Knowledge Base For Teaching Research Articles

Impact of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Based Education Applications on Prospective Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Belief Levels Toward Science Education

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of technological pedagogical content knowledge-based education applications on prospective teachers’ self-efficacy belief levels toward science education. The study was conducted on the 3rd year prospective science teachers of a public university and continued for 14 weeks. In the study, quasi -experimental method, pretest-posttest experimental design with a control group. The research was performed in the Instructional Technologies and Material Design courses during the education year of 2015-2016. In the research, one of the classes of the 3rd years was determined as a control and another one as an experimental group. There were 65 students (control=33, experiment=32) in the study group. As the instrument of data collection, the self-efficacy belief levels toward science education scale was used and the scale was applied as pretest, posttest and follow-up test. Cronbach Alpha (a) consistency coefficient of the scale is 0.82. To the students in the experimental group, the education applications based on Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge were introduced by the researcher; the courses were made with these applications and they were requested to use these applications that they learned in the materials that they were making. As for the control group, the courses were made with the current curriculum. The research results show that the self-efficacy belief levels of prospective science teachers toward science education design is higher in the experimental group than the students in the control group.

EFL Teacher’s Pedagogical Knowledge Base as a Predictor of Teacher’s Reflectivity: Comparing Different Components and Perceptions

EFL Teacher’s Pedagogical Knowledge Base as a Predictor of Teacher’s Reflectivity: Comparing Different Components and Perceptions

The ‘subject’ of Freeman & Johnson’s reconceived knowledge base of second language teacher education

This article focuses on reframing the ‘who’ of second language teacher education (SLTE), building on the framework laid out by Freeman and Johnson (FJ) in 1998 with particular attention to their notion of the teacher-as-learner. The first half of this article is conceptual, outlining one way I have found helpful for engaging with this notion since first encountering the framework some twenty years ago. The second half, being more substantive in focus, risks misinterpretation without this broader perspective: propositional ‘who’s’ that lack relevance on their own, not least in the way I see FJ’s call to engage with ‘the who of teaching’, and a focus on not just the individual, but also the context, goals, and background from which one comes to take up that role. This includes a discussion of the teacher-subject as an increasingly communicatively-complex, conflicted-compliant, and collaboratively-creative agent within the kinds of spaces that their roles can be realized against emerging contexts for ELT.

Missing a S-STEP? How self-study of teacher education practice can support the language teacher education knowledge base

Inspired by the recognition of teachers and teacher learning in the knowledge base and the calls for greater attention to the pedagogies and development of teacher educators, in this brief essay we posit that a deeper understanding of the teacher educator as scholar, as practitioner, as researcher, is critical to the LTE knowledge base.

Reconceptualising PCK research in D&T education: proposing a methodological framework to investigate enacted practice

Since first conceived, the concept of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has attracted much attention. Despite being lauded by educationalists as the unique knowledge base of teachers, research on the concept over the past 30 years has yet to result in a universally accepted definition being presented. Much of the contentions surrounding the lack of an agreed upon conception appear to have stemmed from difficulties in understanding the relationship between PCK, other areas of teacher knowledge, teacher beliefs, and enacted practice. This paper considers the application of PCK frameworks to design and technology (D&T) education, through an analysis of the nature of the discipline from an ontological and epistemological perspective and contemporary perspectives on the construct of PCK. It is theorised that the volition afforded to teachers in D&T through weakly framed subject boundaries negates the effective application of PCK frameworks, as teachers’ beliefs have a greater impact on enacted practices. In an attempt to better understanding enacted practice in D&T education, the paper proposes a methodological framework centred on the interactions between teachers’ beliefs and knowledge in the discipline, through synthesising the concept of amplifiers and filters of practice with the nature of D&T education. The proposed framework outlines the need to recognise individual teachers’ conception of capability as a critical influence on enacted practice.

Setting competencies and standards for a European Leadership Program in Geriatric Medicine: \u201cThe European Academy for Medicine of Ageing (EAMA) reloaded\u201d

BackgroundThe European Academy for Medicine of Ageing (EAMA) was founded in 1995 as an “Advanced Postgraduate Course in Geriatric Medicine”, in order to train future key opinion leaders in geriatric medicine. Recent changes across European Healthcare systems have changed the needs for leadership competences for geriatricians. Therefore, it became mandatory to further develop EAMA’s learning objectives catalogue.Materials and methodsFollowing a comprehensive needs assessment among students and visiting professors of the EAMA, a template containing seven key domains derived from the needs assessment was developed. EAMA professors had the chance to feedback learning objectives aligned with the seven domains. Feedbacks were transcribed into a first draft of a learning objectives catalogue during this meeting. This first draft was reflected with EAMA network members (former EAMA students) and finalized following a second focus group among board members.Results24 learning objectives which cover the spectrum of knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to develop leadership roles in geriatric medicine are included in the new EAMA learning objectives catalogue. Rate of agreement achieved in open ratings was > 90% for all selected items among the board members.ConclusionsThe recently developed learning objectives catalogue of EAMA presented within this publication reflects a clear shift from knowledge-based education and training towards a comprehensive programme design for leadership development.

