Individual Teaching Practices Research Articles

Evolving from Didactic to Dialogic: How to Improve Faculty Development and Support Faculty Developers by Using Action Research

Problem : Since competency-based medical education has gained widespread acceptance to guide curricular reforms, faculty development has been regarded as an indispensable element to make these programs successful. Faculty developers have striven to design and deliver myriad of programs or workshops to better prepare faculty members for fulfilling their teaching roles. However, how faculty developers can improve workshop delivery by researching their teaching practices remains underexplored. Intervention : Action research aims to understand real world practices and advocates for formulation of doable plans through cycles of investigations, and ultimately contributes to claims of knowledge and a progression toward the goal of practice improvement. This methodology aligns with the aim of this study to understand how I could improve a faculty development workshop by researching my teaching practices. Context : In 2016, we conducted four cycles of action research in the context of mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise (mini-CEX) workshops within a faculty development program aiming for developing teaching and assessment competence in faculty members. We collected multiple sources of qualitative data for thematic analysis, including my reflective journal, field notes taken by a researcher-observer, and post-workshop written reflection and feedback in portfolio from fourteen workshop attendees aiming to develop faculty teaching and assessment competence. Impact : By doing action research, I scrutinized each step as an opportunity for change, enacted adaptive practice and reflection on my teaching practices, and formulated action plans to transform a workshop design through each cycle. In so doing, my workshop evolved from didactic to dialogic with continuous improvement on enhanced engagement, focused discussion and participant empowerment through a collaborative inquiry into feedback practice. Moreover, these processes of action research also supported my growth as a faculty developer. Lessons Learned: The systematic approach of action research serves as a vehicle to enable faculty developers to investigate individual teaching practices as a self-reflective inquiry, to examine, rectify, and transform processes of program delivery, and ultimately introduce themselves as agents for change and improvement.

Faculty development participants' experiences of working with change in clinical settings.

Many universities offer faculty development to support teachers in developing and improving clinical education in the health professions. Although research shows outcomes on individual levels after faculty development, little is known about its contribution to change within the organisation. To advance current faculty development and ensure that it can support wider educational change in healthcare organisations, a better understanding of educational change practices in these settings is needed. This study therefore explores the experiences of working with educational change in clinical workplaces from the perspective of clinical educators that have undergone faculty development training. The study adopts perspectives on change as influenced by context to include the impact from clinical workplaces on individuals' change work. A collective case study design with a multi-institutional approach was applied and individual interviews with 14 clinical educators from two universities, one in Sweden and one in South Africa, were conducted. Data were analysed separately before a cross-case analysis was performed, synthesising the findings from both sites. Participants shared experiences of having limited opportunities to work with educational change beyond their own individual teaching practices within their clinical workplaces. Also, participants appeared to refrain from leading change and rather pursued change on their own or relied on indirect approaches to change. They described several workplace aspects influencing their work, including the organisation and management of teaching, the resources and incentives for teaching and the attitudes and beliefs about teaching within the clinical community. The study shows that clinical educators are part of communities and contexts that shape their approaches to educational change and influence which changes are feasible and which ones are not. It thus adds to the understanding of change as contextual and dynamic and contributes with implications for how to advance faculty development to better support change in practice.

Validation of Modified SOFIT+: Relating Physical Activity Promoting Practices in Physical Education to Moderate-to-vigorous Physical Activity in 5–6 Year Old Children

ABSTRACT To validate the modified System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time to measure teacher practices related to physical activity promotion (SOFIT+) in physical education (PE) amongst 5–6-year-old-children. Participants (n = 162, 53% female, 6.0 ± 0.3 yrs) were recruited from 9 schools. Video-recordings of 45 PE lessons from 9 teachers/coaches were coded using a modified SOFIT+. Accelerometers measured children’s moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Validity was assessed via multinomial regression measuring the relationship of both SOFIT+ index score and individual teaching practices with children’s MVPA. Inter-rater reliability was examined. A 1 unit increase in the SOFIT+ index was associated with increased likelihood to engage in 10–19 sec, 20–29 sec and 30–40 sec of MVPA, compared to 0–10 sec. Most of the observed teaching practices were significantly related to children’s MVPA. Inter-rater percentage of agreement ranged between 88.8% and 99.7%. SOFIT+ is a valid and reliable assessment of teaching practices related to MVPA promotion in PE amongst 5–6-year-old-children.

