Teaching Philosophy Research Articles

A Study on the Development of Elementary School Teacher Professional Growth Scale

<p>教師專業是提升教育品質的關鍵，也是教育成功的基礎，然而目前國內的專業成長量表多是著重在教師自己認知目前專業成長的程度，並非強調是參加專業發展活動或研習後的專業成長程度，因此量表可能有侷限性，不符合使用。所以，本研究目的在以實踐取向為依歸，編制一套適合衡量教師在參加專業發展活動後的專業成長量表。本研究透過探索性因素分析、驗證性因素分析、聚斂效度、區別效度以及測量恆等性等步驟，編製教師專業成長的量表，量表內涵在文獻探討時一共包含專業知能（以教學工作為主軸）、專業倫理與態度（包含教師理念、反思等）、專業實踐（強調學習是否能實際應用在教學上，並且以關注學生學習為焦點），三個構面。經過14位學者專家的修訂，以及314樣本進行量表預試分析與因素結構探索，建構出四個構面分別為專業倫理、專業實踐、專業知能以及專業反思。而後以656名正式樣本進行量表之驗證性因素分析、聚斂效度、區別效度以及年資測量恆等性等各項考驗。研究結果顯示，本量表建構的二階四因素模式具有良好的契合度，且本量表模式更具有跨樣本的穩定性，同時適用不同年資群組的分析。整體而言，本研究量表具有實務應用之參考價值。</p> <p> </p><p>It is the key element to improve the quality of education as well as the foundation of educational success by improving teachers’ teaching profession. However, the current scales used for professional growth are mostly focused on teachers’ personal perception of their professional growth level, rather than the profession degree after participating in the professional development activities or studies. Therefore, the scale may be limited and unsuitable for use in that case. Thence, the purpose of this research is to develop a set of Professional Growth Scales which is suitable for measuring the degree of teachers’ professional growth after participating in professional development activities based on practice orientation. Via the steps of exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and measurement invariance, this research has developed a scale for teachers’ authentic participation in professional learning communities. There are three dimensions considered and discussed in the literature review to be the connotation of this scale. They are professional knowledge and ability which focus on teaching tasks, professional ethics and attitude including teachers’ teaching philosophy and reflection, and professional practice with emphasizing on practical teaching skills to assist students’ learning needs. After revision by 14 scholars and experts with 314 samples for pre-test analysis of the scale and exploration of factor structure, four dimensions were constructed. They are professional ethics, professional practice, professional knowledge and professional reflection. Then, 656 formal samples were employed to test the scales’ confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validity, discriminant validity and the identity of seniority measurement. The research results show that the second-order with four-factor model which constructed by this scale made a positive model fit, and it is applicable to analysis the different seniority groups. Overall, this research scale makes valuable reference for practical application.</p> <p> </p>