Becoming a primary education teacher - pedagogic discourses in the teacher education program’s examination practice

ABSTRACTGlobal reforming driven by neoliberal ideas is today reshaping educational systems. This study explores how a national policy incentive, aimed at changing teacher education in Sweden, is transformed and realized into educational practice and how pedagogic discourses are operating in and through the primary teachers’ examination practice in Sweden. The aim is also to explore which competencies are legitimized and thus form the knowledge base for primary teachers. The study is conducted through a qualitative and quantitative, theoretically based, analysis of all examination tasks (n = 322) in the primary teacher education at a teacher education department located at one of Sweden’s largest universities. The qualitative software package Nvivo was used for the qualitative analysis and the statistical software SPSS was used for the quantitative analysis. The result shows that most examinations involve the examination of methodological/didactical knowledge related to teachers work in the classroom (out of horizontal knowledge structures) and that students lack opportunities to practice and show analytical skills, with vertical knowledge structures, in their examinations.

What does research tell high school teachers about student motivation for test performance?

‘Motivation’ is a significant concept for teachers and students during programmes of learning which lead explicitly to high stakes assessments and examinations. This systematic literature review surveys current research evidence to find out how secondary school teachers use motivational strategies specifically in respect of student academic assessment and performance. Six research studies were identified describing the behaviours secondary school teachers engaged in to improve student performance in assessment. Taken together, the studies presented show the importance of teacher behaviours to students’ academic performance, with both positive and negative impacts. The review highlights a need for further research on teacher knowledge of the effects of teacher behaviour upon the motivation of students. The review recommends collaboration between teachers and students specific to the context of learning programmes that lead to high-stakes assessments, in order to provide a locally sensitive knowledge base for teachers’ practice.

Teaching Materials and the Knowledge Base of EFL Teacher Education

<p><em>This paper investigates the structure and practices of EFL teacher education at a teacher education college in the Republic of Benin, a French speaking West African country. It examines a group of EFL teacher educators’ meaning of teacher preparation, the knowledge base of EFL teacher education at that college, the types of input content and materials that are involved in teacher knowledge acquisition. Qualitative data collection operations including interviews, classroom observations, and existing documents from the research site are involved in the study. The findings from the observation data reveal a limited implementation of the curriculum goals by the participant EFL teacher educators. They also indicate tensions between their classroom practices and both the curriculum orientations and course objectives. The information from the interview data highlights the discrepancies between the meaning that they make of EFL teacher preparation and their pedagogical practices.</em><em></em></p>

Exploring the integration of modern technologies in the teaching of physical science in Lesotho

The aim of the paper is to explore the knowledge base of high school physical science teachers, from selected high schools in Lesotho, regarding the integration of information and communication technologies (ICTs) into the curriculum. The new physical science curriculum in Lesotho requires the use of ICTs for teaching. The teachers’ use of ICTs was explored through a questionnaire based on the technological pedagogical content knowledge model (TPACK). Data were analysed using the statistical analysis software (SAS) and the results showed that 77% of the teachers used ICTs for teaching, while 80% used them for non-teaching activities. The mean score for teachers’ TPACK was 2.88. This score is below the average of three for the Likert points of the items on teachers’ TPACK, which was set as the acceptable level for this paper. Therefore, the study concludes that Lesotho teachers do use ICTs for teaching physical science even though their TPACK may be below average. Their low TPACK may be an indication that they used ICTs to get more information about the content, rather than for delivering the lessons. There is thus an urgent need to increase the support for teachers to maximise the use of ICTs for teaching.

Cognitive style assessment of Indian medical faculty - A step toward achieving cognitive integration in teaching practices

Background: Prodigious growth of medical knowledge necessitates pedagogical shift of focus from knowledge-based teaching to metacognitive teaching. Teachers’ knowledge about their cognitive style can be used in implementing practices which synergize the same with medical students’ cognitive styles for the better educational outcome. Aims and Objectives: The present study was carried out to determine cognitive styles of medical teachers and enhance their awareness about metacognition based teaching practices, with a view to derive logical implications for enhancing teaching-learning process. Material and Methods: Cognitive style assessment of teachers was carried out using “Alert Scale of Cognitive Style.” Pre-session awareness, post-sensitization awareness, relevance, usefulness, and applicability of cognitive styles were tapped using single Likert- type questions. Analysis was done to know cognitive style preferences, their association with age, gender, handedness, subject specialization, and teaching experience. Faculty members were sensitized about cognitive styles and methods of synthesizing them in teaching. Results: Of 88 participants studied, left, middle, and right brain cognitive styles were observed in 32%, 56%, and 12%, respectively. Cognitive style was not found associated with any factors. Mean awareness about cognitive styles was 3.6 before the sessions. Post-sensitization mean rating for awareness, relevance, usefulness, and applicability of cognitive style was 6.57, 6.81, 6.89, and 6.73, respectively. Conclusion: Study significantly enhanced cognitive style awareness, which was low before the intervention. Sensitization sessions helped teachers for orienting them to combining analytical and synthesizing processes in teaching. Cognitive diversity among teachers is an institutional resource for pedagogic interventions.

