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Article
Publication date: 7 February 2024

Maria Vrikki and Elena C. Papanastasiou

The study assesses pre-service teachers' attitudes, confidence in research and intentions to use research by comparing the effectiveness of practical versus theoretical training…

Abstract

Purpose

The study assesses pre-service teachers' attitudes, confidence in research and intentions to use research by comparing the effectiveness of practical versus theoretical training in research methods courses.

Design/methodology/approach

This natural experiment examines the impact of the adaptations made to a research methods course for 848 pre-service teachers, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants were naturally divided into two cohorts, each attending either the applied version, which required the completion of a whole research study, or the theoretical version, which did not require data collection and analyses. The data were collected through three questionnaires measuring attitudes, confidence and intentions toward research.

Findings

Inferential statistics revealed that pre-service teachers in the theoretical course (1) had more positive attitudes toward research and less anxiety, (2) had more intentions to integrate research in their daily practice and (3) had more confidence in engaging in educational research, compared to the pre-service teachers who completed the applied version of the course.

Originality/value

This study uniquely capitalizes on course adaptations, imposed due to the pandemic, to compare attitudes toward research. This is an ideal comparison because comparing attitudes of participants from different contexts involves many confounding variables. The study’s significance is amplified as, it not only elucidates the variances in attitudes, but also underscores the intricate relationship these attitudes share with the design of research courses. The insights yielded by this study offer substantial potential for reshaping pedagogical strategies in research methods instruction, thereby serving as a cornerstone for future educational innovations.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 March 2024

Sophie Cole and Richelle Duffy

This paper shares findings from a constructivist grounded theory study, exploring Trainee Teachers’ perceptions of their teaching and learning experienced during university-based…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper shares findings from a constructivist grounded theory study, exploring Trainee Teachers’ perceptions of their teaching and learning experienced during university-based teacher education programmes, specifically the theoretical components. Findings led to the development of a model of program design, pedagogy and teaching strategies that were successful in creating opportunities to build Professional Capital. This paper aims to share this model, highlighting the significance of Professional Capital amidst challenges in English Teacher Education, and to suggest implications for application of the model within broader workforce development.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 trainee teachers from four English universities. To support the development of the theoretical framework, researchers employed inductive and iterative constant comparative methods aligned with constructivist grounded theory to sensitise concepts and codes, which were verified using theoretical sampling.

Findings

Informed by the findings of this study, a model is presented which highlights that participants developed human, social and decisional capital during their academic programs helping them to widen their perceptions of what counts as educationally important, beyond narrow performativity measures that are pervasive in a school system. By actively adopting a transformative pedagogy and employing constructivist approaches to curriculum design and delivery, optimal learning environments for learners to build their professional capital can be provided.

Practical implications

These findings may prove valuable to Higher Education academics as a model when designing and delivering professional, student-centred programmes. There are also implications for policymakers seeking to redesign initial teacher education towards schools-led and practice-oriented approaches, who wish to consider the perceptions, values and motivations of trainee teachers.

Originality/value

The findings highlight the significance of teacher trainees’ active engagement with academic literature and theory, in terms of contributing to the development of their professional capital, resilience and professional commitment.

Details

Journal of Professional Capital and Community, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-9548

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 October 2023

Julianne A. Wenner, Megan Frary and Paul J. Simmonds

Historically, graduate education’s goal was to prepare academics; now most science, technology, engineering and/or mathematics (STEM) graduate students (GSs) go on to nonacademic…

Abstract

Purpose

Historically, graduate education’s goal was to prepare academics; now most science, technology, engineering and/or mathematics (STEM) graduate students (GSs) go on to nonacademic careers. STEM GSs must be equipped for success regardless of career aspirations, which can be done by strengthening GSs’ professional identities. This study aims to explore an interdisciplinary partnership designed to strengthen STEM GS professional identity.

