Technical and Didactical Scenarios of Student-centered Teaching and Learning

In this paper we envision didactical concepts for university education based on self-responsible and project-based learning and outline principles of adequate technical support. We use the scenario technique describing how a fictive student named Anna organizes her studies of informatics at a fictive university from the first days of her studies to make a career for herself.(DIPF/Orig.)

A critical approach to reading comprehension in english: teaching intervention with group of teenagers at a non-formal education institution [recurso electr?nico]

The following paper is an action research made with a group of 6 teenagers aged 11-13 from the city of Cali. The project was carried out at a non-formal education institution and basically describes the process of a teaching intervention in which the concepts of Critical Pedagogy and Task-Based Learning were the protagonists. The results show first, that students really need to feel motivated in order to accept a critical approach; second, that the role of the teacher in the achievement of the objectives is extremely relevant; it is necessary for them to have a critical perspective before working on this field besides the constant seeking of information in order to innovate in their classes; third, that the TBL (Task Based Learning) and the critical pedagogy are processes that need some time in order to bear fruits; and fourth, that a needs analysis is essential for the quality of the intervention.

Gaining Insight into Teaching: A Phenomenological Exploration of the Lived Experience of the Teachers of the Year

What qualities, skills, and knowledge produce quality teachers? Many stake-holders in education argue that teacher quality should be measured by student achievement. This qualitative study shows that good teachers are multi-dimensional; their effectiveness cannot be represented by students’ test scores alone. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain a deeper understanding of quality in teaching by examining the lived experiences of 10 winners or finalists of the Teacher of the Year (ToY) Award. Phenomenology describes individuals’ daily experiences of phenomena, examines how these experiences are structured, and focuses analysis on the perspectives of the persons having the experience (Moustakas, 1994). This inquiry asked two questions: (a) How is teaching experienced by recognized as outstanding Teachers of the Year? and (b) How do ToYs feelings and perceptions about being good teachers provide insight, if any, about concepts such as pedagogical tact, teacher selfhood, and professional dispositions? Ten participants formed the purposive sample; the major data collection tool was semi-structured interviews (Patton, 1990; Seidman, 2006). Sixty to 90-minute interviews were conducted with each participant. Data also included the participants’ ToY application essays. Data analysis included a three-phase process: description, reduction, interpretation. Findings revealed that the ToYs are dedicated, hard-working individuals. They exhibit behaviors, such as working beyond the school day, engaging in lifelong learning, and assisting colleagues to improve their practice. Working as teachers is their life’s compass, guiding and wrapping them into meaningful and purposeful lives. Pedagogical tact, teacher selfhood, and professional dispositions were shown to be relevant, offering important insights into good teaching. Results indicate that for these ToYs, good teaching is experienced by getting through to students using effective and moral means; they are emotionally open, have a sense of the sacred, and they operate from a sense of intentionality. The essence of the ToYs teaching experience was their being properly engaged in their craft, embodying logical, psychological, and moral realms. Findings challenge current teacher effectiveness process-product orthodoxy which makes a causal connection between effective teaching and student test scores, and which assumes that effective teaching arises solely from and because of the actions of the teacher.

Using a discussion about scientific controversy to teach central concepts in experimental design

Students may need explicit training in informal statistical reasoning in order to design experiments or use formal statistical tests effectively. By using scientific scandals and media misinterpretation, we can explore the need for good experimental design in an informal way. This article describes the use of a paper that reviews the measles mumps rubella vaccine and autism controversy in the UK to illustrate a number of threshold concepts underlying good study design and interpretation of scientific evidence. These include the necessity of sufficient sample size, representative and random sampling, appropriate controls and inferring causation.

THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE GRAMMATICAL GENDER FOR TEACHERS OF THE FUNDAMENTAL TEACHING: CONCEPTUAL IMPRECISION

The conceptual basis that Primary School teachers have with regard to the gender’s nominal category is investigated. The verbalizations on the theme, collected through interviews with eight teachers of two classes involving 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th grades of a government school in Maringá PR Brazil, are analyzed from studies on gender categories and conceptual comprehension. Results show that, as a rule, the interviewed teachers remain confused and highly insecure when they had to define grammatical gender even though they present the ‘masculine and feminine’ and ‘noun’ category relationship. Further, usage variation of one to three criteria was found in the case of masculine and feminine gender differentiation, or rather, sex, end terms (flexion/ derivation) and article (concordance). Results also show that most teachers know the nomenclature on nominal gender category but fail to justify the relationship and limits that separate the two basic concepts that link the assignment to the theme, or rather, grammatical gender and the sex of things.

ALPHABETIZATION AND / OR LITERACY: IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING

The study proposed in this paper aims to present a review and theoretical reflection on the concepts of alphabetization and literacy. Whereas the term literacy emerged in Brazil in the 80s, we intend to investigate how it has been used in Brazilian education and reflexes which provoked its use in school pedagogical practices. Used as theoretical studies such as Kleiman (1995), Smith (2000, 2004), Matencio (1994, 2004), Tfouni (1995) and Rojo (2004). From the references cited crave draw a parallel between the use of these two terms and how literacy can contribute to improving the quality of teaching and learning of reading and writing. Given that school practices seek to form proficient readers, not for us to choose between alphabetize or write the lyrics what becomes necessary is alphabetize from social practices.

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE TEACHER ALFABETIZADOR: THE TEXT BOOK AND THE GRAMMAR IN THE TEACHING OF THE WRITTEN MOTHER TONGUE

This text presents the interlocution that literacy teachers maintain with didactic textbook and traditional/normative grammar, and how these books become constitutive elements – the Others – of these teachers and theirs mother tongue teaching practices. The analysis focuses on teachers statements/enunciation and is based on Bakhtin's circle concepts, especially in the categories of statement/enunciation, dialogism and otherness. The cited elements appears updated in teachers enunciations and signalize a permanent tom in their practices, as a result of the cultural tradition in grammar teaching and the legitimate use of the didactic textbook

READING CONCEPTIONS IN THE LANGUAGE TEACHING

In this paper, we reflect on the reading concepts, since it is relevant to explain them, because they guide the development of reading comprehension activities, the use of texts in class and the analysis of some issues presented in textbooks. For organizational purposes, we classify the different theoretical lines that discuss the reading from the unilateral and multilateral perspectives of the information processing, which integrate three broad approaches: ascending, descending and interactive. We do not see them as completely exclusive, but as complementary in many ways to characterize the aspects that underlie the reading and comprehension process, if we consider the text, the reader, the production and reading context of the text.