Teacher-centered Teaching Research Articles

Formas de enseñanza y evaluación utilizadas por los docentes de Odontología: resultados y su clasificación psicopedagógica

IntroductionWe report a study of the way of teaching and assessment is performed by the professors at the School of Dentistry (Facultad de Odontología, FO), of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The curriculum of dental surgeon has been in use since 1992. The object of the study is to identify the main forms of teaching and assessments used by teachers at the School of Dentistry (FO), and classify them both psychologically and pedagogically. MethodAn observational, cross-type exploratory survey with a Likert scale. Data were analyzed with SPSS (Cronbach’s Alpha=0.880) through descriptive statistics and an exploratory factor analysis. ResultsFrom a sample of 484 teachers (45.6% female, 54.4% male), it was determined that the main ways of teaching were: teachers prepare questions on topics previously seen, and give a seminar on the day’s topic. Few give: dictation or have presentation by students. Regarding teaching strategies the most used are: demonstrations, illustrations and case analysis. The forms of assessment most often used are: class participation, multiple-choice tests and checklists; and in practice: multiple choice exams, number of assignments and checklists. DiscussionAmong all forms of teaching and assessment that teachers use, some are more effective if they encourage problem solving, and promote a strong motivation in the student. ConclusionsTeachers use a few ways of teaching and evaluation with a different approach; prevailing teacher-centered teaching and excessive use of evaluation forms related to the cognitive area, fulfillment of treatments and theoretical knowledge of procedures. It is suggested to create awareness and enrich the regular educational practices with continuous training and updating regarding the evaluation forms grounded in knowledge construction and the development of skills and professional attitudes.

Beyond Educational Voyeurism: An Analysis of a Ugandan-North American Teacher Partnership Program

This paper examines open responses and journal entries generated by participants in a Ugandan – North American international teacher partnership program. Teachers comments are analyzed for factors addressing the successful negotiation of both teaching and relationship making across the cultural, pedagogical and political divides that separate them. In the midst of the international teacher partnership program, North American participants raised pedagogical concerns regarding the teacher-centered pedagogy and student passivity as after effects of Uganda’s colonial education system.

Exploring the Relationships between Self-Efficacy and Preference for Teacher Authority among Computer Science Majors

Teacher-centered instruction has been widely adopted in college computer science classrooms and has some benefits in training computer science undergraduates. Meanwhile, student-centered contexts have been advocated to promote computer science education. How computer science learners respond to or prefer the two types of teacher authority, student-centered versus teacher-centered, has not yet been fully examined. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to probe how preference for teacher-centered learning or student-centered learning may affect self-efficacy in learning computer science among undergraduate computer science majors. The participants were 804 college computer science majors across Taiwan. They anonymously responded to the “Teacher Authority Scale” (with four subscales: “Preference for autonomy,” “Preference for participative management,” “Preference for dependency,” and “Preference for teacher control”) and the “Self-efficacy in Learning Computer Science Scale.” Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to delineate two sets of variables. The results indicate that preference for autonomy in computer science learning positively predicts selfefficacy in learning computer science with the strongest coefficient. Computer science learner preference for teacher control is also a positive predictor. However, preference for participation in managing the computer class and preference for depending on the teacher did not play a significant role in the students' self-efficacy in learning computer science.

Epistemological Development and Judgments and Reasoning About Teaching Methods

ABSTRACT Children's, adolescents’, and adults’ (N = 96 7–8, 10–11, and 13–14-year-olds and university students) epistemological development and its relation to judgments and reasoning about teaching methods was examined. The domain (scientific or moral), nature of the topic (controversial or noncontroversial), and teaching method (direct instruction by lectures versus class discussions) were systematically varied. Epistemological development was assessed in the aesthetics, values, and physical truth domains. All participants took the domain, nature of the topic, and teaching method into consideration in ways that showed age-related variations. Epistemological development in the value domain alone was predictive of preferences for class discussions and a critical perspective on teacher-centered direct instruction, even when age was controlled in the analysis.

