Curriculum design innovation in flexible science teaching

In this paper you will be introduced to a number of principles which can be used to inform good teaching practice and rigorous curriculum design. Principles relate to: * Application of a common sequence of events for how learners learn; * Accommodating different learning styles; * Adopting a purposeful approach to teaching and learning; * Using assessment as a central driving force in the curriculum and as an organising structure leading to coherence of teaching and learning approach; and * The increasing emphasis that is being placed on the development of generic graduate competencies over and above discipline content knowledge. The principles are particularly significant in relation to adult learning. The paper will use three specific applications as illustrations to help you to learn how these principles can be applied. The illustrations are taken from a second year subject in supercomputing that uses scientific case studies. The subject has been developed (with support from Silicon Graphics Inc. and Intel) to be taught entirely via the Internet.

Literacy models across nations : literacy and critical literacy in teacher training programs in India

The thrust towards constructivist learning and critical thinking in the National Curricular Framework (2005) of India implies shifts in pedagogical practices. In this context, drawing on grounded theory, focus group interviews were conducted with 40 preservice teachers to ascertain the contextual situation and the likely outcomes of applying critical literacy across the curriculum. Central themes that emerged in the discussion were: being teacher centred/ learner centred, and conformity/autonomy in teaching and learning. The paper argues that within the present Indian context, while there is scope for changes to pedagogy and learning styles, yet these must be adequately contextualised.

