Innovative Instructional Approach Research Articles

Calibrated Peer Review Assignments for the Earth Sciences

Calibrated Peer Review ™ (CPR), a web-based instructional tool developed as part of the National Science Foundation reform initiatives in undergraduate science education, allows instructors to incorporate multiple writing assignments in large courses without overwhelming the instructor. This study reports successful implementation of CPR in a large, introductory geology course and student learning of geoscience content. For each CPR assignment in this study, students studied web-based and paper resources, wrote an essay, and reviewed seven essays (three from the instructor, three from peers, and their own) on the topic. Although many students expressed negative attitudes and concerns, particularly about the peer review process of this innovative instructional approach, they also recognized the learning potential of completing CPR assignments. Comparing instruction on earthquakes and plate boundaries using a CPR assignment vs. an instructional video lecture and homework essay with extensive instructor feedback, students mastered more content via CPR instruction.

Next Generation: Course Redesign

This article describes a course redesign project at the University of North Texas that is in the fifth year of a planned nine-year effort. The goals of the Next Generation Course Redesign (NGen) Project include practicing “never-ending course redesign,” affecting teaching and learning at all levels of the institution and beyond, and creating and sustaining a course-redesign community of practice. Over two years, NGen faculty fellows develop student-learning goals for courses that blend large-group lectures, a media-rich interactive online environment, and small-group experiential learning activities. They then assess these courses to ensure that they have enhanced student learning and success while containing cost of instruction. They also survey students to track changes in their attitudes toward the subject of study, preference for this form of instructional delivery, and sense of their own cognitive development. The article also describes the barriers to sustaining and replicating an innovative instructional approach and the actions that are being taken to increase its probability of success.

Design Research as a Means for Building a Knowledge Base for Teachers and Teaching in Mathematics Education

Abstract Building on the claim that teachers need to know how innovative instructional approaches work to be able to adapt them to their own classrooms, design research is presented as a research method that aims to offer exactly that kind of information. We elaborate design research that aims to develop a local instruction theory—a theory about the process by which students learn a given topic in mathematics and theories about the means of support for that learning process. We will illustrate this with the example of design research on a local instruction theory on addition and subtraction to 100. We further discuss design research that combines the 2 goals of teacher learning and student learning in 1 project as a special case of research on teacher learning. In closing, we briefly look into the relation between design research and teacher research.

The ETS iSkillsTM Assessment: a digital age tool

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show how information and communications technology (ICT) literacy skills reflect twenty‐first century requirements for researching and communicating information in digital environments. An interactive problem‐based, scenario‐based, web‐based assessment tool, iSkillsTM, has been developed through a broad‐based effort to establish standards for performance and certification of ICT literacy proficiencies. This paper aims to discuss the assessment's potential in determining the effectiveness of instruction programs.Design/methodology/approachSince January 2001, a consortium of experts in ICT literacy served as advisors to the Educational Testing Service (ETS) test developers as they designed an internet‐delivered assessment that measures students' abilities to research, organize, and communicate information using technology. This paper reviews that R&D process, concluding with an example of its application to information literacy program planning and evaluation. A mixed methods approach collected and analyzed qualitative sources and iSkillsTM pre‐test/post‐test data for first‐year Purdue University students.FindingsFindings informed curricular decisions for instituting an integrated problem‐based learning (PBL) information literacy program. Secondary goals included developing an understanding of how information‐processing skills are acquired, identifying best practices for integrating information literacy into the curriculum, and assessing the impact of skill acquisition on overall academic achievement. ICT literate students are generally better problem‐solvers, more self‐directed, and communicate ideas more efficiently.Practical implicationsUniversities are beginning to require ICT literacy as competencies for graduation. This paper presents a new strategy for assessing the effectiveness of instructional programs which aim to matriculate proficient students.Originality/valueThis paper reports on the efficacy of a problem‐based learning (PBL) approach involving three convergent principles of design: the organization and dissemination of information, the creation and communication of information, and problem solving within the context of research projects and assignments. As such, it provides important insights into pairing an innovative instructional approach and the iSkillsTM ICT literacy assessment.