Implementing courseware as the primary mode of task-based ESP instruction: a case study of EFL students

The study reports on implementing self-developed English for specific purposes (ESP) courseware for technology industries in an elective course, “English reading for technology,” offered to junior students of English as a foreign language in a technical university in southern Taiwan. Courseware implementation was combined with a sustained-content language teaching (SCLT) approach and a task-based learning (TBL) approach was adopted. The course mainly focused on vocabulary, listening, and reading comprehension. Evaluation of implementing these information and communication technologies (ICTs) in ESP instruction was based upon data from a variety of pre-tests and post-tests including cloze, dictation, essay writing, and Q&A tests. The courseware not only provided learning materials for the target ESP, but also offered content-based and linguistic learning activities with corresponding instant self-evaluation. These features offered by the courseware both corresponded to the duel focus of the SCLT approach, and provided a model for developing an ESP courseware. Also, a teacher-centered instruction of the same subject matter was conducted with a control group. Students self-studying with the ESP courseware made as much progress as those that elected teacher-centered instruction. Most students were satisfied with the courseware-implemented ESP instruction combined with the SCLT and TBL approaches.

A jigsaw cooperative learning application in elementary science and technology lessons: physical and chemical changes

Background Cooperative learning is an active learning approach in which students work together in small groups to complete an assigned task. Students commonly find the subject of ‘physical and chemical changes’ difficult and abstract, and thus they generally have many misconceptions about it. Purpose This study aimed to investigate the effects of jigsaw cooperative learning activities developed by the researchers on sixth grade students’ understanding of physical and chemical changes. Sample Participants in the study were 61 sixth grade students in a public elementary school in Izmir, Turkey. Design and methods A pre-test and post-test experimental design with a control group was used, and students were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. Instruction of the subject was conducted via jigsaw cooperative learning in the experimental group and via teacher-centered instruction in the control group. During the jigsaw process, experimental group students studied the subjects of changes of state, changes in shape and molecular solubility from physical changes, and acid–base reactions, combustion reactions and changes depending on heating from chemical changes in their jigsaw groups. Results The concept test results showed that jigsaw cooperative learning instruction yielded significantly better acquisition of scientific concepts related to physical and chemical changes, compared to traditional learning. Students in the experimental group had a lower proportion of misconceptions than those in the control group, and some misconceptions in the control group were identified for the first time in this study. Conclusions Jigsaw cooperative learning is an effective teaching technique for challenging sixth grade students’ misconceptions in the context of physical and chemical changes, and enhancing their motivation, learning achievements, self-confidence and willingness in the science and technology lesson. This technique could be applied to other chemistry subjects and other grade levels.

The Contributing Factors of Pragmatic Failure in China’s ELT Classrooms

Pragmatic failure is the inability to understand what is meant by what is said, which can often lead to misunderstanding or confusion in cross-cultural communication. For this reason, the present article explores the contributing factors of pragmatic failure in China’s ELT Classrooms. According to the exploration, the following factors are found out: teacher-centered teaching; lack of authentic input; teaching English without considering the cultural differences; linguistic competence oriented evaluation system. Some effective measures are also put forward to deal with these deficiencies, such as, task-based teaching; authentic English teaching materials and pragmatic competence oriented evaluation system.

PRE-SERVICE SECONDARY SCIENCE TEACHERS’ IMAGES ABOUT THEMSELVES AS SCIENCE TEACHERS

The purpose of this study is to explore pre-service secondary science teachers’ images of themselves as science teachers. Also, the association between instructional style, and domains was explored. 130 secondary science teachers (biology, chemistry and physics) from 26 public universities participated in the data collection for this study. The Draw a Science Teacher Test Checklist (DASTT-C) was used as a data collection instrument. The results of study showed that pre-service science teachers’ images is 24.62% student-centred, 53.85% between student and teacher-centred, and 21.4% teacher-centred teaching style approaches. A significant association was found between domain and instructional style. Pre-service chemistry teachers were more willing to use student-centred teaching style rather than pre-service biology and pre-service physics teachers. Key words: DASTT-C, pre-service science teacher, secondary science education.

