Undergraduate Education Course Research Articles

Developing Cross-Cultural Competency through Multicultural Perspective: An Exploratory Inquiry

For the past decade, schools at all grade levels in United States continue to consist of students who belong to different culture, and hence the need for culturally competent teachers to address the culturally diverse needs of the students is at its highest peak. One of the ways to impart the attributes of cultural competency to preservice teachers, who will become future teachers, to focus on culturally relevant coursework. This study was carried out via an undergraduate multicultural education course which focused on imparting cultural attitude awareness and cultural knowledge attributes of cultural competency to the students. The influence of this course on these attributes of the students was investigated through a Cultural Competence Survey. The results of this study indicate that experiential and practical aspect of multicultural education has a positive impact on increasing the cultural attitude awareness of the students. It is, hence, a focused, experiential, and practical multicultural education coursework to train culturally competent next generation of teachers.

Pedagogies for sustainability: insights from a foundational sustainability course in the built environment

PurposeThis paper aims to draw on an in-depth qualitative case study of an undergraduate sustainability education course to show the extent of pedagogical reflection and teaching capability demonstrated in lived practice to support transformative, systemic and capability building learning processes, as advocated in the literature, for effective sustainability education.Design/methodology/approachTransformative learning and capability building are an essential part of sustainability education according to the growing body of literature. This approach to education, however, necessitates critical, learner-centred pedagogies which challenge traditional transmissive modes of teaching.FindingsThis paper finds that pedagogy which supports the learning experiences and outcomes advocated in sustainability education literature requires significant reflection on behalf of the educator and also motivation, capability and experience to do this, thus more research and academic support is needed which focusses on pedagogical development within sustainability education.Originality/valueLiterature on sustainability education often assumes that teachers are capable of reflecting on and transforming their pedagogical practice, and therefore, the pedagogical implications of sustainability education are often understated in research findings. This paper highlights why pedagogical reflection plays a crucial role in the effective implementation of sustainability education.

Analyzing Student Learning in Sustainability: An International Exchange Case Study

The use of technologies to bridge learning divides is an important topic in 21st century higher education. As an innovation to address this divide, the SUNY Empire State College – International Education - Virtual Residencies (IE-VRs) were created. The IE-VRs are virtual, international exchanges that connect undergraduate, graduate, and international education courses via a three-week collaborative, cross￾disciplinary online module. We built a thematic IE-VR titled "Learning for a Sustainable Future," which focused on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and sustainability in socio-cultural-environmental contexts. Our analysis of student participation in the IE-VR indicates it is an effective model for transformative learning.

Effectiveness of authentic performance tasks: The case of a special education course

Designed as participatory action research, this study aims to develop authentic tasks as assessment and evaluation activities in an undergraduate special education course, and to examine the impact of these tasks on students’ experiences, viewpoints and feelings during the implementation processes. The study group was comprised of 205 student teachers collaboratively working in groups. The participants prepared forty separate mini research projects in relation to special education and students with special needs. Research data was collected through collective research diaries, in which the participants reflected their experiences, thoughts and feelings in relation to the performance tasks they took part in. A qualitative content analysis was carried out to examine the available data, which was accompanied by constant comparative analysis procedures to ensure the reliability of the analysis processes. The research findings show that authentic performance tasks improve student teachers' professional development, help them to enhance their repertoire on research, methodology and science process skills, and develop their skills of self-confidence, self-efficacy, communication, interaction and the use of technology. The results indicate that the performance tasks are fun, innovative, motivating and educative for the participants. Therefore, they have living experiences contributing to them from various aspects.

Pedagogical Consciousness-Raising: Teaching Race, Gender, and Science in the Pandemic

In this personal essay I explore how the pandemic crisis has helped transform my general education undergraduate course, Race, Gender, and Science, into an experience of pedagogical consciousness-raising, especially for members of vulnerable student groups that have often felt understandably negative toward, and alienated from, science. I base my observations on student comments and anecdotes shared during my fully online Fall 2020 semester. I conclude that STEM-adjacent classes such as mine might productively leverage the pandemic crisis —including the legitimate outrage and frustration of students of color and women —to facilitate a stronger sense of emotional investment by students in the value and practice of science even as legitimate critiques of science are strengthened and deepened.

