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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 March 2024

Doreen L. Mazzye and Joan Gujarati

Research in this field is becoming increasingly clear that a teacher residency program (TRP) has a strong potential for developing effective teachers in a teacher preparation…

Abstract

Purpose

Research in this field is becoming increasingly clear that a teacher residency program (TRP) has a strong potential for developing effective teachers in a teacher preparation context. There are specific features of a TRP that yield results in the development of teachers. However, there are often barriers to full implementation of a TRP that schools and university partnerships must consider and resolve. The purpose of this article is to disseminate the lessons we have learned and processes we have developed in navigating the barriers and complexities of shifting toward a TRP.

Design/methodology/approach

The university faculty members with a dual role as Professional Development School (PDS) liaisons examine, reflect on, and present their multiyear process of moving from an undergraduate traditional teacher preparation model to a teacher residency model.

Findings

In response to the barriers of funding, defining roles and responsibilities, and changes in leadership, we developed an undergraduate residency blueprint to navigate these challenges productively. One of the goals of this document is to provide clarity for all stakeholders as well as be a transparent solution for leadership transitions. The blueprint serves as a guide for the details of residency program design.

Originality/value

In movement toward a TRP, there are often barriers to full implementation that schools and university partnerships must consider and resolve. This article provides a model for partnerships seeking to navigate teacher residency work.

Details

PDS Partners: Bridging Research to Practice, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2833-2040

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 June 2024

Clayton Smith, Geri Salinitri and Kendra Hart

This study provides insight into the nature of peer-mentoring opportunities for teacher candidates, including common challenges and benefits that can be used to inform best…

Abstract

Purpose

This study provides insight into the nature of peer-mentoring opportunities for teacher candidates, including common challenges and benefits that can be used to inform best practices for implementing peer-mentoring programs by higher education institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative interviews were conducted to glean insights from program coordinators and researchers regarding programs at higher education institutions in Canada, Australia, and Vietnam.

Findings

Common challenges and benefits of peer mentoring for teacher candidate mentors and mentees are identified. The importance of embedding reflective practice in programs is discussed, highlighting strategies for improving reflection and engagement.

Research limitations/implications

This exploratory study has limitations. Due to the small sample size, thematic saturation may not have been reached. There is a lack of prior research on the topic of peer mentoring in an undergraduate, pre-service education context. These factors indicate room for further exploration on this topic. This study reveals areas for further research. Research on best practices for the implementation of peer mentoring experiences for teacher candidates should be continued with larger sample sizes, and mixed methodologies. Differences in best practices in online and in-person peer mentoring programs for teacher candidates could be investigated. The value of mentoring as a reflective tool for professional growth should be further explored. The adequacy of structured and reflective peer mentoring as an adjunct or substitute for traditional mentoring by staff advisors may be of interest to provide more professional growth opportunities to teacher candidates at earlier stages and lower costs for institutions.

Practical implications

To overcome common challenges associated with low engagement from mentees, both the mentor and mentee positions should be framed as active roles in a partnership essential for professional growth. Ideally, facilitators should designate time within the curriculum, such as course or lab time, in which mentors and mentees can meet. To increase mutual engagement, preservice education programs should make both roles mandatory, or offer each role as a credit course with academic incentives for assignments that demonstrate quality self-reflection and engagement.

Social implications

Rather than viewing themselves as passive recipients of mentoring services, mentees can take ownership through engaging in valued mentee responsibilities, such as identifying needs, and communicating proactively. How mentee and mentor roles are perceived, and enacted, may be influenced by whether programs are presented as supports by mentors for mentees, or reciprocal professional partnerships required for mutual growth.

Originality/value

The research offers insights into how peer-mentoring programs for teacher candidates can be structured to address pitfalls, enhance professional development, and support undergraduate teacher-learners. Practical recommendations for program coordinators and institutions are offered.

Details

International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6854

Keywords

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to assess the effectiveness of active teaching methodologies, namely, problem-oriented learning and the case method, to develop sustainability competencies. It also analyses the advantages and challenges for teachers when implementing the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in eight undergraduate and postgraduate degrees within the framework of a cross-departmental collaboration.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed research methodology was used: a quantitative study to assess the levels of acquisition of sustainability and research competencies and the potential correlation between them, as well as a mixed study of the advantages and challenges for the teachers participating in the cross-departmental initiative. Curriculum content linked to the SDGs was worked on. Active teaching methodologies and a competency assessment rubric were used as curriculum implementation strategies in the eight courses involved.