A preliminary analysis of teacher perceptions of the effects of NAPLAN on pedagogy and curriculum

This paper reports preliminary survey findings of Western Australian and South Australian teacher perceptions of the impact of NAPLAN on curriculum and pedagogy in their classroom and school. The paper examines how teachers perceive the effects of NAPLAN on curriculum and pedagogy and whether these perceptions mediated by the teacher’s gender, the socioeconomics of the school, the State and the school system in which the teacher works. Teachers report that they are either choosing or being instructed to teach to the test, that this results in less time being spent on other curriculum areas and that these effects contribute in a negative way to the class environment and the engagement of students. This largely agrees with a body of international research that suggests that high-stakes literacy and numeracy tests often results in unintended consequences such as a narrow curriculum focus, a return to teacher-centred instruction and a decrease in motivation. Analysis suggests there is a relationship between participant responses to the effect of NAPLAN on curriculum based on the characteristics of which State the teacher taught in, the socioeconomic status of the school and the school system in which they were employed (State, Catholic, and Independent).

Integrating English for specific purposes courseware into task-based learning in a context of preparing for international trade fairs

<p class="Abstract">This study reports on integrating courseware for participating in international trade fairs into English for specific purposes (ESP) instruction at a technical university in Taiwan. An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) approach combining courseware integration with Task Based Learning (TBL), was adopted. Evaluation of implementing this courseware-integrated ESP instruction was based on pre- and posttests in three tasks and student responses to questionnaires concerning satisfaction and attitude. Interviews were also conducted with recent graduates of this courseware-integrated program now working in business fields. Meanwhile, teacher-centred, face-to-face instruction on the same topic was conducted with a control group. The courseware not only provided authentic materials for learning the target ESP in situational settings, but also offered learning activities with corresponding instant self-evaluation so that students were engaged in cognitive processes based on individual need. Students enrolled in the courseware-integrated instruction made as much, and at times, even better, progress as those electing the teacher-centred instruction while completing the tasks of problem-solving and higher-order thinking. Their self-learning effectiveness in both task performance and linguistic skills was significantly improved and they reported satisfaction with the courseware-integrated instruction. Thus, courseware-integrated TBL instruction may offer a potential solution to problems in the development of ESP courses.</p><br />

Beyond Motivation

There have been many promises about the benefits of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) in classrooms. The assumption underlying those benefits is that computers would be used in a student-centered and a constructivist learning approach, departing from a teacher-centered teaching approach. The uses of computers in the classroom, however, vary depending on the teachers' perceptions and expectations of computers. There is little known about the ESL/EFL teachers' teaching beliefs and perceptions about the role of computers in their classrooms. This study examined 10 ESL/EFL teachers who enrolled in both a teacher education program and an advanced certificate of educational technology program. The grounded theory method was employed to understand these teachers' perceptions of computers in their classrooms. For data collection, each participant was interviewed for 50 minutes. The findings suggested that these teachers' perceptions and expectations of computers favored their use as instructional tools. In spite of the recommendations in the literature of CALL, ESL/EFL teachers' perceptions of the role of computers are limited to a supplemental and instructional tool in their language classrooms. Furthermore, teachers' perceptions of CALL were still based on a teacher-centered teaching paradigm.

Teaching in Northwestern China Under a Market Economy: Opportunities and Challenges

This article discusses a case study that explored the impacts of a market economy on some Northwestern Chinese teachers’ working and living conditions as well as opportunities and challenges the new economy presented from teachers’ perspectives. Analysis of surveys, interviews, and documents revealed that the participants believed they had benefited from the market economy, citing pay raises as well as improved working and living conditions. Participants thought opportunities under the market economy included additional earnings as well as improved national and international professional development. However, the participants found the shift from the traditional teacher-centered pedagogy to a more student-centered approach and working with more resourceful students and their parents required constant professional development and overtime work which was challenging and stressful. Findings indicate that the Hanyu (national language also referred to as Putonghua) medium of instruction for minority students, another pedagogical change under the market economy, presented additional challenges to minority teachers who were concerned that the Hanyu medium of instruction may have been an impediment to minority students’ educational achievement and presented serious issues that deserved urgent attention.

