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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Teaching practice'
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Hayajneh, Ferial A. "Teaching nursing practice at Jordanian universities." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.295322.
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Cobb, H., and Karina T. Croucher. "Assembling Archaeology: Teaching, practice and research." Oxford University Press, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/17951.
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NoAssembling Archaeology provides a radical rethinking of the relationships between teaching, researching, and practicing as an archaeologist in the twenty-first century. At its heart, this book addresses the marketization of higher education, demonstrating how this fundamentally impacts contemporary archaeological practice. The book proposes a solution which is grounded in a theoretical rethinking of archaeological teaching, training, and practice. Archaeology is currently undergoing a material turn which sees the revaluing of artefacts, objects, and the non-human in understanding the world. Drawing upon this, Cobb and Croucher approach the discipline as a subject of investigation and offer a new perspective founded upon the notion of learning assemblages. The holistic approach they propose challenges traditional power structures and the global marketization of the higher education system. The issues addressed here are global and applicable wherever archaeology is taught, practiced, and researched. This book is therefore valuable to all archaeologists, from academics to those in Cultural Resource Management, from heritage professionals to undergraduate students, and provides significant insights for educators throughout higher education.
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Bayard, Max, Cathy Peoples, Jim Holt, and David Daniel. "An Interactive Approach to Teaching Practice Management to Family Practice Residents." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2003. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/6492.
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Three years ago, our residency program began a new approach to teaching practice management to our second- and third-year residents. The underlying principles for the new curriculum involved a realization that our residents lacked basic business understanding and that they would likely learn more effectively through a hands-on approach.The newcurriculum, which we describe in this article, is in large part built around the establishment of a mockpractice during thesecond year ofresidency. Although the curriculum is still evolving, initial response and evaluation have been encouraging.
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McDonald, Michael L. "Teaching microcomputer software applications (electronic spreadsheets) : guided practice vs. independent practice /." free to MU campus, to others for purchase, 1997. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/mo/fullcit?p9841173.
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Niessen, Theodorus Johannes Hubertus. "Emerging epistemologies :making sense of teaching practice." [Maastricht : Maastricht : Universiteit Maastricht] ; University Library, Universiteit Maastricht [host], 2007. http://arno.unimaas.nl/show.cgi?fid=11066.
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Chan, Yuk-fai Ronald, and 陳玉輝. "Building a collaborative culture in teaching practice." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1999. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31960698.
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Cheng, Hsing-Fu. "Motivational teaching practice of Taiwanese English teachers." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.431328.
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Edwards, Kelly Alison. "Teaching for professional responsibility in medical practice /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/7649.
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Chan, Yuk-fai Ronald. "Building a collaborative culture in teaching practice." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1999. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B21304488.
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Bilgin, Sezen S. "Code switching in ELT teaching practice in Turkey : teacher practices, beliefs and identity." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2015. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/67873/.
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Code switching involves the interplay of two languages and as well as serving linguistic functions, it has social and psychological implications. In the context of English language teaching, these psychological implications reveal themselves as teachers’ thought processes. While the nature of code switching in language classrooms has been widely studies, as yet little if any attention has been paid to the relationship between such switching and the beliefs of the teachers involved. This study is designed to respond this gap in current research. In the study, I worked with five student teachers undertaking their teaching practicum at a private school in Turkey, aiming to investigate their thinking in relation to code switching in their classrooms by using the analysis of classroom interactions, individual interviews and stimulated recall interviews. The first step of the research involved video recording lessons taught by the five student teachers within the framework of their university Teaching Practice course. This was followed by individual interviews with the student teachers focusing on their views of code switching during their teaching experience and their general views about language teaching. The last stage involved stimulated recall interviews with the student teachers based on selected extracts from their lessons chosen after an analysis of spoken interaction in their classes. The data were then analysed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that code switching is more than merely a linguistic matter; it is also indicative of a number of other dimensions including how teachers define themselves professionally, teacher beliefs, teacher identity, affective factors influencing teachers, and their relationships with supervisors. This study suggests that code switching could usefully be included as a topic in teacher education programmes and in supervisor/mentor training.
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Law, Kim-hung Thomas, and 羅劍雄. "Relationships between conception and practice: a study of teacher's conceptions of teaching andclassroom teaching practice related to cooperative learning." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2005. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B35717063.