Effectiveness of Concussion Curriculum (CC) in Postgraduate Medical Education

Research Objectives Objectives: The aims of this review are to describe and assess the effects of concussion curriculum on medical learning. Design A systematic search of six databases (MEDLINE/ PUBMED, Ovid MEDLINE: Epub Ahead of Print, In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE Daily and Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, ERIC, Cochrane, CINAHL) was conducted, using the text-word and MeSH-heading search strategy, in December 2021. Eligibility criteria included studies in a postgraduate education context that reported on the effects on learning. The validated MINORS (Methodological Index for Nonrandomized Studies) tool was utilized to assess the risk of bias. Kirkpatrick's evaluation model and Miller's assessment pyramid were used as frameworks to determine the impacts of CC on post-graduate learning. Setting Literature review. Participants N/A. Interventions Implementing a spiral curriculum following the systematic review of concussion curricula. Main Outcome Measures Competency. Results Six articles were identified, reporting on 2 retrospective studies and 4 cohort studies. Although there were mixed findings overall, the highest positive learning outcome reported was knowledge (Miller Level 1), and no studies assessed higher levels of curriculum impacts. Conclusions The effectiveness of CC in post-graduate medical education remains unknown regarding how the learning can be transferred to change practice and affect patient outcomes. Educational research should be built on conceptual frameworks and theories. Those with success employed constructivism, situated learning theory, and social learning theory/community of practice as the underpinning theories. To develop an effective CC, further prospective, competency-based concussion educational scholarship with mixed-method (quantitative and qualitative) evaluation is needed to capture curriculum processes and impacts over time. Using iterative usability approaches and medical educational frameworks, future CC research studies will be valuable to support competency-based medical education development. Author(s) Disclosures The authors of this study have no conflicts of interest to disclose and received no financial benefits. This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. Objectives: The aims of this review are to describe and assess the effects of concussion curriculum on medical learning. A systematic search of six databases (MEDLINE/ PUBMED, Ovid MEDLINE: Epub Ahead of Print, In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE Daily and Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, ERIC, Cochrane, CINAHL) was conducted, using the text-word and MeSH-heading search strategy, in December 2021. Eligibility criteria included studies in a postgraduate education context that reported on the effects on learning. The validated MINORS (Methodological Index for Nonrandomized Studies) tool was utilized to assess the risk of bias. Kirkpatrick's evaluation model and Miller's assessment pyramid were used as frameworks to determine the impacts of CC on post-graduate learning. Literature review. N/A. Implementing a spiral curriculum following the systematic review of concussion curricula. Competency. Six articles were identified, reporting on 2 retrospective studies and 4 cohort studies. Although there were mixed findings overall, the highest positive learning outcome reported was knowledge (Miller Level 1), and no studies assessed higher levels of curriculum impacts. The effectiveness of CC in post-graduate medical education remains unknown regarding how the learning can be transferred to change practice and affect patient outcomes. Educational research should be built on conceptual frameworks and theories. Those with success employed constructivism, situated learning theory, and social learning theory/community of practice as the underpinning theories. To develop an effective CC, further prospective, competency-based concussion educational scholarship with mixed-method (quantitative and qualitative) evaluation is needed to capture curriculum processes and impacts over time. Using iterative usability approaches and medical educational frameworks, future CC research studies will be valuable to support competency-based medical education development.

Community, Engagement and Connectedness: Reflections on Pathway Programs at a Regional Australian University

The progressive democratisation of Australian higher education has numerous causes including the increase in the number of universities and therefore university places across the later 20th and into the 21st century, as well as initiatives by governments of different ideological hues to increase the total percentage of the population with a university degree. This latter impulse, in particular, has increased significantly the number of students entering university via pathway programs, meaning programs which provide the opportunity to undertake study to inculcate university-standard skills and enable matriculation into university for people who are otherwise ineligible. The students in pathway programs are sometimes disengaged from learning, coming from so-called non-traditional pathways that may signify a disconnect between them and their institutions of learning. This practice report, therefore, examines efforts to address “connectedness” in pathway programs at a regional university in Australia. The pathway programs at UniSQ College are underpinned by an inclusive and holistic teaching philosophy that supports students’ access to higher education. Through the lenses of social, emotional, cognitive, behavioural, and collaborative engagement, practitioners examined and reflected on ways in which this philosophy was embedded in the day-to-day work of UniSQ College through deliberate efforts to promote and maintain connectedness. By reflecting on and articulating these connections, we have provided a base for developing a future evaluative framework that will critically examine the extent to which our practices, through student engagement, foster connectedness.

Examining the influence of professional development on tutors’ teaching philosophies

ABSTRACT This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study examining the influence of professional development (PD) on tutors’ teaching philosophies. It found that tutors construe their role in three ways: as transmitter, facilitator, or reflexive practitioner. The findings suggest most tutors, prior to a PD program, hold a teacher-focused conception of teaching and learning (that is, as transmitter) but shift toward a student-oriented conception following the completion of the PD program (facilitators or reflexive practitioners). Epistemic shifts among tutors were attributed to three specific features of the PD program: workshops, peer mentoring, and peer networking. This study provides insights into PD features that cultivate student-oriented teaching philosophies reflecting contemporary pedagogical strategies that promote experiential and constructivist teaching approaches.

