical difference between treatment groups for frequency of class attendance, home practice, or achieved slow breathing respiratory rate. Participants demonstrated fidelity to assigned breath ratios with home practice as measured by remote biometric assessments through smart garments (HEXOSKIN). Regular slow breathing practice for 12 weeks significantly reduced psychological stress as measured by PROMIS Anxiety (-4.85S.D. ±5.53, confidence interval [-5.60, -3.00], but not physiological stress as measured by heart rate variability. Group comparisons showed small effect size differences (d=0.2) with further reductions in psychological stress and physiological stress from baseline to 12 weeks for exhale greater than inhale versus exhale equals inhale, however these differences were not statistically significant. While slow breathing significantly reduces psychological stress, breath ratios do not have a significant differential effect on stress reduction among healthy adults.

Reflective Practice for TESOL Teachers: “What, Why, When and How”

In this invited paper for Expositions in the JALT Journal I will address all aspects of reflective practice for TESOL teachers so that readers can consider implementing it in their daily practice in Japan. The paper outlines and discusses what reflective practice is, why it is important, when, and how language teachers can do it. More specifically I outline and discuss two different frameworks I developed for teachers wishing to reflect on their practice that I developed over the past 30 years. The first is an early framework I developed has five interrelated components and is useful for groups of teachers coming together to reflect on their practice. The second more recent framework also has five interrelated stages and suitable for individual teachers as well as groups when wishing to reflect on their practice. I believe that both frameworks may be useful for teachers to consider when wishing to engage in reflective practice in Japan.

Exploring Irish Faculty Members' Experiences of Delivering a Multi-modal Medical Education Course in a Resource-limited Environment

Introduction:In November 2022, a group of eleven Irish doctors traveled to St. Joseph’s Hospital, Nyabondo, Kenya with Global Emergency Care Skills (GECS), an Irish NGO. The group delivered a training course to healthcare staff in the hospital, in advance of the scheduled opening of a regional Major Trauma Center on site. This course incorporated didactic lectures, skills stations and simulated clinical scenarios and covered commonly encountered emergency presentations in low and middle income countries (LMICs).Method:A qualitative study was conducted using a free text questionnaire with faculty, exploring their experiences of education in a resource-limited environment. Responses were interpreted by performing thematic analysis to identify recurring themes.Results:All eleven faculty members completed the survey in full. An interrogation of the responses identified commonalities across the majority of faculty members. The main themes encountered were increased recognition of the lack of postgraduate training in LMICs, the challenge of devising material appropriate to a resource-limited setting, a growth in confidence and individual teaching ability, and a reaffirmation of the effectiveness of simulation teaching in medical education.Conclusion:This survey demonstrates the significant impact of teaching such a course on faculty members. Despite the challenges encountered, faculty members strongly felt that simulation training offered significant benefits. Survey respondents noted that moulage could be adapted to suit the needs of course participants without compromising on educational goals. In the absence of formal postgraduate education in LMICs, external agencies continue to play an important role in the delivery of structured training programs.

Analysis of Individual Performance through Job Satisfaction: A Study of Faculty Members in Public Sector Universities in Sindh, Pakistan

Job satisfaction is the fundamental factor to enhance individual job performance. The teacher's performance affects the optimum level of university students learning and development. The main purpose of this research is to analyze the impact of job satisfaction on individual teachers' performance in public sector universities in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The empirical data was collected through structured questionnaires. A sample of 500 working faculty members was chosen and a structured questionnaire was distributed among them. KMO is 0.653. The reliability of scales is above 0.7. A single Harman test suggests 14% variations in 1st factor. Component matrix applied for the relationship among items. Findings suggest that compensation (β= 0.293, p=0.000), promotional opportunities (β=0.128, p=0.046), work environment (β=0.112, p=0.015), training opportunities (β=0.136, p=0.034), relationship with supervisor (β=0.223, p=0.000), nature of work (β=0.274, p= 0.000) and performance appraisal (β=0.139, p=0.000) are found conducive to enhancing individual performance but workgroup (β=0.185, p=0.057)has no impact in the enhancement of individual performance. It demonstrates that job satisfaction is a significant element in improving individual performance. Job Satisfaction policies should be developed by management to maintain the contentment of their teachers. The hygiene components of Herzberg's theory should be thoroughly studied and implemented in public sector universities to improve job satisfaction and maximize teaching performance.