Influence of virtual reality on student learning in undergraduate construction education

ABSTRACT Virtual Reality (VR) allows for an active learning environment that can enhance a student’s comprehension of material. This research explores the actual and perceived benefit of introducing a VR simulation into a materials and methods of construction course in undergraduate education. The study included the development and implementation of a virtual simulation environment to support learning in the materials and methods of construction course. Actual student performance was then compared between a control group, who did not use the simulation, and the intervention group, those who used the simulation. Other factors such as student self-efficacy, learning motivation, and technology acceptance for the intervention group were also examined. Findings suggest that students who utilized the simulation have a better understanding of the course material represented in the simulation compared to those that were only exposed to traditional course materials.

No Impact? Long-Term Effects of Applying the Best Possible Self Intervention in a Real-World Undergraduate Classroom Setting.

Positive psychology interventions (PPIs) improve students’ well-being in laboratory settings. Best possible self (BPS) is one of the most widely used PPIs shown in the laboratory to effectively improve participants’ well-being in both the short- and long-term, but limited research has been conducted in real-world contexts. This study applied BPS in an undergraduate classroom to examine its long-term effects. Students enrolled in an undergraduate education course were assigned to treatment and control groups. Three writing activities and four tests were integrated into the course as assignments in both groups. Data were analyzed using a 2times 3 (group and time) mixed ANOVA. The results indicate that BPS did not significantly improve the participants’ well-being over time compared with the control group. In fact, the control group performed better than treatment at one month after the intervention. This aligns with recent findings of well-being during COVID-19. Potential implications and areas for future research are discussed.

Confronting the Hidden Curriculum: A Four-Year Integrated Course in Ethics and Professionalism Grounded in Virtue Ethics.

We describe a virtue ethics approach and its application in a four-year, integrated, longitudinal, and required undergraduate medical education course that attempts to address some of the challenges of the hidden curriculum and minimize some of its adverse effects on learners. We discuss how a curriculum grounded in virtue ethics strives to have the practical effect of allowing students to focus on their professional identity as physicians in training rather than merely on knowledge and skills acquisition. This orientation, combined with a student-generated curriculum, is designed to prepare students to identify and face challenges during their clinical years, further nurturing their professional growth. In short, a four-year integrated ethics and professionalism curriculum intentionally centered on cultivating virtuous physicians may alleviate, and even counteract, the effects of the hidden curriculum in the clinical years of medical training.

My Experience With Remote Instruction: Choices in Learning and Artmaking

I was in the midst of teaching a new studio-based undergraduate art education course that focused on exploring art materials and processes for the K–12 classroom when the college announced we were ...

Bridging gaps between theory and practice of inclusion through an innovative partnership between university academics and school educators in Australia

ABSTRACT Universities often struggle to translate theory of inclusive education into real life practices for pre-service teachers (PSTs). In this paper, we evaluate an innovative partnership between Australian secondary school teachers and university academics where they co-designed and co-taught an undergraduate inclusive education course. We used a quasi-experimental design where 67 PSTs were grouped into two cohorts: one co-taught by the team of school educators and university academics (n = 26), the other taught only by university academics (n = 41). PSTs’ scores on teaching efficacy, attitudes and intentions to teach in inclusive classrooms were measured at the pre and posttest stages of the course. Our evaluation showed significant increases in positive attitudes and teaching efficacy skills, decreased concerns and higher intentions to teach in inclusive classrooms among PSTs who were co-taught. The co-teaching team also identified various professional and personal benefits of collaborating. We further discuss the implications of our research for teacher education programmes and the usefulness of including school educators’ expertise in bridging the gaps between theory and practice.

Some considerations on professional education and teaching reform for public health and preventive medicine

Following a brief overview of the historical development of undergraduate education of public health and preventive medicine in China's medical universities and colleges, this editorial points out existing issues and dominant challenges, and puts forward compelling demands for undergraduate education in preventive medicine, including in-depth integration with society and population, combined with practice, focusing on problem identificantion and problem solving based on population health, as well as developing undergraduate education programs, education syllabus and courses, construction of teaching materials and off-campus practice teaching bases.