Fusing curricula : science, technology and ICT

Curriculum demands continue to increase on school education systems with teachers at the forefront of implementing syllabus requirements. Education is reported frequently as a solution to most societal problems and, as a result of the world’s information explosion, teachers are expected to cover more and more within teaching programs. How can teachers combine subjects in order to capitalise on the competing educational agendas within school timeframes? Fusing curricula requires the bonding of standards from two or more syllabuses. Both technology and ICT complement the learning of science. This study analyses selected examples of preservice teachers’ overviews for fusing science, technology and ICT. These program overviews focused on primary students and the achievement of two standards (one from science and one from either technology or ICT). These primary preservice teachers’ fused-curricula overviews included scientific concepts and related technology and/or ICT skills and knowledge. Findings indicated a range of innovative curriculum plans for teaching primary science through technology and ICT, demonstrating that these subjects can form cohesive links towards achieving the respective learning standards. Teachers can work more astutely by fusing curricula; however further professional development may be required to advance thinking about these processes. Bonding subjects through their learning standards can extend beyond previous integration or thematic work where standards may not have been assessed. Education systems need to articulate through syllabus documents how effective fusing of curricula can be achieved. It appears that education is a key avenue for addressing societal needs, problems and issues. Education is promoted as a universal solution, which has resulted in curriculum overload (Dare, Durand, Moeller, & Washington, 1997; Vinson, 2001). Societal and curriculum demands have placed added pressure on teachers with many extenuating education issues increasing teachers’ workloads (Mobilise for Public Education, 2002). For example, as Australia has weather conducive for outdoor activities, social problems and issues arise that are reported through the media calling for action; consequently schools have been involved in swimming programs, road and bicycle safety programs, and a wide range of activities that had been considered a parental responsibility in the past. Teachers are expected to plan, implement and assess these extra-curricula activities within their already overcrowded timetables. At the same stage, key learning areas (KLAs) such as science and technology are mandatory requirements within all Australian education systems. These systems have syllabuses outlining levels of content and the anticipated learning outcomes (also known as standards, essential learnings, and frameworks). Time allocated for teaching science in obviously an issue. In 2001, it was estimated that on average the time spent in teaching science in Australian Primary Schools was almost an hour per week (Goodrum, Hackling, & Rennie, 2001). More recently, a study undertaken in the U.S. reported a similar finding. More than 80% of the teachers in K-5 classrooms spent less than an hour teaching science (Dorph, Goldstein, Lee, et al., 2007). More importantly, 16% did not spend teaching science in their classrooms. Teachers need to learn to work smarter by optimising the use of their in-class time. Integration is proposed as one of the ways to address the issue of curriculum overload (Venville & Dawson, 2005; Vogler, 2003). Even though there may be a lack of definition for integration (Hurley, 2001), curriculum integration aims at covering key concepts in two or more subject areas within the same lesson (Buxton & Whatley, 2002). This implies covering the curriculum in less time than if the subjects were taught separately; therefore teachers should have more time to cover other educational issues. Expectedly, the reality can be decidedly different (e.g., Brophy & Alleman, 1991; Venville & Dawson, 2005). Nevertheless, teachers report that students expand their knowledge and skills as a result of subject integration (James, Lamb, Householder, & Bailey, 2000). There seems to be considerable value for integrating science with other KLAs besides aiming to address teaching workloads. Over two decades ago, Cohen and Staley (1982) claimed that integration can bring a subject into the primary curriculum that may be otherwise left out. Integrating science education aims to develop a more holistic perspective. Indeed, life is not neat components of stand-alone subjects; life integrates subject content in numerous ways, and curriculum integration can assist students to make these real-life connections (Burnett & Wichman, 1997). Science integration can provide the scope for real-life learning and the possibility of targeting students’ learning styles more effectively by providing more than one perspective (Hudson & Hudson, 2001). To illustrate, technology is essential to science education (Blueford & Rosenbloom, 2003; Board of Studies, 1999; Penick, 2002), and constructing technology immediately evokes a social purpose for such construction (Marker, 1992). For example, building a model windmill requires science and technology (Zubrowski, 2002) but has a key focus on sustainability and the social sciences. Science has the potential to be integrated with all KLAs (e.g., Cohen & Staley, 1982; Dobbs, 1995; James et al., 2000). Yet, “integration” appears to be a confusing term. Integration has an educational meaning focused on special education students being assimilated into mainstream classrooms. The word integration was used in the late seventies and generally focused around thematic approaches for teaching. For instance, a science theme about flight only has to have a student drawing a picture of plane to show integration; it did not connect the anticipated outcomes from science and art. The term “fusing curricula” presents a seamless bonding between two subjects; hence standards (or outcomes) need to be linked from both subjects. This also goes beyond just embedding one subject within another. Embedding implies that one subject is dominant, while fusing curricula proposes an equal mix of learning within both subject areas. Primary education in Queensland has eight KLAs, each with its established content and each with a proposed structure for levels of learning. Primary teachers attempt to cover these syllabus requirements across the eight KLAs in less than five hours a day, and between many of the extra-curricula activities occurring throughout a school year (e.g., Easter activities, Education Week, concerts, excursions, performances). In Australia, education systems have developed standards for all KLAs (e.g., Education Queensland, NSW Department of Education and Training, Victorian Education) usually designated by a code. In the late 1990’s (in Queensland), “core learning outcomes” for strands across all KLA’s. For example, LL2.1 for the Queensland Education science syllabus means Life and Living at Level 2 standard number 1. Thus, a teacher’s planning requires the inclusion of standards as indicated by the presiding syllabus. More recently, the core learning outcomes were replaced by “essential learnings”. They specify “what students should be taught and what is important for students to have opportunities to know, understand and be able to do” (Queensland Studies Authority, 2009, para. 1). Fusing science education with other KLAs may facilitate more efficient use of time and resources; however this type of planning needs to combine standards from two syllabuses. To further assist in facilitating sound pedagogical practices, there are models proposed for learning science, technology and other KLAs such as Bloom’s Taxonomy (Bloom, 1956), Productive Pedagogies (Education Queensland, 2004), de Bono’s Six Hats (de Bono, 1985), and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences (Gardner, 1999) that imply, warrant, or necessitate fused curricula. Bybee’s 5 Es, for example, has five levels of learning (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate; Bybee, 1997) can have the potential for fusing science and ICT standards.

Assessing architectural design processes of diverse learners

Given that what students learn is so strongly related to how they learn, the modes of delivery and assessment that we as teachers provide them with have a major impact on their ability to learn. As this paper shows, good learning environments are constructed from a range of modes that respond to student learning styles and seek to align activities and learning outcomes with assessment tasks, to better accommodate a diversity of student learning styles and backgrounds. This paper uses a number of models of learning to critique and analyse the traditional practices of assessment in an architectural design class, and then proposes and reports on an alternative pattern of assessment. It discusses the issues of accommodating a group of first-year architecture students at Queensland University of Technology in 2009. These students arrived with diverse prior learning backgrounds, the group being evenly split between those with drawing capabilities and those without. They also had a variety of learning style preferences. The experiment in alternative assessment patterns presented here shows that what has traditionally been considered a diverse and difficult cohort of students can benefit from the assessment of a range of task types at different stages in the learning cycle.