Findings

Active teaching methodologies are suitable to implement the SDGs in university teaching and to develop both sustainability and research competencies. A synergic effect is observed between them. Coordinated work between teachers of different subjects in several degrees contributes to developing a culture of sustainability at the university.

Research limitations/implications

Although the collaboration between teachers from different disciplines was successful, this study did not promote interdisciplinary projects among students from different degrees. This promises to be highly valuable for future research.

Practical implications

Students can become present and future leaders in achieving the SDGs. This approach can be replicated in other educational institutions.

Social implications

This study bridges the gap between theoretical recommendations and the practical implementation of the SDGs in undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.

Originality/value

Coordinated work between teachers of different subjects in different degrees contributes to the development of a culture of sustainability at the university.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 25 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 June 2024

Maria Luisa Farnese, Paola Spagnoli, Liliya Scafuri Kovalchuk and Michael Tomlinson

The evolving dynamics of the labour market make graduates’ future employability an important issue for higher education (HE) institutions, prompting universities to complement the…

Abstract

Purpose

The evolving dynamics of the labour market make graduates’ future employability an important issue for higher education (HE) institutions, prompting universities to complement the conventional graduate skills approach with a wider focus on graduate forms of capital that may enhance their sense of employability. This study, adopting a capital perspective, explores whether and how teachers in HE, when acknowledged as knowledgeable trustworthy actors, may affect graduates’ employability. It investigates how they can mobilise undergraduate cultural capital through socialisation, and shape their pre-professional identity, paving the way for university-to-work transition.

Design/methodology/approach

To test the hypothesised model, a self-report online questionnaire was administered to a sample of 616 undergraduates attending different Italian universities. Multiple mediating models were tested using the SEM framework.

Findings

Results supported the tested model and showed that trust in knowledgeable HE teachers was associated with undergraduates’ perceived employability both directly and through both mediators (i.e. academic socialisation and identification with future professionality).

Research limitations/implications

This research explores a capital conceptualisation of graduate employability, identifying possible processes for implementing graduates’ capital across their academic experience and providing initial evidence of their interplay and contribution to transition into the labour market.

Originality/value

These findings provide empirical support to possible forms of capital that HE institutions may fulfil to enhance their undergraduate employability throughout their academic career, which serves as a liminal space allowing undergraduates to begin building a tentative professional identity.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 14 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 March 2024

Ariel Cornett and Erin Piedmont

Place-based, social studies teaching and learning has the potential to foster engaged citizens connected and committed to improving their communities. This study explored the…

Abstract

Purpose

Place-based, social studies teaching and learning has the potential to foster engaged citizens connected and committed to improving their communities. This study explored the research question, “In what ways do classroom and field-based experiences prepare teacher candidates (TCs) to make connections between place-based education and elementary social studies education?”

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative case study examined how elementary TCs learned about, researched, curated and created place-based social studies educational resources related to community sites. Data collection included TCs’ Pre- and Post-Course Reflections as well as Self-Evaluations, which were analyzed using an inductive approach and multiple rounds of concept coding. Several themes emerged through data analysis.

Findings

The authors organized their findings around three themes: connections (i.e. place becomes personal), immersion (i.e. learning about place to learning in place) and bridge building (i.e. local as classroom). The classroom and field-based experiences in the elementary social studies methods course informed the ways in which TCs learned about and connected to the concept of place, experienced place in a specific place (i.e. downtown Statesboro, Georgia), and reflected upon the myriad ways that they could utilize place in their future elementary social studies classrooms.

Originality/value

TCs (as well as in-service teachers and teacher educators) must become more informed, connected and committed to places within their local communities in order to consider them as resources for elementary social studies teaching and learning.

Details

Social Studies Research and Practice, vol. 19 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1933-5415

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2024

Yaqiao Liu, Yifei Liang and Yilan Guo

The marketisation of higher education fosters the notion of students as consumers, highlighting the shifting dynamics of student–teacher relationships. This paper aims to…

Abstract

Purpose

The marketisation of higher education fosters the notion of students as consumers, highlighting the shifting dynamics of student–teacher relationships. This paper aims to contribute to ongoing discussions about students as consumers and their involvement in pedagogical practices. We explore students’ experiences in short-term study abroad (SA) programmes that involve collaborative learning, examining how a consumerism-oriented approach affects students’ perceptions of their pedagogical identities and student–teacher pedagogical relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative exploratory study was conducted to capture students’ rich and subjective perceptions and experiences. The data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 15 Chinese undergraduate students who participated in a short-term SA programme at a UK university. Following data translation and transcription, a thematic analysis approach facilitated our exploration.