Design/methodology/approach

The STEM Partnership Project (SPP), asked STEM GSs to serve as disciplinary experts and teach STEM content to elementary teacher candidates (TCs) so the TCs could design and teach an elementary science lesson. GSs also enrolled in a one-credit course to support SPP participation and activities. Over five semesters, the authors collected data from 28 STEM GSs across different disciplines and degree programs in the form of course assignments, surveys and interviews.

Findings

The SPP supported the development of a professional identity by having GSs serve as and feel like experts; increasing GSs’ sense of belonging in their field; increasing GSs’ self-confidence that they could (learn to) teach a wide variety of audiences; and raising GSs’ awareness of their ability to serve others via their field.

Originality/value

The SPP’s outcomes were consistent across STEM disciplines, did not require GSs to take on large amounts of coursework, nor did it cost much beyond materials for the various lessons. Furthermore, the key components that strengthened GSs’ professional identities could be adapted for different contexts and institutions.

Details

Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4686

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 December 2023

Xin Zheng and Ying Luo

Whilst professional learning communities (PLCs) have been widely explored at the school level, they have received less attention at the departmental level. The study takes the…

Abstract

Purpose

Whilst professional learning communities (PLCs) have been widely explored at the school level, they have received less attention at the departmental level. The study takes the variance between departments and the role of departmental teacher leaders into consideration, and the relationships amongst departmental-level PLC dimensions, two types of teacher leadership (TL) and individual teacher self-efficacy are investigated.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample consisted of 907 teachers from 81 departments in Chinese schools. The associations between the studied variables were explored through a multi-level analysis approach.

Findings

The results show that two specific characteristics of departmental PLCs, namely reflective dialogue (RD) and collective responsibility (CR), exhibit a positive correlation with individual teacher self-efficacy. Additionally, the findings indicate that teacher transformational leadership significantly predicts teacher self-efficacy, whereas teacher instructional leadership (IL) does not emerge as a significant predictor. These findings may be attributed to the contextual factors of Chinese teachers' collective work and the practice of teacher leaders.

Originality/value

This research contributes to the existing literature by addressing the variance between departments and uncovering the impacts of departmental PLC dimensions on individual teachers. Furthermore, two TL styles at the departmental level are differentiated, and their distinct influences on teacher self-efficacy are further analysed.

Details

Journal of Professional Capital and Community, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-9548

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 February 2024

Spyros Kolyvas, Petros A. Kostagiolas and Konstantina Martzoukou

The aim of this study is to investigate how the information needs satisfaction of visual art teachers affects their creativity. Visual art teachers’ information seeking behaviour…

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is to investigate how the information needs satisfaction of visual art teachers affects their creativity. Visual art teachers’ information seeking behaviour and specifically the association of information needs satisfaction with creativity has been an understudied area, despite competent information seeking being considered essential for high quality practices of art teachers.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire survey was developed addressing the information seeking behaviour of art teachers, informed by Wilson’s model (1981), including visual art teachers’ information needs, information resources, obstacles faced while seeking information and the perceived impact of information needs satisfaction on visual art teachers’ creativity.

Findings

The study included 298 visual art teachers in Greece. The results demonstrated that the key information needs of art teachers were mainly related to materials’ properties, techniques for creating artwork and artwork promotion methods. Online information sources were the preferred sources of art information, followed by colleagues, personal collections and visits to galleries and museums. Our study identified lack of time, lack of specialized libraries and copyright, as the main barriers to information seeking.

Originality/value

Information about art plays a substantial role in visual art education, while visual art teachers’ information needs satisfaction positively influences their creative endeavours. There is a need to further explore the digital information needs of visual art teachers.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 January 2024

Rajesh Kumar Sharma and Sukhpreet Kaur

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the mediating role of organisational citizenship behaviour between transformational leadership and successful implementation of education…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the mediating role of organisational citizenship behaviour between transformational leadership and successful implementation of education 4.0 in higher educational institutes using the PLS-SEM approach.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses cross-sectional and quantitative approach to decode the relationship amongst the variables. Purposive non-probability sampling technique was used to select the sample size for the study.