Integrating the Basic and Clinical Sciences Throughout the Medical Curriculum: Contemplating the Why, When and How

A safe, effective clinician should have the ability to reason through any case they encounter — some of which may be unusual presentations or complex cases which may not fully match standard clinical practice guidelines. When faced with a situation that does not match a known pattern, a solid foundation in the underlying principles of the scientific basis of medicine would be needed to correctly reach the most probable diagnosis and choose the most appropriate treatment strategy. The ability to do this requires the clinician to be able to integrate relevant pieces of related knowledge from both the basic and clinical sciences. However, these two elements are often taught in a dissociated manner in medical school. This often results in students struggling to see connections between the two, and often perceiving the basic sciences as being not relevant to the practice of clinical medicine. The need for better integration of the curriculum has been recognized and many medical schools have attempted to implement an integrated curriculum to varying degrees. This article attempts to summarize the theoretical basis and available evidence supporting a fully integrated spiral curriculum as an effective model for medical curriculum development in order to train safe, effective clinicians. We also briefly discuss some challenges to this and some possible strategies to overcome them.

Research on the Teaching Reform of Network Application Development under the Background of First-class Specialty

With the goal of cultivating application-oriented and innovative talents, based on the teaching philosophy of "student-centered, output-oriented, continuous improvement", combined with modern information technology, and based on online and offline mixed teaching has become an inevitable trend of curriculum construction universities. This paper discusses the teaching reform research situation of “Network Application Development” course under the background of first-class Specialty, mixed teaching design, course teaching content and organization, course assessment and course evaluation, comprehensively exploring the new ideas of curriculum reform, and cultivating new engineering innovative talents.

How search committees assess teaching: Lessons for CTLs

This study updates and expands upon past work on how tenure-track hiring committees evaluate teaching effectiveness to provide centers for teaching and learning (CTLs) current data as they support graduate students and postdocs navigating the academic hiring process. In this study, 166 hiring committee chairs from nine academic disciplines and a variety of institution types (e.g., Baccalaureate, Master’s, and Doctoral) responded to survey questions addressing how they evaluate teaching effectiveness for tenure-track positions. Results indicate that hiring chairs across institution types and disciplines value a candidate’s teaching effectiveness. Hiring committees use a variety of documents to gather information about an applicant’s teaching, but the teaching philosophy statement is most common. The survey responses also provide greater clarity on what hiring chairs find effective in applicants’ teaching philosophy statements, diversity and inclusion statements, and presentations of student evaluations. We discuss implications of these findings for scholarship of educational development (SoED) researchers, CTL leadership engaged in strategic planning, and educational developers providing consultations and workshops for future faculty.

Teaching Reform in C Programming Course from the Perspective of Sustainable Development: Construction and 9-Year Practice of “Three Classrooms–Four Integrations–Five Combinations” Teaching Model

In the past, the teaching of C programming courses was teacher-centered, and students’ practical ability, innovation ability, independent learning ability, and moral character were not effectively improved. In order to meet the requirements of teaching informatization, OBE philosophy, “Golden Course” construction, and ideological politics in the curriculum for course teaching, we have been reforming how C programming courses are taught since 2013 from the perspective of sustainable development in order to realize the synergistic promotion of knowledge imparting, ability training, and moral character shaping. First, we systematically reformed the teaching support system in eight dimensions: changing the teaching philosophy, enriching teaching resources, reconstructing the teaching environment, reshaping the course content, transforming the teaching process, innovating teaching methods, reforming course evaluations, and building ideological politics surrounding the ecology of the curriculum. On this basis, we divided the teaching classroom into three classrooms: theory, practical training, and innovative practice. We ensured that teaching resources, information technology, diversified evaluation, and moral character shaping were always integrated into the classroom. Then, we used a combination of “online and offline, in-class knowledge learning and extra-curricular autonomous practice, teachers’ careful lectures and seniors’ guidance, ability training and moral character shaping, and impart knowledge and innovative practice” to build a student-centered teaching model of “three classrooms–four integrations–five combinations”. Since the application of this model in course teaching, students have not only enhanced their sense of access to learning and improved their course performance, independent learning ability, and practical ability, but have also improved their innovation ability, with students achieving excellent results in thesis publication, patent applications, software copyright applications, discipline competitions, and innovation project applications. Students have cultivated a strong sense of social responsibility and high moral character, and employers are highly satisfied. This teaching model has been adopted and reused in 12 engineering courses and has achieved good application results. The teaching model can provide a reference for college engineering courses to build a student-centered information-based education ecology, create high-quality classrooms, and collaboratively improve students’ abilities and moral character.