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Law, Kim-hung Thomas. "Relationships between conception and practice a study of teacher's conceptions of teaching and classroom teaching practice related to cooperative learning /." Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 2005. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B35717063.
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Pennisi, Sarah-Jean Barrett Jeffrey Edward McCrone Sharon. "Making improving practice part of teachers' practice in the context of teaching geometry." Normal, Ill. : Illinois State University, 2004. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ilstu/fullcit?p3128286.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2004.Title from title page screen, viewed Jan. 11, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Jeffrey Barrett, Sharon McCrone (co-chairs), Saad El-Zanati. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 192-204) and abstract. Also available in print.
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Carneson, John. "Investigating the evolution of classroom practice." Thesis, University of Sunderland, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.307963.
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Child, Gregory S. "The Language Teaching Puzzle." DigitalCommons@USU, 2012. http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/1310.
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This portfolio is a compilation of beliefs about effective foreign language (FL) teaching. The core of this portfolio is a teaching philosophy, in which theories, such as comprehensible input, teacher and student roles, and activities are explained. The teaching philosophy is accompanied by a reflection of the authors teaching observed from a video. Following the teaching philosophy and personal teaching reflection are three artifacts centered on language, culture, and literacy. The language artifact contains an observational study in which instructors’ practices are compared with their beliefs. The cultural artifact is focused on storytelling. Many civilizations employ storytelling in the form of oral traditions to pass on learning. In the artifact, effectiveness of storytelling as an approach to FL teaching and learning is examined. The literacy artifact is a proposal for a research study. In the proposal, questions are raised about the effectiveness of computer-aided support materials offered to students as they navigate various texts. The final sections of the portfolio contain a “looking forward” section, an annotated bibliography, and references.
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Luwango, Luiya. "Critical reflective teaching practice in three mathematics teachers." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003366.
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This qualitative study reports on critical reflective teaching by three mathematics teachers and how it shapes their classroom practice. The study was carried out in three secondary schools in Rundu in northern Namibia. The study employed a case study method. The selection of teachers was based on their rich practical professional knowledge and exemplary teaching practices. Data collection and analysis was done through an interpretive approach. Interviews and document analyses were the two research tools used, not only for the collection of data but for triangulation also. Interpretations of the findings were validated through member checking. Critical reflective teaching involves thought and action, and it raises teachers’ consciousness of what they do. Through critical reflective practice, teachers scrutinize their beliefs and knowledge of the subject and their practice. Furthermore critical reflective practice may get teachers into a disposition to find alternatives to improve their teaching. In this study, the findings are that participants reflect extensively on their classroom practice. The teachers pointed out that reflection on practice enables them to analyse and evaluate their teaching in line with effective mathematics teaching. They emphasised that critical reflection leads to the identification of weaknesses in teachers’ classroom practice. This culminates in better planning whereby alternative approaches to teaching are exercised. Because of its potential to improve teaching and enhance professional development it is therefore recommended that mathematics teachers be exposed to skills that enhance critical reflective teaching practice. Teachers need to familiarise themselves with the concept of critical reflective teaching in mathematics to meet the demands of superior quality teaching.
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Thornley, Christina, and n/a. "Developing teachers� theory and practice in literacy teaching." University of Otago. Faculty of Education, 2008. http://adt.otago.ac.nz./public/adt-NZDU20081205.084524.
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In recent years, professional development programmes that have been made available to teachers in New Zealand and other western countries have not often achieved the desired outcomes of improved teacher practice and decision making, or increased student achievement. The professional development research literature implies that the reason for this situation, is the inadequacy of programmes that do not acknowledge the teacher as a learner with individual knowledge, experience and priorities for their learning. As resources and attention continue to be focused on improving curriculum policies and classroom decision making to enhance student literacy achievement and reduce disparities, it is important to continue the search for teacher learning opportunities that achieve the desired goals.
While teachers have often been viewed as knowledge recipients, the research literature alerts readers to the dearth of knowledge to inform the decision making in classrooms and in the wider realms of schooling and education. Moreover, teachers have often been positioned simply as the subject of research that once published appears to have little bearing in their work. Developing Teachers� Theory and Practice in Literacy Teaching is a study of four teachers and a facilitator, who is also the researcher, engaging in four teacher researcher partnership projects. The aim of these projects was to provide the teachers with professional learning opportunities while simultaneously producing knowledge about literacy teaching and learning.