Democracy’s Angels: The Work of Women Teachers by Kristina Llewellyn

Reviewed by: Democracy’s Angels: The Work of Women Teachers by Kristina Llewellyn Harry Smaller Llewellyn, Kristina — Democracy’s Angels: The Work of Women Teachers. Montreal/Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2012. Pp. 107 I’m assuming that I’ve come by this review of this remarkable study at least somewhat honestly. In addition to my own long standing scholarly interests in state schooling and teachers’ work, I began my teaching career in Ontario schools in the latter part of the 1945–1970 era covered in this study. Memories of themes and activities during that time (albeit through the eyes of a white heterosexual male) certainly congrue with much of what Llewellyn describes and analyzes. Not only that, but it turns out that one of her respondents was a long-favoured aunt of mine (even though pseudonyms were used, the mini-bios provided clearly gave her away), and my own memories of her stories — especially those told to me “in real time” during the latter part of her teaching career — added much to my take-up of this book. In addition to lengthy interviews with 20 women from Ontario and British Columbia who taught in secondary schools during the immediate post-war era, Llewellyn accesses an enormous range and volume of primary sources relating to schooling and teaching — Ministry and school board records and reports, teacher federation documents, newspaper accounts, as well as drawing contemporary schooling studies and commentaries. In addition, her wide review [End Page 565] in the introductory chapter of relevant post-structural, feminist, Marxist and neo-Marxist works clearly speaks to the wide theoretical lens she employs in her analysis of her data. While some might prefer a more singular application of a specific theoretical dictum, or even be bothered by her somewhat “on this hand…” approach to explicating her findings, I for one appreciated this wide-set view, drawing from across a range of approaches to help tease out possible meanings and understandings. Llewellyn chooses to explore the “relationship of gender, education and democracy” by examining three broad aspects of schooling — curriculum, character education and school administration — in order to “provide a primarily gendered examination of how each major trend in education shaped a limiting role for women teachers within secondary schools” (p. 19). She begins this, in the first chapter, by unpacking the “purpose of educational democracy” and the ways in which politicians and the schooling elite attempted to develop a “nationalist platform of democracy” which “reaffirm a conservative ideal of citizenship” — patriarchal, white, English, middle class and heterosexual. Given the post-war pressures arising from demographic, economic, increased immigrant, and feminist and cultural upsurges, this certainly posed a challenging problem for those in power, and Llewellyn does an admirable job of documenting these challenges — through the words and actions of the elites, as well as in her respondents’ reflections on these changes. A number of themes are explored in the ensuing chapters — school structuring/streaming, the increasing numbers of immigrant and working-class students entering secondary schools, changing women’s roles in the post-war era, centralized vs. local control of curriculum, modes of teacher supervision, student vs. teacher-centred pedagogy, etc. In addition, the renewed post-war call for anti-totalitarian modes of governance provided further tension and conflict for both teachers and schooling officials — contesting the meanings of “citizenship” and the seeming contradictory role of schools in meeting both individual and national “needs.” While Llewellyn certainly seems to maintain a critical approach to much of what her respondents told her, and clearly draws on the critical oral history methods literature noted in her introductory chapter, I must say that I found myself still questioning what it really means for someone to “remember” and relate an event, in interview contexts like these. What does it tell us about that person — who she might have been then, and who she is now? What is the relation between the purported event, the memory of it, and the present context in which this memory is being evoked? What are the limitations of this methodological approach, and in what ways can they, if at all, be addressed? I was reminded once again of these questions when...