Findings

The research findings reveal that transformational leadership has a significant and positive effect on education 4.0. Further, it also indicates that the organisational citizenship behaviour in the study served as a mediating variable between transformational leadership and education 4.0, explaining 40% of the effect of transformational leadership on education 4.0. This highlights the importance of transformational leaders in creating a conducive environment that encourages employees to exhibit organisational citizenship behaviour, thereby facilitating the successful adoption and integration of education 4.0.

Originality/value

The authors recognise a research gap in the existing literature that focusses on the direct effects of transformational leadership on education 4.0 in higher educational institutes of management. Also, there is a lack of inclusive studies that explore the mediating mechanisms through which transformational leadership affects education 4.0, predominantly the role of organisational citizenship behaviour. Thus, this study is first in itself to explore the inter relationship between transformational leadership, organisational citizenship behaviour and education 4.0.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 38 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 October 2022

Yi Tan, Wenyu Xu, Keyu Chen, Chunyan Deng and Peng Wang

At present, teaching methods based on 2D drawings are still commonly used for educating students on the location of steel reinforcement bars in concrete. However, traditional…

Abstract

Purpose

At present, teaching methods based on 2D drawings are still commonly used for educating students on the location of steel reinforcement bars in concrete. However, traditional teaching methods have limitations as students can find it difficult to understand 2D drawings. This study aims to develop an interactive and collaborative augmented reality environment (ICARE) using augmented reality (AR) technology to improve students' engagement in learning.

Design/methodology/approach

This study develops an ICARE prototype, which is organized into two stages: (1) The augmented teaching environment comprising of models and interactive components; (2) The AR collaborative application which uses Photon Unity Networking (PUN) plugin and Azure spatial anchors cloud service. The AR-based teaching environment runs with Universal Windows Platform (UWP) to enable development in the HoloLens 2 through Microsoft Visual Studio.

Findings

An experimental study was conducted, where 60 students were divided into three groups employing Drawings-based, building information modeling (BIM)-based and AR-based methods for teaching. After the test, the three groups of students were requested to complete a questionnaire. According to the analysis of the experimental results, the ICARE can improve students' comprehension, memory of learned materials and their ability to read and understand steel reinforcement drawings improving the quality of teaching, especially interactivity and engagement.

Originality/value

As illustrated in the experiments, the developed ICARE has outstanding performance over conventional approaches in civil engineering courses that can improve students' comprehension and memory of knowledge and their ability to read and understand steel bar drawings. This study provides empirical evidence that AR is a promising technology that can be integrated with traditional classroom instruction and can improve students' comprehension and memory of knowledge and their ability to read and understand steel bar drawings.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 31 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

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. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1933-5415

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 March 2024

Suné Maré and Ashley Teedzwi Mutezo

This paper aimed to determine the self- and co-regulation influences on the community of inquiry (CoI) for collaborative online learning.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aimed to determine the self- and co-regulation influences on the community of inquiry (CoI) for collaborative online learning.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative survey was used on a sample of (N = 626) enrolled postgraduate students in a South African Open Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) university. The measuring instruments were the CoI and the shared metacognitive surveys. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to determine the association and influence of self- and co-regulation on the CoI.

Findings

The results indicated that self- and co-regulation related to the CoI (teaching, cognitive and social) presences. In addition, the results revealed that self- and co-regulation influence the CoI presences. Self-regulation had the highest influence on teaching and cognitive presence, while co-regulation influenced social presence.

Research limitations/implications

The study’s convenience sampling method from a single university limited the applicability of the findings to other online learning environments.

Practical implications

Higher educational teachers who encourage student self- and co-regulation may enhance their online teaching, cognitive and social presence when studying online. The research’s findings may be valuable to teachers to enable them to provide a more collaborative and interactive online learning environment and promote productive online communities.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the body of knowledge about the relationship between teaching, social and cognitive presence and self- and co-regulation within the CoI framework. Furthermore, there has also been limited research focussing on the dynamics of shared metacognition within the CoI framework in an ODeL context.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Understanding Children's Informal Learning: Appreciating Everyday Learners
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-274-5

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