Co-constructing self-efficacy narratives : a study of four mature age university students

This thesis reports on a study in which research participants, four mature aged females starting an undergraduate degree at a regional Australian university, collaborated with the researcher in co-constructing a self-efficacy narrative. For the purpose of the study, self-efficacy was conceptualized as a means by which an individual initiates action to engage in a task or set of tasks, applies effort to perform the task or set of tasks, and persists in the face of obstacles encountered in order to achieve successful completion of the task or set of tasks. Qualitative interviews were conducted with the participants, initially investigating their respective life histories for an understanding of how they made the decision to embark on their respective academic program. Additional data were generated from a written exercise, prompting participants to furnish specific examples of self-efficacy. These data were incorporated into the individual's self-efficacy narrative, produced as the outcome of the "narrative analysis". Another aspect of the study entailed "analysis of narrative" in which analytic procedures were used to identify themes common to the self-efficacy narratives. Five main themes were identified: (a) participants' experience of schooling . for several participants their formative experience of school was not always positive, and yet their narratives demonstrated their agency in persevering and taking on university-level studies as mature aged persons; (b) recognition of family as an early influence . these influences were described as being both positive, in the sense of being supportive and encouraging, as well as posing obstacles that participants had to overcome in order to pursue their goals; (c) availability of supportive persons – the support of particular persons was acknowledged as a factor that enabled participants to persist in their respective endeavours; (d) luck or chance factors were recognised as placing participants at the right place at the right time, from which circumstances they applied considerable effort in order to convert the opportunity into a successful outcome; and (e) self-efficacy was identified as a major theme found in the narratives. The study included an evaluation of the research process by participants. A number of themes were identified in respect of the manner in which the research process was experienced as a helpful process. Participants commented that: (a) the research process was helpful in clarifying their respective career goals; (b) they appreciated opportunities provided by the research process to view their life from a different perspective and to better understand what motivated them, and what their preferred learning styles were; (c) their past successes in a range of different spheres were made more evident to them as they were guided in self-reflection, and their self-efficacious behaviour was affirmed; and (d) the opportunities provided by their participation in the research process to identify strengths of which they had not been consciously aware, to find confirmation of strengths they knew they possessed, and in some instances to rectify misconceptions they had held about aspects of their personality. The study made three important contributions to knowledge. Firstly, it provided a detailed explication of a qualitative narrative method in exploring self-efficacy, with the potential for application to other issues in educational, counselling and psychotherapy research. Secondly, it consolidated and illustrated social cognitive theory by proposing a dynamic model of self-efficacy, drawing on constructivist and interpretivist paradigms and extending extant theory and models. Finally, the study made a contribution to the debate concerning the nexus of qualitative research and counselling by providing guidelines for ethical practice in both endeavours for the practitioner-researcher.

Order of instruction effects - do they make a difference when teaching senior chemistry with computer based visualizations?

This study investigated whether conceptual development is greater if students learning senior chemistry hear teacher explanations and other traditional teaching approaches first then see computer based visualizations or vice versa. Five Canadian chemistry classes, taught by three different teachers, studied the topics of Le Chatelier’s Principle and dynamic chemical equilibria using scientific visualizations with the explanation and visualizations in different orders. Conceptual development was measured using a 12 item test based on the Chemistry Concepts Inventory. Data was obtained about the students’ abilities, learning styles (auditory, visual or kinesthetic) and sex, and the relationships between these factors and conceptual development due to the teaching sequences were investigated. It was found that teaching sequence is not important in terms of students’ conceptual learning gains, across the whole cohort or for any of the three subgroups.

Measuring the effectiveness of computer-based scientific visualisations for conceptual development in Australian chemistry classrooms

Visual modes of representation have always been very important in science and science education. Interactive computer-based animations and simulations offer new visual resources for chemistry education. Many studies have shown that students enjoy learning with visualisations but few have explored how learning outcomes compare when teaching with or without visualisations. This study employs a quasi-experimental crossover research design and quantitative methods to measure the educational effectiveness - defined as level of conceptual development on the part of students - of using computer-based scientific visualisations versus teaching without visualisations in teaching chemistry. In addition to finding that teaching with visualisations offered outcomes that were not significantly different from teaching without visualisations, the study also explored differences in outcomes for male and female students, students with different learning styles (visual, aural, kinesthetic) and students of differing levels of academic ability.