Observed teaching practices interpreted from the perspective of school-based teacher educators

ABSTRACT A teacher supervising the school practice of student teachers is regarded as an expert who sets an example of good teaching to future teachers and chooses teaching practices that support pupils’ cognitive and social development. This study examines the implementation of teaching practices and the interpretation of these practices by school-based teacher educators who supervise school practice of student teachers at universities’ innovation schools. Teaching practices were examined using observation and video-stimulated recall interviews. The school-based teacher educators widely used and described in detail individual teaching practices that supported pupils’ cognitive development. However, observations indicated a more limited use of collaborative teaching practices that promote pupils’ social and cognitive development. Setting a good example of teaching gives school-based teacher educators the opportunity to develop both student teachers’ and their own teaching competence.

Understanding Conditions for Teaching Innovation in Postsecondary Education: Development and Validation of the Survey of Climate for Instructional Improvement (SCII)

Adoption of evidence based instructional practices is not widespread in American institutions of higher education. This is due in part to reforms focusing on individual teaching practices rather than conditions for system reform. Since measurement of organizational conditions is critical for widespread change, we developed and validated the Survey of Climate for Instructional Improvement (SCII). SCII has 30 Likert-scale statements, 5 supplementary questions, and 9 demographic items. It is designed to measure five aspects of organizational climate in postsecondary settings: leadership, collegiality, resources, respect for teaching, and organizational support. The goal of this paper is to describe (a) our development process, (b) steps in validation, and (c) patterns in the data from 917 instructors at six institutions of higher education in the United States. Our results indicate that the instrument is reliable and has the potential to differentiate among institutions, disciplines, departments, and other demographic variables. Although the survey is interdisciplinary, we highlight notable organizational climate differences between STEM and non-STEM disciplines. We also identify organizational climate differences for cis-gender women and graduate student instructors, highlighting unique professional support needs for these groups. We expect our findings and the instrument to be useful for campus change leaders, faculty developers, higher education researchers, and discipline-based education researchers.

ISTORIJSKI RAZVOJ NASTAVE VEŠTINE PISANjA: EKSPRESIVNI, KOGNITIVNI, SOCIOLOŠKI I DISKURSNI PERIOD

Writing as an activity may be observed simultaneously from the perspective of the nature of the writing skill, but at the same time from the basis of writing in L2, which requires a higher level of cognitive capacity. In theoretical research there is a consensus that both writing in the mother tongue and writing in a foreign language requires a systematic approach and that the writing skill can be taught to students through various approaches. Therefore, we are able to observe a historic development and change from the traditional to contemporary approaches to teaching the writing skill, and the change from writing as a product to writing as a process. The aim of this study is to reflect upon this development through the expressive, cognitive, social and discourse periods and to present the gradual development of the writing as a process approach, both from the perspective of science and practice. The results of the study may contribute to the individual teaching practice, but also to the institutional policy towards the practice of teaching the writing skill.

Teacher capabilities in a multicultural educational environment: an analysis of the impact of a professional development project

With more programmes being taught through English in non-Anglophone contexts, higher education lecturers are faced with new challenges. This article briefly presents a professional development initiative carried out at departmental level as an intervention for all English Medium Instruction lecturers. In order to assess the effect of such an intervention, a mix of different data sets are used, moving from self-assessment by participants to observations of individual teaching practices in the classrooms. It is shown how corroboration of surveys and observation reports in an explicit feedback template can be used to evidence the value of the intervention in context.

Praxis, educational development and the university sector in Australia

In this article, we utilise recent theorising on praxis and educational development to explore how academics in universities can foster public, institutional and more personal development, even as they are challenged by what are sometimes described as more ‘managerial’ and ‘neoliberal’ conditions. The research draws upon a variety of sources of data, including publicly available correspondence on the university sector in Australia, interviews with colleagues, and personal reflective journals. These data reflect three instances of educational praxis development in the Australian university context, and at three scales/levels: nationally; unit-wide (university/faculty/institute); and sub-unit/individually. The findings reveal such development in the form of: academics using mainstream media to inform the general public about the nature of university industrial relations and funding at a national level; junior and senior academics collaborating and engaging in mentoring practices to build institutional research capacity at a university/institutional level; and, individual academics meeting to develop individual teaching practice. Through explicating the characteristics and value of educational development for and as praxis, we provide resources for hope for better understanding how the work of universities, including their broader mission to inform the public, might be enacted more educationally.