What is it like to teach philosophy online? Experiences and satisfaction of lecturers at german universities in the first “Corona semester”

In an online survey we conducted subsequently to the first so-called “Corona semester” we asked university lecturers in philosophy at German universities to share their experiences with digital teaching. In the questionnaire, the respondents were asked questions concerning the use of digital media in a specific course they taught and how satisfied they were with their course. We also asked them about the advantages and disadvantages of teaching philosophy online and about their assessment of whether the use of digital media is suitable for teaching philosophy. In our article, we present some of our findings based on the data and statements of 87 respondents. We identify the main factors influencing satisfaction with online teaching and point out some assumptions underlying the widespread fear that core elements might get lost by teaching philosophy online. In a second step we will discuss our findings and we will also derive recommendations from our results that may help to overcome key difficulties of teaching philosophy online.

The influence of teaching philosophy on coverage of LGBTQ issues in counseling courses

AbstractCounselor educators (N = 205) were surveyed on their teaching philosophy, coverage of LGBTQ issues in counseling courses, participant characteristics, and LGBTQ clinical skill using web‐based methods. Regression analysis identified that rating adult education as important predicted coverage of LGBTQ issues. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

What music teacher will I be? A case study on the teaching philosophies of last-year pre-service Swedish music teachers

Written teaching philosophies are a common part of applications for music teaching positions. However, their contents are not commonly addressed in the music-education research literature. At the present study, I aim to explore the beliefs in practicing the profession as expressed in those statements and based on the case of last-year pre-service music teachers at a Swedish university. The results showed four different areas of concern: methodology-related, self-related, curriculum-related and student-related aspects. Furthermore, I discuss the impossibility to classify the underlying philosophies within the traditional ones in music education and the implications for the professional world.

November 2022 Placement Ads

November 2022 Placement Ads

The Effects of Teaching Undergraduate Freshmen Biology Courses in Spanish and English

This study examines the attitudes and experiences of bilingual learners across two instructional types, identifying how the language of instruction affects the context of learning, and how the experience of the learners differs. Participants included 269 predominantly Hispanic undergraduate students in a general biology course attending a Hispanic Serving Institution in a bilingual community along the US-Mexico border. A bilingual faculty member, who recognizes the sociocultural and contextual factors that affect student learning and adopts a teaching philosophy founded in Culturally Responsive Practices (CRP) and valuing students’ Funds of Knowledge taught the class. This study utilized a mixed method design including analyses of quantitative student learning outcomesa and qualitative data on students’ experiences in educational contexts. While all learners were enrolled in sections of the course in which the instructor used CRP, only half of the learners received instruction bilingually in Spanish and English, allowing a comparison of the effects of bilingual instruction. Analyses of student experiences and knowledge gained revealed significantly greater learning in the bilingual courses, compared to English monolingual sections taught by the same faculty member. Results suggest that the use of bilingual instructional approaches can lead to positive outcomes for bilingual undergraduate students. These findings can be used by educators and policy makers alike, with interest in promoting the academic and sociocultural development of bilingual undergraduate students.