Collaborative academic/practitioner research in project management : theory and models

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide of a review of the theory and models underlying project management (PM) research degrees that encourage reflective learning. Design/methodology/approach – Review of the literature and reflection on the practice of being actively involved in conducting and supervising academic research and disseminating academic output. The paper argues the case for the potential usefulness of reflective academic research to PM practitioners. It also highlights theoretical drivers of and barriers to reflective academic research by PM practitioners. Findings – A reflective learning approach to research can drive practical results though it requires a great deal of commitment and support by both academic and industry partners. Practical implications – This paper suggests how PM practitioners can engage in academic research that has practical outcomes and how to be more effective at disseminating these research outcomes. Originality/value – Advanced academic degrees, in particular those completed by PM practitioners, can validate a valuable source of innovative ideas and approaches that should be more quickly absorbed into the PM profession’s sources of knowledge. The value of this paper is to critically review and facilitate a reduced adaptation time for implementation of useful reflective academic research to industry.

Testa din inlärningsstil : En utredning om VAK i undervisning av det andra inhemska språket

This thesis is an investigation of the significance of VAK, i.e. the visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learning styles, for language education. The research part evaluates the predictive validity of a VAK test commonly used in Finnish education. The results of the test were compared, respectively, with the results of a visual, an auditory and a kinaesthetic word test. 62 dyslexic language leaners participated in the tests. There was no statistically significant link between the results of the VAK test and the word tests. On the grounds of a voluntary questionnaire, most of the students did however consider it important that they are taught according to their personal learning style: visual, auditory or kinaesthetic. One of the goals of the study was to investigate the theoretical background of VAK. VAK does not seem to have a consistent theoretical basis, but combines various elements such as NLP pedagogy and Dunn's and Prashnig's learning style models that have previously been sharply criticized by scholars. The study leaves it open whether individual learning styles do exist, and how they could be diagnosed.

The importance of context in engaging students large first year management classes: A case study

Engaging large first year classes in tertiary education poses a number of significant challenges, most of which have been discussed by others. One area that has not received the kind of attention that it warrants is the context within which the engagement activities take place. This paper examines both the processes used to engage a large first year management class in a major city university and how the context of the classes shaped activities and student responses to these activities. It was recognised that students had certain types of learning styles, but given the total number of students (in excess of 1200) it was realised that is would be impossible to cater to all possibilities. A key outcome of the exercise was the importance of context in shaping student behaviours.

Yliopisto-opetuksen yhteistoiminnallinen kehittäminen

The main aim of this work is to study the possibility of applying the cooperative learning approach to develop academic learning and teaching culture. In this work cooperative learning refers to a pedagogical approach that applies social psychological knowledge of group dynamics and small group teaching. Furthermore, theories of collaborative learning and organization development have been applied. Based on these theories a model of developing learning and teaching culture was developed. The model was tested in the development project that was carried out in the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry of Helsinki University. The research questions were: How were the theories of cooperative and collaborative learning and organization development applied in the project? What kind of effects did the development project have on the learning and teaching culture? Through which kind of mechanisms did the project influence this culture? How should the development model be revised after the empirical test? The project lasted five years and the major part of the project consisted of a one-year pedagogical training course. Altogether 145 people (teachers, researchers, library staff, and students) participated in the training, two to three departments at a time. In the pedagogical training cooperative learning methods were widely used. A questionnaire was used to study effects of the development project. The questionnaire was sent to 87 people and 65.5 % answered it. Both the answers to the questionnaire and a sample of learning diaries (n=61) were used to study the mechanism of the project. A sample of the learning diaries consisted of two pedagogical training group members diaries. The frequency distributions were calculated as extrapolations from the answers to the structured questions. Furthermore the answers were classified by the main background variables. The analysis of the open answers to the questionnaire and the learning diaries were data-based. According to the answers to the questionnaire, the effects of the pedagogical training were as follows: The participants consider learning more as an active process of constructing knowledge. Furthermore they considered the individual learning styles and strategies, cooperation and motivation as more important part of the learning process than before the pedagogical training. The role of the teacher was viewed more challenging than before. Additionally the cooperation between teachers, other staff members and students had projected to increase. After the project had ended the teaching methods in the whole faculty were viewed to become varied and the teaching was considered to be more valued than before. According to the answers to the questionnaire, the project influenced through the following ways: the project stimulated the change process, provided new methods for learning and teaching, had an effect on conceptions of learning and teaching and facilitated meaningful communication with others (staff and students). The analysis of the learning diaries supported these findings. In addition, the analysis of the learning diaries deepened the understanding of how the cooperative learning methods supported positive learning atmosphere and reduced the negative effect of the status differences between the members of the group. The critical comments in the learning diaries could be interpreted as collision between cooperative and traditional teaching culture. Cooperative learning gives theory-based methods to develop academic learning and teaching culture. The approach helps the developer to create positive collaborative learning environment and gives ways to support learning in small groups, which can promote cultural change. On the other hand, to understand the whole process of organization development and promote change the theories of organizations and more sosioconstructivist theory of learning are needed. Cooperative learning, collaborative learning, higher education, group dynamics, social constructionism, organisational culture, organisation development