This alternative approach to professional development sought to investigate the outcomes of teacher researcher partnership projects, each designed by individual teachers who worked with the facilitator to address their self-identified �questions about practice�. The facilitator and the teachers worked together over a fifteen month period during which time they had individual and group meetings to learn about the research process and to design and implement their individual projects. The facilitator as researcher, gathered data from the teachers using qualitative methods and the teachers in turn gathered their own data to inform the progress and outcomes of their projects.
While there were a number of factors that contributed to the outcomes of each project, the way in which the facilitator and the teachers conducted their projects and managed the partnership was central to the success of the teacher learning and their ability to produce findings to inform curriculum decision making. The teachers� and facilitator�s knowledge of the theory and practice of research, literacy and professional learning were shown to be important. It is argued that in order to produce and disseminate knowledge, a body of prerequisite knowledge that transcended that which would previously be expected of the teachers and of the facilitator, had to be acquired.
The study recommends that further attention be given to such partnership projects as a means to increment the knowledge about teaching and learning, at the same time that teachers learn and improve their curriculum decision making. The teacher researcher partnership project approach that was implemented is discussed and analysed and an alternative �four tier� approach is advocated as more likely to result in the production and dissemination of information to enhance the curriculum of the classroom.
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Gayner, Michael. "The interpenetration of Buddhist practice and classroom teaching." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape8/PQDD_0018/NQ45672.pdf.
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Ward, Jennifer A. "The work of teaching/mothering, researching my practice." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape7/PQDD_0017/MQ54656.pdf.
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Mackay, Mary Ann. "The work of teaching/mothering, researching my practice." Thesis, University of New Brunswick, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/1882/595.
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Vail, Teresa M. "Teachers' professional development experiences: Implications for teaching practice." Scholarly Commons, 2011. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/28.
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The purpose of this study was to inquire into the ways in which participation in physical science professional development impacts science teachers' professional learning and ultimately their practice over time. This study strove to provide a greater understanding of teachers' processes as they engage in professional learning and make changes in their practice long after the requirements of the professional development have been met. The six respondents that participated in the inquiry were physical science educators who were teaching in four different high schools in Central California. The guiding research question was stated as: How does participation in physical science professional development impact teachers' professional learning and ultimately their practice? Three sub-questions were also explored: In what ways does physical science professional development impact teachers' pedagogical content knowledge over time? In what ways does physical science professional development impact teachers' curriculum decision-making processes over time? In what ways does physical science professional development support a teacher's professional learning over time? Collective case study methodology was used in order to acquire multiple perspectives on the processes of teachers' professional learning and how professional development experiences have impacted this process. From four cross-case analyses of interviews, classroom observations, and documents, six themes emerged elucidating the process of professional learning. The process of professional learning is "driven" by a constant desire to learn resulting in the participation in professional development experiences where bits-n-pieces of curriculum are incorporated into the teachers' practice supported by relationships and reflection. The pressure to conform to education policy tempers the entire process of professional learning. Lastly, the process of professional learning has produced teachers as leaders. Each aspect of the process of professional learning has been impacted by the respondents' participation in professional development. By engaging in the iterative process of professional learning described here, respondents are transforming their professional development experiences in order to learn from and about their practice over extended periods of time. As professional learners, the respondents act as change agents in their own practice, schools and learning communities. Based on the results, implications for practice and recommendations for further inquiry are also presented.
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McGregor, Susan Jennifer. "Practice Makes the Difference: The Effect of Rate-Building and Rate-Controlled Practice on Retention." The University of Waikato, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10289/2515.
