Innovative Teaching Practices Research Articles

Artists as Inviting Personalities for Self-Exploration and Social Learning at School

Abstract In today’s increasingly fast-paced societies, undergoing reformation in the aging schooling systems in order to prepare children to subdue the high amounts of pressure and stress and lead productive lives seems to be moving slowly, compared to the unexpected rhythms of the socio-economic changes. In that context a programme has been created at the School of Primary Education, based on the belief that art shouldn’t rest only in the frame, but become itself a frame of the children’s experiences, a means for self-exploration, enhancing at the same time social learning and cultural responsiveness in schools. At current stage we explore whether and how artists as inviting personalities can become an example to children for building their own identity, while opening widely the borders of relating effectively to others or to life’s varied phenomena, as they learn how to communicate the subtleties of who they really are and what they believe in ways that words usually fail to fully capture. Children are asked to choose as a self-companion through their school year an artist, who greatly benefited from the arts’ unique power as a tool for shedding light on his/her self-knowledge and for overcoming difficulties as well as a means of fostering meaningful connections with his/her social and cultural environment. Curricular goals and learning units are approached by adapting innovative and effective teaching practices through the arts, based on the life and work of the artists children have chosen.

ПЕДАГОГИЧЕСКИЕ УСЛОВИЯ РЕАЛИЗАЦИИ ПРОФОРИЕНТАЦИИ ДЕТЕЙ РАННЕГО ВОЗРАСТА В ДОШКОЛЬНОМ ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОМ УЧРЕЖДЕНИИ

Modernization of the domestic education system contributed to the restructuring of the methodological base of the educational process, the adoption of new legal documents regulating the state policy in the field of education, and the development of innovative educational practices at all levels of the lifelong education system. A special approach was required to the problem of self-realization and self-determination of a person in professional activities, an adequate choice of career, the scope of application of personal capabilities in accordance with certain abilities and inclinations for the chosen profession. According to the majority of domestic and foreign scientists, the choice of life and professional path begins not from the moment of studying at a university, but long before that, and, as the researchers note, not even at the stage of schooling, but even in a preschool educational organization. In this regard, one of the most important tasks of modern preschool education is the development of pedagogical conditions that contribute to the successful formation of preschoolers' ideas about the world of professions and understanding the essence of adult work, which in pedagogical science is usually called early career guidance. An analysis of existing practices shows that the work of preschool educational institutions in this direction comes down only to familiarizing children with the work of adults. At the same time, preschoolers often find themselves cut off from the real world of work, cannot imagine the nature of professional activity and “try” themselves in a particular profession. The authors of the article made an attempt to correct the existing gap in the work of kindergartens. They developed pedagogical conditions for the implementation of early career guidance in preschool educational institutions, organized an empirical study that proved their effectiveness.

“Soft skills” development during foreign language education of bachelors in sports and fitness

Introduction. The high demand for specialists in the area of physical education and sport with the teamwork skills, capable of addressing the problems effectively, communicative, resourceful, able to think creatively etc. and insufficiency of pedagogical conditions for physical training “soft skills” development in a higher school bring into focus the search for pedagogical possibilities including foreign language education potential. Justification and implementation of effective pedagogical conditions for physical training bachelors’ “soft skills” development when studying a foreign language within classroom and extracurricular work would resolve the problem. Materials and methods. The experiment on the testing of the pedagogical conditions was held in the Institute of Physical Training, Sport, Health and Safety in the Bunin Yelets State University in 2020–2021. For the research the students of the first and second years were chosen (n=68). The estimation of the students’ soft skills development level was carried out on the basis of theoretical analysis, synthesis, pedagogical observation and testing. The statistical significance of the results was approved with the χ2 Pearson test. Research results. The analysis of quantitative and qualitative data of the experiment showed a significant improvement of physical training bachelors’ ”soft skills” during foreign language studying through creating special pedagogical conditions (χ2 = 11,813> χ20,05). Discussion and conclusion. For the first time pedagogical conditions for physical training bachelors’ “soft skills” development during foreign language studying were justified and implemented on the basis of system and activity, subject-centered and context approaches. Pedagogical conditions imply the learners’ awareness of relevance of communicative, management skills, effective thinking and self-management; structural changes in a foreign language practical lesson, classroom and independent learners’ work. Under these conditions study guides can be developed; they can implement innovative pedagogical practices aimed at providing learners’ personal characteristics development as a predictor of a graduate’s professional success and competitiveness.