Findings

Chinese students engage in SA programmes as a strategic investment in personal growth and transformation, with their consumer-oriented identity fostering a mutually beneficial relationship with educators and group members. This consumer mindset appears to enhance active student engagement and, to some extent, create reciprocal student–teacher interactions through power sharing and collaborative involvement.

Originality/value

This study presents empirical data exploring the impact of consumer identity on the dynamics of student–teacher relationships in the SA context. It provides recommendations for implementing pedagogical approaches designed to mediate the influence of consumerism on student engagement, particularly in shaping collaborative student–teacher relationships. This study offers insights for future research on the effects of consumerism in higher education within cross-cultural contexts.

Details

Asian Education and Development Studies, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-3162

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 January 2024

Belén Pagone, Paula Cecilia Primogerio and Sol Dias Lourenco

The purpose of this paper is to describe this new evaluation experience with portfolio in economics, not only from the teacher’s point of view but from the student perspective…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe this new evaluation experience with portfolio in economics, not only from the teacher’s point of view but from the student perspective, and all the learning from its implementation; to provide ideas of evaluation practices in virtual and face-to-face modality in international business education; to motivate the rethinking of assessment practices in higher education to combine the best of each modality in the future.

Design/methodology/approach

The present work is a case study based on a qualitative description of the implementation of a portfolio as an assessment practice, supported by a reflection questionnaire with students’ perceptions and some elements of metacognition. The first section summarizes the literature used as a theoretical framework of this work. The second section describes the portfolio implementation by analyzing teachers and students reflections with a qualitative approach. The third section presents the findings. The fourth section is a discussion of findings, practical implications, limitations and future research directions. Finally, the conclusions of the work are shared.

Findings

Because the portfolio has had overwhelming results to assess what students have learned during the pandemic, it has become the learning and assessment tool after the pandemic, as it transforms the classes experience by shifting the focus from traditional examinations to more comprehensive, personalized and reflective ones. It also empowers students to take ownership of their learning, develop essential skills and cultivate a deeper understanding. Among other benefits, the portfolio means the creation of a safe and supportive environment for honest reflection, the development and design of strategic directions to improve learning and lead students toward metacognitive autonomy. Reflection pieces, a critical component of the portfolio, are a vital tool in the proactive learning process, as through reflection students learn to examine their own performance and discuss strategies to enhance their success in future work.

Research limitations/implications

This work began as an educational experience per se, not for research purposes, which caused it to be systematized and reconstructed in a descriptive way, not to measure quantitative results. In this way, the present work describes that the portfolio helps to achieve better results on students’ learning than traditional examinations but, as another limitation, it does not measure them nor the process. One more limitation of this work is that it was written in a postpandemic context but was implemented during the pandemic; therefore, the circumstances of writing are not the same as those of implementation, and this could also entail a certain margin of decontextualization. At the same time, this is an experience that is still in process and continually being adapted to this changed and changing educational postpandemic context.

Practical implications

One of the main implications of the portfolio experience, transferable to all educational contexts, is that it transforms the final exam into a metacognitive one, letting students be aware of their own process of learning and results – objectives and competences – acquired. In this way, it lets teachers witness a part of the learning process that is not so evident in the traditional assessment practices – focused on some aspect of the learning – as it makes visible the way in which students receive, process and apply content, that is to say, how they make it their own.

Social implications

The portfolio promotes reflective learning and metacognition, vital skills that benefit students beyond the classroom. This can have a positive impact on societal attitudes toward education and the quality of learning. Of the students, 82% felt the portfolio creation was helpful in their personal and professional lives, suggesting a broader societal impact. The paper’s findings contribute to the body of knowledge about the effectiveness of portfolio-based assessment in higher education, especially in the worldwide transition from online education to postpandemic education. This could guide future studies in similar educational contexts or with different pedagogical innovative tools.

Originality/value

In light of the 2020 pandemic lockdown, this work delves into the pressing need for educators to adapt and modify their teaching approaches. The relevance of this study is accentuated by the worldwide transition from online education to postpandemic education. This paper bridges the gap between theory and practice because the research can be applied to the educational practice of any international business education context, as well as lay the foundations for future research in the field that contributes to increasing evidence of the effectiveness of the use of the portfolio to achieve significant and deep learning in higher education.