Complexity in mentoring in a pre-service teacher practicum: a case study approach

Purpose– Significant effort has been made to support pre-service and novice teacher learning in the K-12 context. Less attention has been paid to promoting pre-service and novice second language teacher learning via collaboration with peers and more expert educators at the university level. In order to facilitate this type of teacher collaboration, a mentoring project was incorporated into the existing practicum of a Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) program at a US University. The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of the mentoring experiences of four ESL mentor-pre-service teacher pairs in the US University context.Design/methodology/approach– For this research project, eight teachers – four mentor-pre-service teacher pairs – participated as pairs in mentoring sessions focussed on activities such as co-planning, co-teaching, and co-reflecting on teaching. Informed by a sociocultural perspective on teacher learning (Vygotsky, 1978), this study presents case studies of all four pairs in order to demonstrate the complex nature of mentoring. The data analysis focussed on the content of the teachers’ interactions and their perceptions of the mentoring experience.Findings– The study traced the developmental trajectories of the participating teachers over one 15-week academic semester. The study uncovered some critical contradictions that the participants encountered during the mentoring experience, thus pointing to its complexity. The study also uncovered the varied nature of mentoring: whereas in one pair the mentor acted as a more expert other (Vygotsky, 1978), in another pair, the mentoring relationship was more reciprocal.Practical implications– This study showed that pre-service teachers can develop further through mentoring. Such mentoring can help teachers gain confidence and share teaching strategies. At the same time, the study revealed certain challenges associated with introducing a mentoring project in a pre-service teacher practicum. It is recommended that program faculty as a whole read the rich dialogues produced by participating teachers engaged in relationships focussed on collaborative learning, thereby discovering a foundation for revisions that go beyond individual teaching practices to the programmatic level.Originality/value– This study’s principal contribution to the field is that it showcases the complex nature of mentoring experiences and the ways in which they differ from each other.

Quality Teaching and Learning in the Health Sciences

Quality teaching is a central tenet to the retention and success of students in higher education but teaching quality measures and indicators have not enjoyed sufficient debate and discourse within the higher education sector. The Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal investigated the use of various programme and module statistics as well as student and peer evaluations of teaching to inform quality improvements in teaching and learning. Quantitative data allowed benchmarking in relation to internal University targets and national norms and pointed to the student cohorts who collectively required teaching and learning interventions but was found to have limited use in improving individual teaching practice. Qualitative data from students and peers was best able to highlight strengths and weaknesses and provided the most useful data to inform changes in teaching practice as it engendered and enhanced reflective practice. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report on quality teaching in higher education found that most evaluation instruments were related to teaching input indicators and that there was a dearth of instruments to evaluate the impact of teaching, i.e. there was no explicit evaluation criteria linking teaching input to learning outcome. The challenge for the second cycle of institutional reviews/audits will thus be (1)identifying suitable qualitative indicators/measures for quality teaching , (2) striking the correct balance between quantitative and qualitative teaching quality indicators/measures, and (3), ensuring that such indicators, both quantitative/qualitative address teaching impact/learning outcomes in addition to teaching inputs.

THE RESEARCH CIRCLE AS A RESOURCE IN CHALLENGING ACADEMICS’ PERCEPTIONS OF HOW TO SUPPORT STUDENTS’ LITERACY DEVELOPMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

This article deals with an action research project in which a group of academics from different disciplines reflect on and gradually extend their knowledge on how to support students’ academic literacy development. The aim of this research is to understand how the collaborative work becomes a resource in challenging participants’ initial perceptions. The results show that participants’ experience-based stories play a significant role alongside research-based knowledge. The participants’ conversations change character from focusing on approaches to remedy students’ failings to focusing on participants’ individual teaching practices and institutional responsibilities. Accordingly, a basis for change and development is created.

Comparative Analysis of Two Inquiry Observational Protocols: Striving to Better Understand the Quality of Teacher‐Facilitated Inquiry‐Based Instruction

With inquiry being one of the central tenets of the national and most state standards, it is imperative that we have a solid means to measure the quality of inquiry‐based instruction being led in classrooms. Many instruments are available and used for this purpose, but many are either invalid or too global. This study sought to compare two observational protocols: Electronic Quality of Inquiry Protocol (EQUIP) and Reformed Teacher Observation Protocol (RTOP) with regard to reliability, validity, and utility associated with inquiry‐based instruction. Analyses included studying item reliability, inter‐rater reliability, factor analysis, correlation, and multiple regression of protocol items within the instruments and between the instruments. General findings suggest that both instruments have high item reliability and are effective measures in both math and science classrooms; EQUIP showed higher inter‐rater reliability and seems to be more valid for measuring inquiry‐based instruction, while RTOP seems better suited for looking more globally at constructivist teaching practices. Additionally, the utility of EQUIP seems to be larger. It is useful for looking formatively at individual teaching practice, as well as studying summative teacher growth or program effectiveness. Further, because EQUIP uses a descriptive rubric instead of a Likert scale, the instrument provides immediate and targeted feedback to teachers, instructional leaders, and professional development facilitators. This feedback includes both a micro view (individual indicators) and a macro view (construct) of teaching practice.