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Six home-schooled students and one adult participant each initially practiced to accuracy two decks of five previously unknown multiplication facts. The decks were yoked for practice and reinforcement. Once accurate performance was achieved, overpractice was undertaken using custom computer software that allowed either fast (free-operant) or rate controlled responding. Rate-building practice, to an established fluency performance standard, was used with one deck while practice with the other deck was rate-controlled. The number of times a fact was practiced was the same for both methods. Response rate and accuracy was assessed after training to accuracy, at the end of overpractice and after 4 and 8-weeks of no practice. The assessment at the end of rate-building confirmed that rate building resulted in fast and accurate responding. It also confirmed that, for the rate controlled facts, response rates did not meet the fluency performance standard. However, the 4- and 8-week retention assessments showed no consistent differences in accuracy or response rate between the rate-controlled and rate built decks. After 8 weeks without practice, performance on the rate-built deck was not significantly different to that prior to rate building. These results suggest that practice to fluency does not lead to superior retention when compared to the same amount of rate-controlled practice. The results also indicate that when a skill is practiced to fluency, a period without practice leads to deterioration, to pre-rate-building levels, of accuracy and response rate. This study highlights the need for research examining the role of maintenance in the effectiveness of fluency based learning like Precision Teaching.
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Michael, Maureen K. "Precarious practices : artists, work and knowing-in-practice." Thesis, University of Stirling, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/21879.
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This study presents a new perspective on work practice in conceptual art. Using ethnographic evidence from five visual artists, the study used a combined visual arts and practice orientated perspective to explore the materiality of their everyday work and the sociomaterial practices shaping it. Close scrutiny is given to the forms of expertise embedded in this through concepts of knowing-in-practice and epistemic objects. Emerging from the findings is clearer understanding of how an arts-based methodology might enhance knowledge about artists’ knowing-in-practice. Popular representations of contemporary artists often ignore the realities of precarious work. This is reflected in the professional education of artists with its concentration on studio-based activities and emphasis on the production and products of artmaking. This study reconfigures and reconceptualises the work of artists as assemblages of sociomaterial practices that include, but are not limited to artmaking – so providing a different representation of the work of artists as a continuous collaboration of mundane materials. The study identified seven sociomaterial practices, defined as movement-driven; studio-making; looking; pedagogic; self-promotion; peer support; and pause. As these practices are subject to ever-changing materialities, they are constantly reassembled. Analysis revealed hidden interiors of underemployment and income generation to be significant factors embedded in the mundane materialities of everyday work, revealing resilience and adaptability as key forms of expertise necessary for the assembling of practices. Further, the arts-based methodology of ‘integrated imagework’ created ways of visually analysing the materially-mediated, socially situated nature of knowing in practice, and demonstrated how relational concepts relating to knowing-in-practice might be better analysed. Findings indicate how the professional education of artists – particularly the way the workplace of the studio is understood – could be re-envisioned to support the fluidity of contemporary artistic practices. The studio itself is a form of knowledge – ever changing – forming and being formed by the practices of artists. Adopting this view of studio-based education would be a radical departure from current studio-based pedagogies in contemporary art education. Further, resilience – the capacity to sustain practices that are emergent and constantly unfolding – becomes a form of expertise central to the professional education of artists.
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Leigh, Christine. "Academics' perceptions of their teaching role following the introduction of Teaching Quality Assessment." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2004. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/2636/.
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The aim of this phenomenologically-based study was to establish, from the perspective of academics, what impact the introduction of Teaching Quality Assessment had had on teaching in higher education. Teaching Quality Assessment (TQA) was introduced by the university funding councils, in response to their obligations under the Further and Higher Education (FHE) Act (1992) and was the methodology used to assess the quality of teaching in higher education in the UK during the period February 1993 to June 1995. A semi-structured interview approach was chosen to generate the data. Forty-six academics from two departments (Computer Science and Business Studies) in four institutions (two pre-1992 and two post-1992 universities) were interviewed. Questions focused on academics’ personal views, opinions and aspirations with respect to teaching. These were examined together with their perceptions of the institutional context particularly with respect to support for teaching, and incorporating their experiences of TQA. Respondents expressed a high commitment to teaching, and a stronger professional than institutional loyalty. Teaching was very pressurised due to increasing student numbers, high student:staff ratios, demanding students and the requirements of external monitoring. Academics were also under pressure to excel at research, since status was based on research, rather than teaching excellence. These pressures had been exacerbated by the Government’s funding, expansion, and customer-service policies, to which institutions had responded with increasingly bureaucratic and less collegial systems. The academics felt that TQA did not benefit teaching and learning directly, but indirect benefits included promoting the improvement of administrative systems, and helping them to maintain standards. Participants also regarded the TQA methodology as inappropriate, and suggested that quality assurance systems should be audit-based and improvement-focused, with minimal external controls to assure the integrity of institutional self-regulatory mechanisms.
