Teacher Learning Strategies Research Articles

How teachers can improve their classroom interaction with students: New findings from teachers themselves

Teachers are the most important agents in shaping education for students and to bring change and innovation in educational practices. There is a lack of knowledge about how teachers learn and transfer their knowledge into practice in the classrooms. Teacher educators have repeatedly argued that classroom management is a critical pedagogical skill that teachers must master in order to maximize classroom interaction. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of how lower secondary school teachers learn and improve classroom interaction in the context of an educational intervention. Three aspects of classroom interaction are addressed: emotional support, classroom organization and instructional support. The sample contained 81 teachers from 14 Norwegian lower secondary schools reporting, through digital logs, on learning experiences with respect to classroom interaction. Moreover, they reported on the types of learning activities they undertook. Findings indicated that teachers’ improvement in classroom interaction was, to a large extent, dependent on their own, or their colleagues’ strong knowledge of classroom interaction. The results of the study add to our understanding of teachers’ knowledge and skills within classroom interaction and how teachers can improve their knowledge, e.g., through reflection on situations in the classroom. Still, the authors suggest a stronger emphasis on the integration of research based knowledge and teacher learning strategies to support teachers to reach their full teaching potential.

Primary Teacher Education in Rural Cameroon: Can Informal Learning Compensate for the Deficiencies in Formal Training?

ABSTRACTThe objective of the research on which this article reports was to evaluate the training conditions of primary school teachers in rural Cameroon, so as to identify alternative paths towards their qualification through informal learning in the workplace and outside. Following Denzin’s (2009) between-methods triangulation approach, quantitative techniques, including statistical analyses and standardised questionnaires, were applied in addition to qualitative techniques, such as face-to-face interviews and observations of practising teachers and experts. The article presents the most common learning strategies of teachers in rural areas of Cameroon and recommends seminal solutions for teacher education. It can be concluded that informal learning in the workplace corresponds to traditional ways of learning in collectivist-oriented, oral societies in rural areas. Therefore, the combination of informal methods with formal structures of teacher education could improve the current educational system of many African countries, and provide a solution to meet the high demand for qualified staff within restricted budgets.

Knowledge of Student’s Understanding and The Effect on Instructional Strategies: a Case of Two Novice Mathematics Teachers

Pedagogical content knowledge plays a role in learning in classroom. The study aims to 1) analyze the teachers’ knowledge of the students' errors and difficulties in solving linear equations and 2) describe the instructional strategies used by teachers to reduce their errors and difficulties. The subjects were two novice teachers who have taught the Junior High School 7th grade students with different math abilities for two years. The data collection was conducted by open questionnaire and interview. The results showed that both teachers have knowledge of students' errors and difficulties in solving linear equations. However, the teacher's learning strategies in helping students reduce students' errors and difficulties were different from one another. It can be concluded that the teacher's knowledge of the students’ errors and difficulties can help teachers determine the appropriate learning strategies to present a learning subject matter.

Teaching practices and learning strategies in health careers

Medical Education, according to the constructivist education paradigm, puts students as the protagonists of the teaching and learning process. It demands changes in the practice of teaching. However, it is unclear whether this new model is coherent with the teachers’ ways to cope with learning. To analyze the relationship between teaching practices and learning strategies among teachers of health careers in Chilean universities. The Teaching Practices Questionnaire and Learning Strategies Inventory of Schmeck were applied to 200 teachers aged 24 to 72 years (64% females). Teachers use different types of teaching practices. They commonly use deep and elaborative learning strategies. A multiple regression analysis showed that learning strategies had a 13% predictive value to identify student-centered teaching, but they failed to predict teacher-centered teaching. Teaching practices and learning strategies of teachers are related. Teachers frequently select constructivist model strategies, using different teaching practices in their work.

Technology Integration Practice as a Function of Pedagogical Expertise

This study investigated how teachers at various levels of technology use and teaching abilities used technology and how technology use related to general teaching practice. Data from case studies of exemplary technology integrators, representing categories of teaching and technology ability, resulted in assertions about the ways these teachers taught with technology, including the existence of teachers’ personal definitions of technology integration, distinctive planning habits when planning for technology inclusion, strategies for teaching about technology that matched teacher learning strategies, management of student computer use, and altered perspectives on assessment. Differences observed among technology use were associated with individual levels of teaching expertise.