Innovative Teaching Practice and Exploration of Genetic Engineering Experiment

<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Genetic engineering is a key scientific and technological project in China and an important branch of bioengineering. In order to cultivate the post professional ability of genetic engineering students, realize zero docking with posts, the genetic engineering comprehensive training uses the task as the clue to determine the teaching content, the product production process as the carrier to design the teaching process, the vocational ability as the basis to reform the teaching method, and the development evaluation as the means to strengthen the skill formation. Practice has proved that the “genetic engineering comprehensive training” teaching reform is conducive to cultivating students' practical ability and practical innovation ability, and is conducive to promoting education with professional competence as the core.</span>

Teachers’ Communities of Practice in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Will Innovation in Teaching Practices Persist and Prosper?

This study explores how teachers' communities of practice facilitated the transition to emergency remote teaching after school closures in South Korea during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We also investigate whether and how teachers’ online education experiences in times of crisis continue to influence face-to-face teaching practices. We first conducted a literature review on teachers building communities of practice to cope with the pandemic and their execution of emergency remote teaching with collective professionalism. Five experienced teachers from elementary and middle schools participated in a semi-structured interview to share their experiences since the outbreak of COVID-19 until Spring 2022. We found that in response to significant pandemic-related challenges, teachers rapidly adapted to the digital educational environment, with assistance from their peers, through online and offline learning communities. Moreover, teachers’ online education experiences have contributed to innovative teaching practices with technological integration. We present the implications for teacher education research and practice in the post-COVID-19 era.

Context and content of teaching conversations: exploring how to promote sharing of innovative teaching knowledge between science faculty

BackgroundChange strategies may leverage interpersonal relationships and conversations to spread teaching innovations among science faculty. Knowledge sharing refers to the process by which individuals transfer information and thereby spread innovative ideas within an organization. We use knowledge sharing as a lens for identifying factors that encourage productive teaching-related conversations between individuals, characterizing the context and content of these discussions, and understanding how peer interactions may shape instructional practices. In this study, we interview 19 science faculty using innovative teaching practices about the teaching-focused conversations they have with different discussion partners.ResultsThis qualitative study describes characteristics of the relationship between discussion partners, what they discuss with respect to teaching, the amount of help-seeking that occurs, and the perceived impacts of these conversations on their teaching. We highlight the role of office location and course overlap in bringing faculty together and characterize the range of topics they discuss, such as course delivery and teaching strategies. We note the tendency of faculty to seek out partners with relevant expertise and describe how faculty perceive their discussion partners to influence their instructional practices and personal affect. Finally, we elaborate on how these themes vary depending on the relationship between discussion partners.ConclusionsThe knowledge sharing framework provides a useful lens for investigating how various factors affect faculty conversations around teaching. Building on this framework, our results lead us to propose two hypotheses for how to promote sharing teaching knowledge among faculty, thereby identifying productive directions for further systematic inquiry. In particular, we propose that productive teaching conversations might be cultivated by fostering collaborative teaching partnerships and developing departmental structures to facilitate sharing of teaching expertise. We further suggest that social network theories and other examinations of faculty behavior can be useful approaches for researching the mechanisms that drive teaching reform.

Professional Learning Communities for school innovation

The growth of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) seems to have accelerated in recent times, partially because of the opportunities offered by the online dimension, but also as a response to the emergency to which schools have adapted during the pandemic with Distance Learning. This work builds on testimonies from practitioners partaking in local and international PLCs, notably aiming at experimenting with innovative teaching and learning practices and promoting new curricula for digital education. Such communities are particularly interesting as they encourage the circulation of innovative practices through peer learning, mentoring, and school level capacity building. Ultimately, this article explores how PLCs can support practitioners enhancing their teaching practice, as well as designing and implementing innovation at classroom and school level.

Lecturer professional identities in gamification: a socio-material perspective

ABSTRACT Online gamification is an innovative educational practice, yet little is known about how the socio-material imbrications entailed in this pedagogical approach influence educator professional identities. Adopting a social-material sensibility to examine lecturer professional identities, this qualitative study mobilises visual-elicitation interviews and observations to understand the nuanced lecturer identity positions emanating from Kahoot! gamified practice in a Middle East college. Following a socio-material narrative analysis, the imbrication of people and Kahoot! reveals four distinct identity positionings underpinned by the material affordances and constraints of gamification. This study contributes to the growing body of research into how subject positions are manifested through the imbrications of human actors and materiality, revealing that the enactment of Kahoot! is not a neutral process, but one which may have transformative effects for lecturer professional identities in the higher education gamification context.