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Mays, Lydia Criss. "Linking Theory to Practice: Understanding How Two Reading Recovery Teachers' Reflections Inform their Teaching Practices." unrestricted, 2009. http://etd.gsu.edu/theses/available/etd-07072009-162305/.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2009.Title from file title page. Diane Truscott, committee chair; Joyce Many, Barbara Meyers, Ramona Matthews, Floretta Reid-Thornton, committee members. Description based on contents viewed Oct. 19, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 155-174).
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Golledge, Claire Irene. "What does it mean to teach history well? Exploring the practice architectures of exemplary history teaching." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2019. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/21724.
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The work of teachers is under increasing scrutiny. Regimes of teacher professional registration and accreditation have had the effect of dramatically increasing the regulation around teachers’ classroom practices as they seek to codify and articulate the meaning of 'good' classroom teaching. Similarly, public and political discourse has been captivated by various discussions and concerns around the meaning and importance of ‘quality teaching’ in our schools. For secondary teachers of history, this scrutiny is coupled with an already acute public anxiety about the way their subject discipline is taught to school students. Partly in response to this anxiety, there has been a growing interest in researching and explaining the nature of good history teaching through describing the ways in which students engage in deep disciplinary learning in the history classroom. The development of various (but interrelated) frameworks of ‘historical thinking’ have sought to make explicit the concepts and questions that work to scaffold students’ growing understanding of history not merely as a knowledge set, but as a suite of skills and procedures that can encourage a particular way of thinking about the past (Lévesque, 2005, 2008; Seixas, 2006a; Seixas, Morton, Colyer, & Fornazzari, 2013). In a short period of time the ‘historical thinking’ movement in history education has become synonymous with good history teaching – to teach history well has been seen as engaging students in this deeper disciplinary thinking. But despite this increased interest around quality teaching and research around the nature of historical thinking, we know very little about the nature of history teaching as classroom practice. Research around historical thinking has been largely driven by the field of cognitive science and has been primarily concerned with student learning and assessment, without a similarly detailed focus on the nature of pedagogical practices that encourage deep engagement in history and historical ways of thinking. Similarly, the promotion of ‘models’ or ‘frameworks’ of historical thinking often present deep disciplinary engagement in history as a neat matrix of questions and related skills without due acknowledgement of the way in which different learning communities in different contexts may engage in the process of learning about history. This thesis provides insight into the nature of good history teaching as a social practice, exploring how it is constructed and encountered in the classroom by teachers and students. The research was conducted using a multiple case study methodology examining the classroom teaching practice of four history teachers, identified by their peers as exemplary practitioners. Findings were drawn from interviews with the teachers and multiple observations of their classroom teaching, as well as focus group interviews with their students. The research represents a rich portrayal of what good history teaching looks like in a practical, pedagogical sense and adds to our existing understanding of what it means to teach history well through research that is grounded in the reality of teachers’ everyday work. Using the theory of practice architectures as a framework for analysing and interpreting classroom interactions, as well as both teacher and student beliefs about history education, the research reveals the importance not only of teachers’ subject expertise in defining their success as history teachers, but also their knowledge of their students and the communities in which they work. Whilst the four teachers in the study all face varying constraints on their teaching by virtue of the sites within which they practice, the relational dimension of their practice emerges as particularly significant in determining the ways in which different teachers navigate these constraints in their pursuit of praxis. The research contributes new knowledge to the existing discourses around history teaching by highlighting the varied and complex ways in which historical thinking is enacted in different teaching contexts. Similarly, at a time when teachers are increasingly being asked to account for and describe their practice against generic criteria and descriptions of ‘quality’, this research represents a rich and contextualised understanding of what successful pedagogy looks like in different school communities.
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Horrocks, Cynthia J. "Partnering in Practice: A Look at Collaborative Student Teaching." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2006. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd1336.pdf.
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Lawson, Emily M. "THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHING BELIEFS AND PRACTICES AS PERCEIVED BY LANGUAGE GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANTS." OpenSIUC, 2019. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/2598.