Teachers as agents in Botswana's music education: challenges and possibilities

The research aimed broadly to understand how Botswana's written government curricula for music are interpreted by music teachers as well as teachers' ideals for music teaching, and to what extent they thought it was possible to achieve those ideals. Grundy's writing on curriculum based on Habermas' technical, practical and emancipatory interests has proven an important lens through which to analyse and interpret the observational and interview data generated. Two music teachers in Botswana's Junior Secondary schools participated in the study, one in an urban area and one in a village. Data were generated through observation of 3 months of teaching in both classrooms, complemented by in-depth semi-structured interviews with both teachers. Additional data were generated through interviews with and observation of three other music teachers, interviews with music representatives for both Examination and Curriculum departments, and document analysis. My interpretation of the data is that most music teaching I observed would best be described as technical, meaning that it is concerned with factual information delivered through teacher-centred pedagogy and assessed by student reproduction of information through written testing. However, there were some examples of the practical paradigm when teaching focused on music making and the student's understandings. There was little evidence of the emancipatory view of knowledge, but the teachers did speak freely about their views on where music education should go and how it might get there. I concluded that dramatic changes to teacher education and music education in particular are necessary if music teaching is to become the rewarding, stimulating and enjoyable experience the teachers and students crave. This would involve re-conceiving education and teacher education by minimising the reproduction of factual knowledge and by emphasising the development of teacher judgement.

On the dichotomy of teacher-centred instruction and self-regulated learning in Russian didactics

The author describes the situation of didactics in Russia from a historical perspective. He develops his argumentation with respect to three comparative studies, relates the comparison to the history of Russian didactics since the 19th century, and includes an analysis of international influences on Russian didactics. The comparison focuses on the dichotomy of teacher-centred instruction and self-regulated learning. In the light of this dichotomy, Russian didacticians have stressed the importance of the ‘leading role’ of the teacher and of the ‘teacher’s personality’.The Russian didactic tradition may become interesting for future research from an international and even global perspective since teacher-centred instruction seems to be receiving a new, positive evaluation based on empirical studies.

Teachers' Pedagogical Beliefs at Commercial Schools—An Empirical Study in Germany

Within the study of teacher training, it is generally accepted that a teacher's behaviour and success in the classroom is influenced by their personal beliefs. This paper discusses teachers' pedagogical beliefs, domain-specific beliefs and conceptions of teaching and learning. We outline empirical results from various studies which explore lecturers' and teachers' perceptions of vocational training in the field of accounting education; then present an empirical study in German commercial schools, conducted via surveys (n= 225 teachers in commercial schools) and in-depth follow-up interviews (n = 21 teachers). Using cluster analysis we identify different teacher types or belief systems regarding teaching and learning in accounting education: predominantly constructivist or instructional. Of particular interest is a mixed type, which includes both paradigms and emphasises the importance of structured lessons and systematic teaching. Verbal data allow a more detailed analysis of the different pedagogical orientations. We established significant relationships between teachers' beliefs, including domain-specific beliefs, self reports on the organisation of classroom activities and teaching patterns. All in all, the findings show a dominance of instructional ideas and teacher-centred teaching practices in the domain of accounting.

Analyzing and Comparing the Effects of two Teaching Methods, Student-Centered Versus Teacher-Centered, on the Learning of Biostatistics at SBMU

Because of its widespread needs in different scientific fields, Statistics and Probability theory have gained great importance and medical students as well as students of other medically related disciplines including nursing need to use them especially in their research projects in undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate schools. This article deals with the question of finding the most effective way of teaching the necessary statistical skills to these students so that they can acquire more statistical knowledge and develop better problem solving and decision making strategies. This semi-experimental study has been carried out to compare the effect of teacher-centered and student-centered methods on nursing students’ learning of Biostatistics. The sample includes all the undergraduates of nursing School at SBMU (2006-2007). The sampling method used is convenience and includes 118 subjects. The teaching method is the dependent variable and the amount of material absorbed by the students, their age, marital status, type of housing, average of high school diploma, the grade average of the previous semester, number of family members and their prior experience are the independent variables. The grades of the students in the final exam, was taken as measure of amount of material absorbed by the students. The analysis was carried out using SPSS16 and the statistical tests used were t-test, ANOVA, and correlation test. The data revealed that the average of the students receiving student-based instruction was higher than the other students. However, no statistically significant difference was observed between the control and the experimental group in terms of the amount of teaching material learnt. The data also indicate that marital status, employment status, type of housing and prior experience all have statistically significant effect on the final grade, but none of them along with the teaching method exhibits a significant interaction with the final grade. Also the amount of material learnt by each student is almost directly correlated with his/her average of the previous semester (r p =0.402, p<0.001) and inversely weakly correlated with his/her age (r s =-0.220, p=0.017). Thus one can conclude that student-centered instruction is as effective as the teacher-centered instruction and other factors besides the method of instruction have a significant impact on the student’s learning.