Technology Integration in Face-to-Face Instruction in the Post-2020 Pandemic Era: Continuing Innovative Teaching Practices

Technology Integration in Face-to-Face Instruction in the Post-2020 Pandemic Era: Continuing Innovative Teaching Practices

Photovoice in onderwijs

Photovoice as a data collection method for quality control in secondary schools: “You could also take the elevator, but you wouldn’t be challenging yourself” Schools are expected to invest in a systematic and structural improvement of their educational practices. Recently, schools are being given more autonomy in this process of quality control and hence are looking for ways to fulfill this task in data-informed ways. Digital environments such as Smartschool Analytics and Dataloop provide schools with mainly quantitative data. The research project described in this article – the practical research project Eerste graad vernieuwen (“Innovation of junior high schools”) explores the use of qualitative data collection methods within school quality-control systems. To this end, the project focuses on the innovation process in secondary education following the implementation of new curriculum attainment standards in 2019. This gradual process of educational innovation intends to lead to a socially more relevant system of education with more attention to each student’s individual needs. Hence junior high schools (for pupils age 12 to 14) started implementing innovative educational practices such as project learning, optional courses, flexible learning time, remedial activities and study orientation activities. The research project described in this article aimed at an evaluation of these educational practices. This article reflects on the use of one specific data collection method (photovoice) within the context of quality control in five innovative schools in Flanders, Belgium.

The value of in-person undergraduate dissection in anatomical education in the time of Covid-19.

While several innovative pedagogical practices have been developed and implemented in anatomy education since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid‐19) pandemic, considering the value of in‐person undergraduate dissection remains crucial. In this commentary, a human dissection course at the University of Toronto is used as an example to highlight the value of dissection for undergraduate learners in non‐professional programs. In‐person dissection allows for real life, anatomical variation, and supports the advancement of students' conceptual knowledge of the human body and visual–spatial abilities. Direct involvement with dissection during undergraduate training also provides students with an opportunity to practice and refine non‐technical skills, such as communication and collaboration, while simultaneously promoting the development of students' professional identity formation. Further, dissection is a practical, hands‐on experience that can provide students with insight into potential career aspirations related to anatomy and the health professions. It is suggested that as institutions veer from traditional pedagogical practices and evaluate how to best move forward post‐pandemic, it is imperative that the value of undergraduate dissection is considered among new innovations in the field of anatomy.

Lockdown labs: Pivoting to remote learning in forensic science higher education

Forensic Science training and education is reliant on the application of knowledge to casework scenarios and the development of key practical skills that provide a platform for career development in the field. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced a number of challenges to effectively deliver practical content online and remotely, whilst still meeting intended learning outcomes, accreditation requirements, and attaining a high level of student engagement and experience. The MSc Forensic Science programme featured in this study is a one-year degree programme with a strong emphasis on the practical elements of forensic science, and a diverse international student cohort. Therefore, the restrictions associated with the pandemic made it very difficult not only to plan the delivery of material but also to adapt the content itself for effective online and remote learning.By focusing on the intended learning outcomes, a number of innovative teaching practices were developed to successfully transition from face-to-face teaching to online and remote delivery. A range of online and practical resources were developed, including a laboratory home kit, demonstration videos, online practical technique simulations (produced by Learning Science), data analysis tasks, and interactive workshops and activities, all designed to consolidate student learning and build confidence, in preparation for such a time that on campus practical teaching could resume. The initial feedback received from these activities from both staff and students was extremely positive and the transition from classroom to online teaching was a success, as reflected in student attainment and later student feedback. Students reported that they had a better understanding of what was expected of them, including knowledge of protocols and techniques, and felt much more confident moving into the next stage of their learning development. Even though the practical laboratory sessions were the most significantly affected by the restrictions associated with the pandemic, and resulted in reduced interaction for the students, this was counteracted by virtual sessions and workshops, which gave students the opportunity to engage with each other and communicate their thoughts and opinions, ultimately building key presentation and group working skills.This case study will detail the pivot to remote learning, as well as critically evaluating the feedback from students and discussing the changes that are likely to be retained as longer-term teaching practices, versus those that were a necessary temporary addition or adjustment in response to the pandemic.