Automatic detection of learner-style for adaptive eLearning

The advent of modern wireless technologies has seen a shift in focus towards the design and development of educational systems for deployment through mobile devices. The use of mobile phones, tablets and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) is steadily growing across the educational sector as a whole. Mobile learning (mLearning) systems developed for deployment on such devices hold great significance for the future of education. However, mLearning systems must be built around the particular learner’s needs based on both their motivation to learn and subsequent learning outcomes. This thesis investigates how biometric technologies, in particular accelerometer and eye-tracking technologies, could effectively be employed within the development of mobile learning systems to facilitate the needs of individual learners. The creation of personalised learning environments must enable the achievement of improved learning outcomes for users, particularly at an individual level. Therefore consideration is given to individual learning-style differences within the electronic learning (eLearning) space. The overall area of eLearning is considered and areas such as biometric technology and educational psychology are explored for the development of personalised educational systems. This thesis explains the basis of the author’s hypotheses and presents the results of several studies carried out throughout the PhD research period. These results show that both accelerometer and eye-tracking technologies can be employed as an Human Computer Interaction (HCI) method in the detection of student learning-styles to facilitate the provision of automatically adapted eLearning spaces. Finally the author provides recommendations for developers in the creation of adaptive mobile learning systems through the employment of biometric technology as a user interaction tool within mLearning applications. Further research paths are identified and a roadmap for future of research in this area is defined.

Can the use of supplementary video and audio materials support student understanding of 3D animation? Some results, analysis and conclusions

A project within a computing department at the University of Greenwich, has been carried out to identify whether podcasting can be used to help understanding and learning of a subject (3D Animation). We know that the benefits of podcasting in education (HE) can be justified, [1]; [2]; [3]; [4]; [5]; [6] and that some success has been proven, but this paper aims to report the results of a term-long project that provided podcast materials for students to help support their learning using Xserve and Podcast Producer technology. Findings in a previous study [6] identified podcasting as a way to diversify learning and provde a more personalised learning experience for students, as well as being able to provide access to a greater mix of learning styles [7]. Finally this paper aims to present the method of capture and distribution, the methodologies of the study, analysis of results, and conclusions that relate to podcasting and enhanced supported learning.

Conscientiousness and laboriousness as academic achievement predictors in a Spanish students sample

To understand academic performance of students, the variable of conscientiousness from personality inventory Big Five, has been recognized as an important key. The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship established between the personality factor conscientiousness itself and two of its facets, laboriousness and planning, with academic performance, and observe if there are genre differences in consciousness personality factor. A total of 456 Spanish students of high school and college participated in the study. They were requested to answer a personality report and a self inform questionnaire. The results show that both conscientiousness as a personality dimension and the consideration of laboriousness facet are able to predict academic performance, especially with regard to student’s exam marks, classroom attendance and dedication to study. The genre variable pointed out that feminine genre is more conscious than male in that personality factor. From a practical perspective, these results indicate that the establishment of a routine of continuous work is suitable for improving student grades and their adaptation to the educational environment.