Teaching Research Methodology: Student-centered Approach Computing Education Undergraduate Course

Teaching research methodology is one of the core components of various degree programs. Scholarship around teaching research methodology is beginning to grow with most work concentrated in Social Work, Health, Social Science, and limited work in the area computing education. This paper presents a reflection on adopting a student centred approach towards teaching research methodology course to three different groups of fourth level university students. In this paper the strategies for facilitating deep learning in teaching research methods and research methods in the Information Systems domain will be discussed. In addition, reflections on the use of a student centred approach, student experiences and strategies used. The experiences and strategies relate to facilitating deep learning. The experiences are focused on topic identification, conducting, and writing up the literature reviews, developing an understanding of the research methodology inclusive of data analysis and presenting the research report. Doi: 10.28991/esj-2021-01255 Full Text: PDF

Impactos e desafios do ensino on-line decorrentes da pandemia COVID-19

Este artigo objetiva refletir sobre os impactos e desafios impostos ao ensino on-line, em território brasileiro, em 2020, um ano atípico, dada à incidência e readequação da agenda educacional imposta pela pandemia da COVID-19. Para isso, abordou-se o marco regulatório expedido pelo governo federal brasileiro e pelo MEC, apresentando as normativas específicas na Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados -UFGD. Mostrou-se que as modalidades de educação presencial e a distância sofreram impactos relacionados à alteração da agenda e do formato pedagógico, visto que cursos de graduação EaD, devido ao Decreto nº 9057/2017 (BRASIL, 2017), geram em algum momento, fluxo social. Admite-se que tem ocorrido mudanças de comportamento da sociedade na vivência do ensino remoto subsidiado por um conjunto normativo e de disponibilização tecnológica, sobretudo, as que viabilizam as aulas no formato de webconferências.

Interlocuções formativas contidas nos Projetos Políticos Pedagógicos dos cursos de Licenciatura em Ciências Agrícolas/Agrárias no Brasil

Pedagogical guidelines for the education in/of/to the rural areas must be based on the socio-educational development and on a constant dialogue between scientific and empirical knowledge. In this context, our objective is to identify formative interlocutions in the rural/countryside education in undergraduate courses of Agricultural Sciences in Brazil, through the analysis of their Political-Pedagogical Projects (PPP). This is a qualitative research with a descriptive and exploratory approach. It focuses on the theoretical background about rural educational project. It is also a document-based study that has as its source data from Anísio Teixeira Platform, connected to the Ministry of Education, as well as PPP emitted by the higher education institutions. The criteria chosen to establish the study’s time frame was the accessibility of the most recent information that were available during the process of information gathering – June, 2020. The results show that twelve of the studied courses had as their formative reference agricultural education – in terms of hegemonic production processes such as agribusiness, adopting a technicist approach. Only five of the studied courses were characterized by a formative framework aimed at the education of the rural areas – encompassing several expressions of rural life, such as family agriculture, peasantry and so forth. These courses make reference not only to these specific methodological approaches, but also to public policies related to this issue. Furthermore, we also identified in the institutions’ PPP a chaotic duality of concepts of education in/of the rural areas, on the one hand, and agricultural education on the other; such chaotic mixture of concepts is prone to be reproduced in the praxis of the teachers.

Professional competencies to promote health in nursing and physical education undergraduate courses.

to recognize the competencies for health promotion and their magnitude of expression in undergraduate health education based on the analysis of the pedagogical projects of the courses and from the teaching perspective. research with a mixed approach, carried out at a public university. The data collected from the pedagogical projects of the Nursing and Physical Education courses and through interviews and application of a matrix of Competencies in Health Promotion with 31 professors of the referred courses were analyzed in the light of Competencies Health Promotion. all competencies investigated were recognized in the curricula and reports of nursing professors, but the possibility of changes was not identified in the pedagogical project of Physical Education, although this competency was recognized as extremely important by the professors, with a mode of 4.5. the training process in the courses studied has favored the development of skills for health promotion.

INFÂNCIA E EDUCAÇÃO AMBIENTAL: CONSTRUINDO AS TRILHAS DO BRINCAR CONSCIENTE

This article presents experiences of the project “Environmental Education and Childhood: reflections and actions based on games and toys made with recyclable material” developed by the Psychology and Education departments of UEL Londrina and the University without Borders Program (USF). It aims at reflecting on the process of making games and toys produced with recyclable materials and using them with children from a Child Education Center, providing opportunities for training, playful and interactive situations with students from the Psychology and Education undergraduate courses. The methodology consisted of a bibliographic study and reports of experiences based on the following steps: 1) Organization; 2) Preparation; 3) Elaboration and manufacture of recyclable games and toys; and 4) Use with children aged 4 and 5 years. The results showed the scarcity of scientific publications on the subject as well as the potential and effectiveness of using games made with recyclable materials, in promoting environmental education with preschool children.