Innovative and disruptive pedagogies in music education: A systematic review of the literature

This paper presents a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) about pedagogical innovation and disruption in music education. A rigorous SLR process was applied to the selection of papers related to innovative practices in music education at different educational levels and in a range of contexts. Although there are similar studies on innovation in education, there is no SLR on pedagogical innovation and disruption in music education using this method. The purpose of this study is to present an example of how to do an SLR and to share the findings of the review itself. We also provide a snapshot based on a tight SLR process of some instances of innovation in music education that, in some way, are drawing the paths to be followed in future investigations. According to the categories of innovation that we have established to analyze our corpus of papers, disruption is produced by modifying four fundamental factors in the act of learning (purpose and context learning, teacher/student relationship, and learner role). These factors can contribute to developing a more flexible and open curricula incorporating a holistic, collaborative, and interdisciplinary vision of learning. We consider that the value of this study lies in reflecting a systematic methodological process for the analysis of the scientific literature as well as the findings.

Distance Education in Italy: Investigating Foreign Language Distance Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools During COVID-19 Lockdown

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects on education in Italy of the unexpected shift from proximate to distance learning after the COVID-19 outbreak and consequent closure of schools across the country. The study is grounded on the premise that online learning can make education more accessible all over the world: in fact, an increasing number of universities and institutions are turning to blended and distance learning in order to increase participation. Moreover, distance education and technology may help to promote collaboration across many institutions and offer a wider choice of classes. On these premises, the following study intends to trace an overview of the current situation in Italy and outline limits and solutions to a new type of education which could lead to innovative and effective teaching practices. Specifically, the study will explore how teachers and schools have managed the unexpected circumstances, how quickly they have switched to online teaching and with what consequences and limits, and to what extent distance education’s success or failure correlates with the sudden COVID-19 emergency (meaning that there was insufficient time to reorganize the teaching and learning environment), or whether it simply depends on a lack of other objective requisites (teachers’ or students’ digital competences, online resources, and so forth). The project will contribute to discussions of the impact that this exceptional time may have in terms of eliciting new educational practices, and how it can stimulate self-reflection on future teaching strategies, as well as produce educational literature. As this is the first study on distance education during COVID-19, and because of the timing, no empirical or case study research has been done yet.

Designing and Delivering Effective Online Instruction, How to Engage the Adult Learner

Access to different forms of education has become more prevalent in recent years. Online learning design requires innovative pedagogical practices. Dr. Bloomberg provides strategies for online course design, student engagement, andpedagogical methodology.

COVID-19 Pandemic as A Catalyst for Fostering Reformed Pedagogy in Science Education

The study examined the role of COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst for fostering reformed pedagogy in science education within the South African context. The prevalence of COVID-19 pandemic compelled teachers as key agents of educational change to fundamentally rethink their pedagogical practices with a view to bring about reformed pedagogy. The study adopted a phenomenological design located within the critical paradigm. The empirical investigation involved 21 purposively selected in-service science teachers enrolled for postgraduate studies in science education at a South African university. Critical theory was adopted as a theoretical lens to provide insightful elucidation into how science teachers negotiated and transformed their pedagogical practices in response to the formidable challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic critically exposed socio-economic disparities in science teaching and learning within the broader South African context. Under-resourced schools represented inappropriate educational entities which rendered encouragement of critical thinking and promotion of innovative pedagogical practices extremely difficult to realize. Science teachers at under-resourced schools were largely left to their own devices when navigating formidable challenges posed by the prevalence of COVID-19 pandemic. This dilemma represents a structural problem that ought to be addressed as a matter of priority in order to ensure social justice in terms of the creation of conducive teaching and learning environments at under-resourced schools in particular. Meaningful transformation of pedagogy remains an arduous task in the face of fundamental challenges afflicting teacher professional growth and its ramifications.

Pedagogical management in the digital educational environment: Theoretical aspect