Details

Journal of International Education in Business, vol. 17 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-469X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 May 2024

Sunita Saikia, Yeasmin Sultana and Mei Yuan Law

This research aimed to capture undergraduate students' experiences in the transition from face-to-face (F2F) learning to online learning. This study explored their perceptions…

Abstract

Purpose

This research aimed to capture undergraduate students' experiences in the transition from face-to-face (F2F) learning to online learning. This study explored their perceptions regarding the effectiveness of online learning in their academic lives, challenges encountered and suggestions for enhancing online learning in the post-COVID-19 era.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employed a concurrent mixed-methods research design and selected 118 undergraduate students using a multistage random sampling technique from four colleges in Assam. Standardized questionnaires and open-ended interview schedules were used.

Findings

Undergraduate students reported a positive attitude and satisfaction with online learning, valuing its adaptability to their schedules, its role as a motivating factor for self-learning, its effect on making them more technically proficient and enhancing their communication skills to articulate their thoughts. However, the challenges identified by the students have the potential to overshadow the promises of online learning. This research provided more constructive suggestions under the themes of “content delivery”, “systemic and infrastructural issues”, “pedagogy” and “capacity building” to enhance their experiences with online learning.

Practical implications

Our research findings would assist educational institutions in adopting innovative approaches for simpler and more efficient online learning experiences post-COVID-19 pandemic. Institutions should prepare themselves and design dual-mode courses for F2F and online learning.

Originality/value

The paper addressed a relevant topic in this era of online learning by examining undergraduate students’ viewpoints that added complementary information to the current body of literature on online learning in rural India. The insights gleaned from their experiences would be beneficial for the development of best practices for online learning in the coming decades.

Details

Asian Association of Open Universities Journal, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1858-3431

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 May 2024

Siyuan Lyu, Shijing Niu, Jing Yuan and Zehui Zhan

Preservice teacher (PST) professional development programs are crucial for cultivating high-quality STEAM teachers of the future, significantly impacting the quality of regional…

Abstract

Purpose

Preservice teacher (PST) professional development programs are crucial for cultivating high-quality STEAM teachers of the future, significantly impacting the quality of regional STEAM education. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, as a region of cross-border cooperation, integrates the resources and advantages of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, possessing rich cultural heritage and innovative capabilities. Transdisciplinary Education for Cultural Inheritance (C-STEAM) is an effective approach to promoting educational collaboration within the Greater Bay Area, facilitating the integration of both technological and humanities education. This study aims to develop a Technology-Enabled University-School-Enterprise (T-USE) collaborative education model and implement it in the Greater Bay Area, to explore its role as a support mechanism in professional development and its impact on C-STEAM PSTs' professional capital.

Design/methodology/approach

Adopting a qualitative methodology, the study interviewed PSTs who participated in a C-STEAM teacher education course under the T-USE model. Thematic coding is used to analyze their knowledge acquisition, interaction benefits with community members, and autonomous thinking and decision-making in theoretical learning and teaching practice.

Findings

The findings show that the T-USE model significantly enhanced the PSTs' human capital, including teaching beliefs, knowledge, and skills. In terms of social capital, PSTs benefited from collaboration with PST groups, university teaching teams, in-service teachers, and enterprises, though challenges such as varying levels of expertise among in-service teachers and occasional technical instability emerged. For decisional capital, the T-USE model provided opportunities for autonomous thinking and promoted teaching judgment skills through real teaching challenges and scenarios. Reflective practice activities also supported PSTs' professional growth.

Originality/value

This study reveals the effectiveness and internal mechanism of the T-USE model in C-STEAM PST training, offering significant theoretical and practical references for future PST education.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, vol. 18 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2071-1395

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 October 2023

Hussein-Elhakim Al Issa, Mohammed Mispah Said Omar and Ayşem Çelebi

The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of perceived value and academic entitlement on the online engagement of university students. The mediating effect of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of perceived value and academic entitlement on the online engagement of university students. The mediating effect of technostress inhibitor and teacher behavior between perceived value, entitlement and student engagement was also examined.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a quantitative research methodology, with data collected through a survey of 304 undergraduate students from a public university in Bahrain.

Findings

The findings showed that perceived value and academic entitlement were significant predictors of online student engagement. At the same time, only technostress inhibitor was found to mediate those associations. An unexpected result was entitlement's positive and significant impact on student engagement.

Practical implications

University decision-makers are strongly advised to enhance perceived value and support mechanisms for engagement, address technology-related concerns and improve teacher capacity and students' online learning experience.

Originality/value

The study makes a distinct contribution by investigating how perceived value, academic entitlement, technostress inhibitors and teacher behavior influence student engagement in the online higher education context.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

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