Introducing Critical Race Media Literacy in an Undergraduate Education Course about Technology and Arts-Based Inquiry

Critical race media literacy refers to the ability to 1) recognize negative stereotypical portrayals of historically oppressed groups in media, 2) question media producers’ intentions, and 3) produce media content that does not perpetuate stereotypes. Critical race media literacy can be taught in many college classes, but an undergraduate education course that utilizes a multimodal approach to teach students about the various ways learning occurs in the digital age is an excellent opportunity to develop this skill in undergraduates. This article provides specific examples of teaching techniques used in an undergraduate course about technological media and arts-based inquiry.

Ateliê digital integrado: segundo ano da experiência de ensino de projeto arquitetônico mediado por computador

Esse artigo apresenta e discute os resultados alcançados no ano 2017 por alunos do Curso de Graduação em Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade Federal da Bahia, nas disciplinas Ateliê I (com alunos ingressantes) e Ateliê II (com alunos de segundo ano), que foram ministradas simultaneamente, compondo a disciplina Ateliê Digital Integrado. Esta atividade é desdobramento do Ateliê Digital (ARQ 016), realizado em 2016, quando foi ofertada a primeira turma desta disciplina para alunos de primeiro ano do curso tendo sido obtidos resultados muito signifi cativos. A proposta pedagógica desenvolvida partiu do pressuposto que o ensino da projetação arquitetônica em ambiente digital pode ser vantajoso desde as séries iniciais, e nesse caso, a oferta das duas turmas de Ateliê Digital (2016 e 2017) adotou a ampla utilização do computador como principal recurso para as pesquisas, desenvolvimento das atividades e a apresentação dos projetos. A metodologia de ensino-aprendizagem ativa buscou estimular o desenvolvimento da criatividade e a independência nos estudantes. Como resultado, foi verificado que o uso do computador potencializou a projetação, fazendo com que houvesse um tempo maior dedicado à discussão sobre a solução do problema arquitetônico, favorecendo o ensino e a aprendizagem. Ao final do Ateliê Digital Integrado (2017), os alunos demonstraram amadurecimento e autonomia na projetação, com propostas bem fundamentadas e bem desenvolvidas. O nível de desenvolvimento dos exercícios projetuais e a representação técnica foi compatível com as exigências do Ateliê I (estudo preliminar) e do Ateliê II (anteprojeto), sem quaisquer prejuízos à exploração da forma ou da criatividade. Este artigo apresenta os resultados, bem como questões relacionadas à operacionalização da atividade, integrando turmas de anos diferentes; discute algumas dificuldades encontradas no processo e como foram superadas, dentre outros aspectos. Com a discussão sobre esta prática inovadora e bem-sucedida, espera-se contribuir para acelerar a adoção de ferramentas computacionais no ensino de projeto em cursos de graduação em Arquitetura e Urbanismo.

Leveraging Mindful Abstraction as a Tool for Liberation: Lessons From an International Education Undergraduate Course

ABSTRACT With this article, we trace how specific pedagogical techniques can help pre-service teachers connect abstract topics related to international education policy to their own experiences and those of their future student populations. Currently, there is an increased focus in teacher education, at least discursively, on understanding issues related to equity and social justice pertaining to student access, achievement, and success. However, the vast majority of teachers who are initiated into U.S. classrooms have been trained in a neoliberal system that favors inherently inequitable market-based policies, thus making it difficult for them to understand the influences of these engendered policies on the student populations they teach. Leveraging the notion of hooks’ engaged pedagogy, we explore how the use of mindful abstraction techniques help our pre-service teachers better understand the implications of education policy measures, both neoliberal and social progressive in nature, for diverse student populations to liberate them from the inherent biases that come from growing up in a neoliberal system. Specifically, we present a case study of an undergraduate International Education course wherein students work collaboratively to develop hypothetical school systems that address real-world educational issues in both developed and developing nation contexts.

A Dança no CEFD: da formação em Educação Física à criação de um Curso de Graduação em Dança

Este artigo apresenta como objetivo, além de homenagear o cinquentenário do Centro de Educação Física e Desportos (CEFD) da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, contextualizar, registrar e refletir acerca das questões de formação em Dança e seus desdobramentos, a partir da área da Educação Física e, mais recentemente, da área de Artes. Os saberes autobiográficos são apresentados em forma de registros escritos e de imagens, assim como os atravessamentos do trabalho artístico-pedagógico realizado por participantes, acadêmicos, professores, pesquisadores, que fizeram parte desse processo histórico construído por essas duas áreas, nesta mesma instituição. Aponta perspectivas e possibilidades da consolidação da área de Dança no Centro de Educação Física e Desportos a partir da formação e da produção comunitária e acadêmica dos docentes que a constituíram até a atualidade.