Introduction. The digital educational environment is becoming not only a challenge of the new time, but also an important condition, a means of training a specialist of the new formation for the digital society. In the digital environment, a teacher will have to learn how to organise, accompany and support the educational activities of students, build network interaction, exercise control and assessment, and create flexible personalised mastering of content. For this, it is important to understand the new nature and features of the implementation of pedagogical management in the context of the global digitalisation process.Aim. The aim of the paper is to comprehend the systemic changes associated with pedagogical management in the digital educational environment, to study the new content of the structural components of pedagogical management.Methodology and research methods. The present research was carried out in reliance on the system-activity, subject-personal and environmental approaches. Theoretical and empirical research methods were used. The online survey method formed the basis of the research. The respondents were young practice teachers studying for a master degree in the direction of “Pedagogical Education”. They begin their professional activities at the stage of the formation of a digital society; they will have to implement blended (distance, digital) learning. The authors applied the methods of comparative and contrastive analysis (comparison of the nature of management in a classical (classroom) and digital environment), synthesis and systematisation of data, modelling. Additionally, the methods of statistical analysis were used.Results. The necessity of a systematic understanding of pedagogical management in the context of digitalisation was substantiated. The essence of the concept of “pedagogical management in digital educational environment” was clarified. The features and nature of pedagogical management in digital educational environment were determined, its structural components were highlighted: motivational-target, information-content, organisational-activity and control-evaluative. The vectors of strengthening the professional training of specialists in the field of education were determined.Scientific novelty. The novelty of the research lies in the systemic understanding of the category of pedagogical management in the new digital conditions; in the system-functional description of the digital educational environment management model. It manifests itself in the possibility of revising the professional training programme for future teachers in the context of the digital transformation of the educational process, as well as building innovative educational practices at different levels of education, taking into account the new model of pedagogical management in digital educational environment.Practical significance. It is advisable to use the results of the study to improve the quality of professional training of teachers in digital and blended learning, improve programmes and courses of advanced training, to increase the efficiency of autonomous educational and cognitive activities, implemented with digital tools and technologies, at different levels of education. The material of the article can be useful for specialists studying the issues of pedagogical management in vocational education.

How Undergraduate Students Learn Atmospheric Science: Characterizing the Current Body of Research

Abstract Educators can enrich their teaching with best practices, share resources, and contribute to the growing atmospheric science education research community by reading and participating in the scholarship of teaching and learning in atmospheric science. This body of scholarship has grown, particularly over the past 15 years, and is now a sizable literature base that documents and exemplifies numerous teaching innovations in undergraduate atmospheric science education. This literature base benefits the entire atmospheric science community because graduates of atmospheric science programs are better prepared to enter the workforce. This literature base has not yet been examined, however, to see how well the evidence supports education practices in the atmospheric science education literature. In this study, we characterized that evidence and show that the majority of papers we reviewed share education innovations with anecdotal or correlational evidence of effectiveness. While providing useful practitioner knowledge and preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of numerous innovative teaching practices, opportunities exist for increasing readers’ confidence that the innovations caused the learning gains. Additional studies would also help move conclusions toward generalizability across academic institutions and student populations. We make recommendations for advancing atmospheric science education research and encourage atmospheric science educators to actively use the growing body of education literature as well as contribute to advancing atmospheric science education research.

FLIPPED LEARNING: FLIP THE ROLE TO GET THE RESULTS

The ultimate aim of education is not to stuff the mind of child with information but to prepare him/her to assimilate knowledge, establish the link between previous and existing knowledge, to become constructive in generation of knowledge by collaborative exercises, projects, activities ,discussions etc. Flipped learning approach challenges the traditional methods of teaching by modifying the role of teacher and students. It makes the students more active in the teaching learning process and helps them to understand and analyse concepts instead of passively receiving information and producing the same in exams. The present paper highlights the effectiveness of flipped learning in teaching of English. Some poems from class (My Mother at Sixty Six, Keeping Quiet,A Thing of Beauty) were selected and taught using flipped learning approach and analysis of the data revealed quantitative as well as qualitative improvement in the performance of students. The study can motivate the stakeholders to apply innovative pedagogical practices and has reasonable implications for concerned stakeholders.

Components of Education 4.0 in 21st Century Skills Frameworks: Systematic Review

Responsive educational proposals to develop skills to meet the demands of Industry 4.0 have become imperative to guarantee inclusive, equitable, and quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, also reducing the negative impact of COVID-19 and the major post-pandemic social issues. This article analyzes which components of Education 4.0 have been considered in 21st century skills frameworks and identifies the teaching and learning methods and key stakeholders impacted. We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) with research questions to highlight studies that address 21st century frameworks worldwide, identifying which teaching-–earning strategies contain 4.0 components, their learning dimensions, and the targeted stakeholders. The findings allowed us to identify opportunities to create or improve 21st century skills frameworks with the required Education 4.0 components to develop future skills. Our study revealed the absence of these frameworks for teachers and schools. Most are oriented toward students, developing competencies through the dimensions of character, meta-learning, and linking active learning teaching strategies. This work presents studies incorporating innovative educational practices and the core Education 4.0 components. It concludes with a reflection on creating educational models to develop complex-reasoning competencies and auto-systemic thinking to support problem-solving and address social needs.