Internationalization of a Faculty SoTL Program: Immersion Experiences of Beijing Professors in a Canadian Research-Intensive University

This essay describes an international exchange program at the University of British Columbia (UBC) for a cohort of faculty from the Bilingual Training Program (BTP) of the Beijing Teachers Training Center for Higher Education (BTTCHE). The Beijing professors’ cohort participated in an adapted version of UBC’s Faculty Certificate Program on Teaching and Learning (FCP), which provided them with an immersion experience designed to improve their English language skills and to enhance their understanding of key concepts pertaining to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) within and across disciplinary contexts. Critical reflections from both participants’ and instructors’ perspectives suggest that the program was successful in developing a strong community of learning and intentions for reforming individual teaching practices through engaging in scholarly approaches to and scholarship of teaching and learning. Based on various feedback data and reflection strategies, future iterations of this program will include better integration of language proficiency within the formal SoTL curriculum, as well as provide succession planning for continuing a blended SoTL community among the participants when returning to Beijing.

The effects of practice teaching sessions in second life on the change in pre-service teachers’ teaching efficacy

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of practice teaching in Second Life on the change of preservice teachers’ teaching efficacy, and the difference of changes between individual teaching practice and collaborative teaching practice in their teaching efficacy. Participants were placed into the individual teaching practice or collaborative teaching practice group as a part of a teaching methods and educational technology course. Both groups completed practice teaching sessions twice in Second Life and an instrument adopted for measuring of pre-service teachers’ teaching efficacy beliefs was administered after each of three stages. The researcher collected data from both groups before the first practice teaching, after the first practice teaching session, and after the second session. Results from a Repeated Measure ANOVA indicated that the practice sessions influenced changes in participants’ personal teaching efficacy but not teaching outcome expectancy. In addition, the results indicated significant difference between groups on their personal teaching efficacy after the second practice session, but not on teaching outcome expectancy. The difference between the two groups is attributed to the different methods in preparing for the practice session, practicing the teaching, and the reflection methods posed to each group of participants. This research suggests that pre-service teachers can gain valuable teaching practice in Second Life, and furthermore that collaborative practice teaching is more effective way than individual approaches to practicing teaching.

Student evaluation of a primary care clerkship: quality assurance and identification of potential for improvement

BackgroundIn Germany, like many other countries, general practice clerkships have only recently become mandatory during medical education. The biggest challenges for the organisation of such clerkships are achieving a minimum level of standardisation, and developing and maintaining a system of quality assurance. The aim of this study is to assess the instructional quality in teaching practices using a benchmark system.MethodsBefore commencing, students anonymously assessed the importance of core aspects of the mandatory primary care clerkship. After the clerkship, they evaluated learning opportunities and teaching performance. Based on this data, a benchmark system was developed to identify areas of strength and weakness for all practices as well as individual teaching practices.ResultsA total of 695 students evaluated 97 general practices belonging to a teaching network. Prior to the clerkship, most students considered recognition of frequent diseases (85%) and communication skills (65%) the most important learning goals. After the clerkship, nearly 90% of students confirmed that the general practitioner (GP) was good or excellent at teaching these two goals but only two-thirds thought the GP's teaching performance good or excellent in preventive medicine and screening. In an exemplary analysis, we identified the 2 best and the 2 worst practices that consistently received scores far above or below average, respectively.ConclusionWe were able to identify areas of weakness in teaching and identified specific GPs who did not meet the students' needs and expectations. This evaluation seems to be a useful quality assurance tool to identify the potential for improvement and faculty development.

Peer coaching in TEFL/TESL programmes

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the peer coaching model as a professional development tool for pre-service ESL/EFL teachers, and its possible applicability to the Binational Centres in Brazil, as well as to teacher development programmes in general. Peer coaching, a reflective approach to teacher development, proposes that teachers share data collected through peer observation as a means for reflection on their individual teaching practices. Findings indicate that peer coaching facilitated exchange of teaching methods and materials, fostered development of teaching skills, and made participants rethink their own teaching methods and styles. The study also revealed which behaviours participants thought were most effective for supporting a successful relationship among peers in a peer coaching programme.