Education, knowledge, and symbolic form

This article aims to introduce Ernst Cassirer, and his philosophy of symbolic form, to education studies, and, in doing so, to challenge the widespread but deeply flawed views of knowledge and so-called knowledge-based education that have shaped recent education policy in England. After sketching the current educational landscape, and then some of the main lines of flight in Cassirer’s work, time is given to a comparison with Heidegger—a more familiar figure by far in Anglophone philosophy than Cassirer, and who contributed to the displacement of Cassirer—in order to illustrate more clearly Cassirer’s original contribution, in particular to the relationship between knowledge and time. Cassirer’s view of knowledge stands in marked and critical contrast to that which has shaped recent educational reform in England, as he sees knowledge as a productive and expressive matter, and repudiates what I call the ‘building-blocks’ picture of knowledge and the hierarchisation of subject areas.

Performing Survivance: (Re)Storying STEM Education from an Indigenous Perspective

Abstract There is a growing realization from academics, the public, and Indigenous Peoples for compelling new narratives to reshape the ‘progress narrative’ of modernity based on the classical scientific paradigm that has privileged mind over body, heart and spirit; human over more-than-human; and overlooked the worldviews and knowledges of Indigenous Peoples. The prevailing narrative has created an imbalance that impacts the ethnosphere and the biosphere. Regardless, mainstream education is uncritically promoting STEM (science-technology-engineering-mathematics) thinking, an agent of empire fueling the state-military-industrial-education complex, This paper is a call to widen the Eurocentric and anthropocentric knowledge base of mainstream education to include as ‘equivalent’ Indigenous and other Other(ed) worldviews and epistemologies. This (re)storying of STEM is based on the teachings of my Elders and recent research with my community in British Columbia in solidarity with Indigenous communities in Peru as we work to regenerate more complex, culturally-inclusive possibilities for living together on a shared planet.

Exploring Secondary Science Teacher Preparation Program and Suggesting its Development Direction: A Case of USA and Korea

Teacher quality is a topic of international concern, as it impacts student learning and teacher preparation. This study compared the undergraduate secondary science teacher preparation programs from two universities in Korea with those of Oregon, USA. We examined the programs' structural curricular coherence, conceptual curricular coherence, and curricular balance. Structural curricular coherence was determined by examining the overarching goals of the institutions' programs, the organization of the programs of study in terms of meeting those goals, and outside bodies of evidence. All universities were in structural coherence for various reasons. Conceptual curricular coherence was determined by examining students' perceptions of the connection between their preparation and their clinical practice. In case of Korea, most students from both universities were not satisfied with their practical preparation. In the US, the students from both institutions felt well prepared to transition to inservice teaching. To determine curricular balance, we examined the institutions' preparation programs looking at the credit hours taken in the four main areas of the teacher knowledge base: GPK (General Pedagogical Knowledge), SMK (Subject Matter Knowledge), PCK (Pedagogical Content Knowledge), and CK (Contextual Knowledge). The total credit hours taken in each category was very similar by country but the application and field component in the USA was far greater than those of Korea where the focus was heavily on SMK and PCK. The main reason for these may be the nations' licensing and employment processes.

Reconceptualizing and describing teachers’ knowledge of language for content and language integrated learning (CLIL)

ABSTRACTContent and language integrated learning (CLIL) is an approach to bilingual education in which academic content and an additional language are taught at the same time. It is growing rapidly throughout the world, with the medium of instruction in most CLIL classrooms being English. This means that many teachers around the world are teaching academic content in English, which is neither their, nor their students’, first language. There is thus a need to establish and clarify the knowledge of language necessary for these teachers to carry out teaching tasks effectively. Drawing on [Ball, Deborah Loewenberg, Mark Hoover Thames, and Geoffrey Phelps. 2008. “Content Knowledge for Teaching: What Makes It Special?” Journal of Teacher Education 59: 389–407.] work on content knowledge for teaching (as do [Freeman, Donald, Anne Katz, Pablo García Gómez, and Anne Burns. 2015. “English-for-Teaching: Rethinking Teacher Proficiency in the Classroom.” ELT Journal 69 (2): 129–139.] in the ELT context), the article proposes the construct of ‘Language knowledge for content teaching’ (LKCT). This construct has two sub-domains: common language knowledge for content teaching (CLK-CT) and specialized language knowledge for content teaching (SLK-CT). These sub-domains are described and illustrative examples from a corpus of classroom interactions are presented. It is suggested that further research can develop these domains of teacher's’ language knowledge for CLIL both theoretically and empirically, and they are offered as a tool for mapping out the language component of the knowledge base for CLIL teacher education.