Philosophy of Teaching

Philosophy of Teaching

Science Spiral Progression Curriculum: The Factors Affecting Secondary Students' Learning Progress

Science Spiral Progression Curriculum: The Factors Affecting Secondary Students' Learning Progress

What I Think about When I Think about Teaching Ethics: A Philosophical Exploration in Pedagogy

What I Think about When I Think about Teaching Ethics: A Philosophical Exploration in Pedagogy

If these blackboards could talk 2: The Fem‐Crit classroom

AbstractIn this article, I explain how I came to redefine my teaching philosophy as Fem‐Crit to ensure that I train students in gender‐conscious lawyering. First, I discuss how even though Crits' and Feminists' pedagogical approaches focus on breaking down hierarchies in the law, Crit pedagogies can remain male‐constructed and privileged, especially for cis‐man professors like myself. Recognizing these shortcomings, I highlight the importance of labeling my teaching as Fem‐Crit as a self‐accountability measure. Departing from this understanding, I revisit my conclusion from a previous article that the law school classroom should be a battlefield and recognize that a Fem‐Crit formulation of the classroom encompasses more than conflict and it also includes meeting conflict with anti‐subordination responses. I follow with my reflections on the challenges, methods, and experiences in socializing students to become Fem‐Crit lawyers. In that part, I discuss how each of the tenets that I had previously identified as core components of a Crit classroom should look for a Fem‐Crit professor. I conclude my reflection by sharing how Fem‐Crit pedagogy has led me to believe that this didactic practice ultimately entails bringing activism into the classroom and the classroom into activism.

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CRITICAL THINKING APPROACH TO CHEMICAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

All learning activities are geared towards not what the teacher is going to teach, but what the outcome of that teaching should be, what the learner is supposed to do, and at what level. Education plays a main role in shaping the learner to be a better, responsible citizen and an active member of the society. It provides the ladder for achieving success in life as well as constructive utilization of acquired skills and knowledge. Critical thinking should be taught in schools so that students may learn to think for themselves and make their own choices, as well as to prepare them for the difficulties of adult life and to help them live a full and happy life that includes critical thinking. The instructor is at the core of traditional education, which does not foster inventiveness or originality. Critical thinking approach will erase traditional teaching deficiencies and will breed professional competence, cognitive transformation, and self-confidence. Various strategies that can foster the development of critical thinking across disciplines in education have been explored by researchers recently, and despite the acknowledged importance, critical thinking skills are frequently not taught explicitly; teachers are not intentional in the teaching and learning process, the assumption being that students will learn from the implicit values buried deep within our teaching philosophies. It is essential that teachers understand critical thinking processes and employ instructional activities to build these processes to teach critical thinking abilities. Researching critical thinking is a continuous process since it is a contentious and extensive topic in terms of definition and progress. Keywords: Critical thinking skills; Teacher-centered; Strategies; Cognitive transformation.

An exploration of engineering instructors' pedagogical adaptations early in the COVID‐19 pandemic

AbstractBackgroundMany instructors made an emergency shift to online teaching during the Spring 2020 semester. There is reason to expect that instructors would have dramatically changed their pedagogy and teaching philosophies. At the same time, there are reasons that engineering instructors might be hesitant to introduce some changes to their courses.Purpose/HypothesisThis study explores pedagogical and philosophical adaptations using instructors' accounts of emergency remote teaching during the Spring 2020 semester.Design/MethodIn‐depth interviews with six engineering instructors were conducted to examine their teaching experiences and the way they responded to the online transition. Interview transcripts were analyzed for general themes and commonalities.ResultsInstructors made many changes during the transition, some of which were general and others individualized after a problem came to their attention. However, other changes were uncommon or even avoided, in particular, reducing content difficulty and shifting their teaching philosophies. Our interviews suggest several explanations for their choices, including the degree to which course design rendered change unnecessary, or the influence of the instructors' existing skillset, their desire to protect the validity of grades, and their sense of the scope of engineering pedagogy.ConclusionsThese interviews contribute to our understanding of how the emergency transition to online teaching impacted engineering instructors and how instructors might improve resilience during future crises. The conceptual tools and thought processes elucidated by this study can inform future analyses. Further research should pursue comparisons with other disciplines and consider the long‐term effects of pandemic teaching.