Teaching methods in Hawler College of Medicine in Iraq: a qualitative assessment from teachers' perspectives.

BackgroundMedical education in Iraq is poorly assessed and there is a general lack of documented knowledge about the challenges facing this field and the needs for its development. This study aimed to assess the existing teaching methods in the Hawler College of Medicine, Iraq from teaching staff perspectives and assess the knowledge of the teaching staff about student-centred learning.MethodsA qualitative study based on a self-administered questionnaire survey of a purposive sample of 83 teaching staff in Hawler Medical University was conducted. The questionnaire addressed the participants’ view on the positive aspects and problems of the current teaching methods and priorities to change it. The qualitative data analysis comprised thematic analysis.ResultsThe study revealed significant problems facing the existing teaching methods including having large number of students in the lecture hall (45.0 %), having focus on teacher-centred teaching (45.0 %) and lack of infrastructures and facilities suitable for proper teaching (26.7 %). The priorities for improving the quality of teaching methods included adoption of small group teaching strategy in all study years (34.6 %), improving the infrastructure and facilities for teaching in the college (34.6 %) and provision of continuous academic development programs for the teaching staff (24.3 %).ConclusionsThe existing medical education system face significant problems and it needs important and comprehensive improvements in different areas. There is a need for further research in this field to explore the identified problems in a more in-depth manner in order to better understand of the problems and needs of this important area of education.

Integrating Social Networking Tools into ESL Writing Classroom: Strengths and Weaknesses

With the rapid development of world and technology, English learning has become more important. Teachers frequently use teacher-centered pedagogy that leads to lack of interaction with students. This paper aims to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of integrating social networking tools into ESL writing classroom and discuss the ways to plan activities by integrating social networking services (SNSs) into the classroom. Data was collected through an online discussion board from TESL students in a state university in Malaysia. The findings revealed that integrating social networking services in ESL writing classroom could help to broaden students’ knowledge, increase their motivation and build confidence in learning ESL writing. The students’ difficulties for concentrating on the materials when they use computer, lack of enough equipment as well as access to internet, and teachers’ insufficient time to interact with the students were regarded as the main disadvantages of integrating social networking tools into ESL writing classes. Therefore, in this new technological era, it is essential for students and teachers to be equipped with technical skills to be competent for life-long learning and teaching. More studies are needed to explore the teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards using ICT in ESL/EFL contexts. Future quantitative and qualitative studies with more participants are needed to provide deeper insight.

Teacher Candidate Attitude Changes After Experiencing an Arts-Integrated Unit on Africa

This study of 65 elementary school teacher candidates enrolled in social studies methods classes examined attitudes toward currently contentious curriculum issues before and after participation in a practicum experience teaching an arts-integrated unit on Africa. These curriculum issues included arts-integrated project-based learning versus narrower skill-based lessons; the importance of creativity, leadership, organizational, and affective skills; and student-centered versus teacher-centered instruction. Attitudes were measured by teacher candidates placing themselves on each of ten continuums between endpoints representing opposing curriculum approaches and responding to open-ended questions. Statistically significant pre-post differences with medium effect sizes occurred on three of the continuums indicating that teacher candidates now placed greater value on arts-integrated curricula to teach social studies content; recognized that choice motivates students; and expressed more enjoyment of planning complex, long-term, student-centered projects. They recognized deep conceptual learning and engagement of elementary school students during the student-centered arts-integrated lessons but noted that the time and effort of complex project work were barriers to implementation. Social studies methods teachers need to involve teacher candidates in field experiences that offer authentic arts- integrated student-centered project work to allow them to adopt curriculum stances not experienced as elementary school students.