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In order to equip teachers for the complexity of their job, teacher education programs have shifted away from training teachers in exactly what to do, focusing instead on how to approach the classroom. Teacher educators are working towards programs that develop beliefs that directly and positively affect the actions of teachers in the classrooms (Darling-Hammond, 2006). One particularly interesting case of teachers-in-training are graduate teaching assistants (GTAs), because they are both students and teachers simultaneously. In addition, GTAs are often learning how to teach while organizing, managing, and instructing classes, with varying levels of experience, training, responsibility, and support (Jordan & Howe, 2018; Patel, 2017). Although there is a body of work exploring the roles GTAs play as students and in institutions (Jordan & Howe, 2018; Park, 2004), GTAs have not generally been examined as classroom teachers. This study explores language GTAs’ beliefs about teaching, how their beliefs connect to their practice, and factors that affect their ability to implement their beliefs using data collected through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. The findings show that GTAs (1) describe, instead of state, their beliefs focusing on classroom atmosphere and communicative language teaching factors; (2) are able to demonstrate their beliefs at least some of the time in their teaching; and (3) report contextual factors, such as time constraints and departmental training, that both hinder and facilitate their ability to implement their beliefs in their practices. Based on these findings, it is suggested that GTAs be provided opportunities to explicitly identify and reflect on their beliefs, make clear and accurate connections between their teaching and their beliefs, and experience an appropriate balance of support and autonomy. These suggestions are made so that GTAs might be more successful in integrating their beliefs and practices in ways that allow them to fulfill their roles as students and teachers well.
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Foulds, Barbara J. "Communities of practice : clinical teaching in professional nursing education." Thesis, McGill University, 2005. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=85549.
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The need to prepare and support clinical teaching faculty is identified as a priority by nurse educators. However, there is no framework for understanding the practice of clinical teaching (Benner, Tanner & Chelsa, 1996; Davis, Dearman, Schwab & Kitchens, 1992; Scanlan, 2001; Siler & Kleiner, 2001; Vollman, 1989). There is little nursing research directed to understanding the practice of clinical teaching. It is widely assumed that nurses who are experts in practice are able to make an easy transition to the role of clinical teacher (Scanlan, 2001; Silar & Kleiner, 2001).The clinical practicum is the time when students are in the clinical setting as novice nurses under the supervision of both experienced nurses and clinical teachers. The clinical setting may be hospital or community-based and students may be working directly with patients and their families or may be a member of a community-based project team. The purpose of this study was, by asking clinical teachers to describe their practice, to determine whether clinical teaching was a boundary practice bridging nursing and teaching's communities of practice (CoP). The goal of the boundary practice is to sustain a connection between the two communities of practice by dealing with conflicts, seeking common ground and resolving problems. The following research questions were asked: (1) To what extent do clinical teachers describe the characteristics of a boundary practice? (2) What are the participative connections that clinical teachers use in their professional activities? and (3) What boundary objects are transferred from one community of practice to another?
Using a qualitative research design, nine clinical teachers from diverse practice settings and with a range of years in the profession participated in a focus group interview. The focus group interview was followed by individual interviews with four clinical teachers. The conceptual framework that guided this study combined Wenger's (1998, 2002) community of practice model, and Shulman's (1987) teacher knowledge model. Additional theoretical constructs included reflective practitioner, cognitive apprenticeship and situated cognition (Brown, Collins & Duguid, 1989; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Schon, 1987).
The results suggest that clinical teaching is a boundary practice and that clinical teachers create participative connections between nursing and teaching practices through the building of relationships with fellow nurses, students and classroom teachers using strategies that involve reconciling different practice perspectives with the objective of creating supportive clinical learning environments. Clinical teachers described negotiation strategies to move students from the periphery of nursing into the community of nursing practice and using boundary objects to negotiate meaning from practice.
The results suggest that the practice of clinical teaching includes understanding how to balance relationships and reconcile competing demands. The findings also suggest that connection to the classroom teacher and understanding of the course of study are important to the practice of clinical teaching. Two key outcomes of this study are the development of a model of clinical teaching and a working vocabulary to describe the practice of clinical teaching.
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Mouzahem, Mayssoun. "Theory and practice of teaching composition in Syrian universities." Thesis, University of Strathclyde, 1991. http://oleg.lib.strath.ac.uk:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=21934.