Fostering Learner Autonomy in a Technology‐Enhanced, Inquiry‐Based Foreign Language Classroom

This article focuses on a qualitative teacher research project with a fourth‐semester university Spanish class that emphasized inquiry‐based learning. One of the primary objectives of the class was to increase learner autonomy through self‐selected inquiries, self‐directed learning activities, and curricular negotiation. Multiple data sources were used to highlight and assess instances of increased autonomy as well as problematic areas and resistance to change.

Educating residents for managed care: report on a multidisciplinary conference.

A growing number of residency programs are preparing their graduates for the realities of managed care practice. In 1996, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, a private, nonprofit academic medical center, hosted a two-day conference on managed care education to develop innovative instructional and evaluative approaches that, where appropriate, would build on existing expertise. The conference was attended by invited national experts who had a stake in residents' education: clinical faculty, residents, medical educators, executives of managed care organizations, and representatives of other interested organizations. Participants spent much of their time in four small break out groups, each focusing on one of the following topics that were judged particularly relevant to managed care: preventive and population-based medicine, appropriate utilization of resources, clinician-patient communication, and interdisciplinary team practice. Participants shared existing materials, discussed teaching goals and objectives, and generated ideas for teaching methods, teaching materials, and evaluative methods for their respective topics. The authors summarize the recommendations from the four groups, with an overview of the issues that emerged during the conference concerning curriculum development, integration of managed care topics into existing curricula, staging of the curriculum, experiential teaching methods, negative attitudes and resistance, evaluation of trainees and profiling, program assessment, faculty development, and cooperation between academic medical centers and managed care organizations.

Geotechnical Triaxial Soil Testing within Virtual Environment

This paper presents a computer-based innovative instructional approach for training potential users of the geotechnical triaxial device. The proposed approach provides the user with a tool to gain ...

Experience-Based Leadership Training: Reflections of African-American School Leaders

A variety of innovative pedagogues focused on improving school leadership preparation programs are currently under way throughout the United States. Coupled with these fresh approaches to teaching and learning that center on exploring the professional knowledge of the practitioner, more institutions are actively recruiting school leaders who represent a range of ethnic backgrounds. The intent of the following paper is to examine the usefulness of one innovative instructional approach, an experientially-based leadership retreat, for five African-American school leaders. The stories presented in this paper attempt to link the participants’ lives and professional experiences to the leadership retreat to answer the question “What did they learn about themselves through this experience?” The emergent themes have universal value and positive implications for current and future leadership preparation programs.

Collaborative interaction for improvement of teaching

Relationships are explored between teachers' collaborative interactions and implementation of a complex, innovative instructional approach. The theoretical framework, drawn from organizational theory, leads to the prediction that teachers' use of collaboration will help them use non-routine teaching strategies. Thirteen elementary teachers were observed as they attempted to implement a complex science/mathematics program during one academic year. Findings revealed an association between the frequency of teachers' collaboration and the quality of their implementation only when collaborative meetings were structured. New directions are indicated for future research of structured collaboration.

Rationale, Description, and Feasibility of a Partially Programmed Foreign Language Methods Course

ABSTRACT Much thought has been given to the structure and content of the foreign language methods course. Literature from both the specific and general education areas concur on several considerations in preservice methods courses: the need for a balance of theory and practice, the need for increased student involvement in real classroom situations, and the importance of utilizing innovative instructional approaches in the preservice teacher preparation program. A major question in support of these considerations is: How does one gain ample time in order to allow for adequate emphasis on each of the aforementioned points in a methods course that might range from thirty to forty contact hours? In response to this question, the author designed and subsequently implemented an apparently viable solution to the problem. This article deals with the design and feasibility of implementing a partially programmed approach to a performance‐oriented foreign language methods course. Five teacher performance skills were identified. A series of multimodeled demonstrations of these skills were video taped for use in a programmed course segment. This article includes a description of the programmed segment and specific suggestions for applying this approach to other subject matter areas.