Developing Preservice Secondary Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge Through Subject Area Methods Courses: A Content Analysis

ABSTRACTAs teachers are being viewed as critical agents of educational change, conceptions and approaches of how to prepare teachers are changing. Among these changing conceptions of teacher preparation, the kinds of knowledge prospective teachers need to develop so as to be effective at teaching are often at the center of the debates. Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is considered a crucial part of the knowledge base for teaching and was anticipated to have the greatest impact on teachers’ classroom actions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which science methods courses help prospective teachers to develop PCK. A content analysis method was used. Course modules and assessment tools were the sources of data for this study. The objectives and the subtitles of the sections of modules and items of course assignments and final exams were analyzed. The observations were coded against the 3 knowledge bases of teaching. The observations that were coded as PCK were further coded in terms of the 5 components of PCK along with important descriptors that were later used for analysis. The results of this study showed that the courses did not adequately foster preservice teachers’ PCK. Despite an awareness of the purposes of the courses that was evident in the formulation of objectives and the preliminary notes in the introductory parts of the course modules, the elements of the courses as a whole were very far from helping preservice teachers develop PCK for teaching secondary school science subjects. Moreover, of those elements of the courses that were identified as fostering PCK, the knowledge of instructional strategies component was given due emphasis and the knowledge of assessment in science component was seldom addressed. The findings imply a need to rethink ways of preparing curriculum materials in light of PCK and also rethink the pathways of becoming a teacher educator.

Racializing Experiences of Foreign-Born and Ethnically Diverse Black Male Engineering Graduate Students: Implications for Student Affairs Practice, Policy, and Research

Despite a growing body of work on the experiences of Black collegians, the higher education knowledge base lacks scholarship focused on Black men in graduate programs who are foreign-born and/or identify ethnically as other than African American. In this article, we provide a domain-specific investigation (i.e., based on students’ field of study), centering on nine Black men in engineering graduate programs. Three themes emerged regarding students’ racialized experiences and effects of racialization: (1) racialization as a transitional process; (2) cultural identity (dis)integrity; and (3) racialized imposter syndrome. We conclude with implications for developing and implementing promising practices and activities that aid students throughout graduate school. Such targeted efforts might also improve the likelihood of students remaining in the engineering workforce.

Racializing Experiences of Foreign-Born and Ethnically Diverse Black Male Engineering Graduate Students: Implications for Student Affairs Practice, Policy, and Research

Despite a growing body of work on the experiences of Black collegians, the higher education knowledge base lacks scholarship focused on Black men in graduate programs who are foreign-born and/or identify ethnically as other than African American. In this article, we provide a domain-specific investigation (i.e., based on students’ field of study), centering on nine Black men in engineering graduate programs. Three themes emerged regarding students’ racialized experiences and effects of racialization: (1) racialization as a transitional process; (2) cultural identity (dis)integrity; and (3) racialized imposter syndrome. We conclude with implications for developing and implementing promising practices and activities that aid students throughout graduate school. Such targeted efforts might also improve the likelihood of students remaining in the engineering workforce.

The Cultivation of Cross-cultural Communicative Competence in ELT in Higher Vocational Colleges

Higher Vocational English teaching involves not only the teaching of basic knowledge of vocabulary and grammar but also the cultivation of students’ intercultural communicative competence. In order to improve their abilities in cross-cultural communication, language teachers should develop not only their language competence, but also communicative competence. This paper presents an understanding on the general cultural differences between the west and China, analyzes the current situation of Higher Vocational English teaching in China, and gives some suggestions concerning the goals of foreign culture acquisition and the ways of culture training.

The knowledge base of teaching in linguistically diverse contexts: 10 grounded principles of multilingual classroom pedagogy for EAL

ABSTRACTThis paper aims to define the knowledge base of teaching in linguistically diverse secondary schools in England. Based on extensive interviews with the teachers across two schools, the paper identifies a range of good practices centred on flexibility and differentiation. These include diversifying teaching resources by using bilingual materials and dialogic tasks, as well as making adjustments to teaching by simplifying input and including cultural references. These practices are characterised by ‘a situated child-centred approach’ which is underpinned by 10 core principles of multilingual classroom pedagogy for English as an additional language. Implications for education policy and practice are also discussed.