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This thesis argues that there is an urgent need to reform current methods of teaching English composition to Syrian university students. It shows how current teaching methods relating to writing skills in English, especially methods seeking to develop strategies for organising information beyond the sentence level, are ineffective. Having identified shortcomings in current approaches to writing skills - and since composition is almost a neglected area in English classes in Syrian universities - this study proposes a set of detailed practical proposals for teaching English composition to Syrian university students. In doing so, it takes its directions from analysis, within the thesis, of writing problems faced by Syrian students of English. Generally, the principle underlying current methods of teaching English as a foreign language in Syria is that of a focus on providing students with knowledge of English grammar. Syrian educationalists believe this by itself is enough to produce students who are competent in writing. To find out how efficient such methods actually are, or whether they produce the results aspired to, an examination of grammatical errors in the performance of a group of Syrian students is carried out. Besides the question of the effectiveness of current methods of grammar teaching, however, this research also explores other issues, especially issues concerning strategies used for organising information at both the sentence and paragraph level. The second objective of the study, then, is to assess whether current teaching methods are successful in producing generally competent writers in English. To meet this second aim, a corpus of data is collected and analysed on the 'basis' of arguments put forward by Kintsch (1974) and Sanford and Garrod (1981). As well as investigating issues of information structure in students' writing, this analysis makes it possible to confirm or disconfirm Kaplan's Contrastive Rhetorical Hypothesis (1966), and so reflects on the broad question of crosscultural difficulties in composition that EFL students routinely face. In the light of the above findings, two types of proposal are made: recommendations regarding directions for future studies in contrastive rhetoric and error analysis, and for the teaching of writing in Syria in particular. It is suggested at the beginning of the thesis that there is an urgent need for a change in emphasis in the writing practices carried out in Syrian university classes. The thesis concludes that, instead of concentrating primarily on the teaching of grammatical rules, the communicative functions of writing need to be given more attention. Since ways of teaching writing depend on appropriate modes of assessing writing, the thesis ends with a proposed new schedule of assessment to suit the change in teaching focus outlined in the thesis. Presentation of this new model of assessment is linked to critical description of the ways in which writing is currently assessed in Syrian university classes; and suggestions for future research in assessment are offered.
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黃浪詞 and Long-chi Rinna Wong. "Evaluating constructivist teaching and learning of social work practice." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2002. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31243770.
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MANDARINO, MONICA CERBELLA FREIRE. "MATHEMATICS TEACHING CONCEPTIONS THAT COME FROM TEACHER S PRACTICE." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2006. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=9066@1.
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COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOREste trabalho visou diagnosticar e compreender o que ocorre na intimidade das salas de aula, por meio de pesquisa etnográfica. A metodologia de coleta de dados envolveu: entrevista, observação direta e cópias dos materiais didáticos utilizados pelos alunos em aulas de Matemática das séries iniciais do Ensino Fundamental regular, na Cidade do Rio de Janeiro, no período de 2002 a 2004. Foram analisadas 424 aulas de 116 professores, o que possibilitou a descrição das principais características das aulas observadas, usando técnicas de análise de conteúdos. Como resultados, discuto as práticas didáticas dos professores em ação e identifico características recorrentes, analisando: os materiais e recursos que escolhem, as atividades que propõem aos alunos, as relações que se estabelecem em sala de aula, os problemas complexos que os professores enfrentam, e finalmente, as concepções sobre o ensino de Matemática que parecem sustentar as práticas dos professores do grupo estudado. As análises mostram, ainda, a força de um saber profissional, que se constrói na prática, e a influência das experiências dos professores quando alunos, evidenciando a existência de uma cultura docente que preserva concepções e adapta propostas de mudança a velhas práticas.
This work strives to diagnose and comprehend what happens inside the classroom. The data collecting methodology involved: interviews, directly observation and copies of didactic material used by the students in mathematics lessons of primary schools, at Rio de Janeiro, from the year 2002 to 2004. We analyzed 424 lessons of 116 teachers, making possible the description of main observed lessons´ characteristics using content analyses. As a result, I discuss the practices of teachers in action and identify recurring characteristics, analyzing: the materials and resources selected, the activities used, the relations inside the classroom, the complex problems of teachers, and, finally, the conceptions of mathematics´ teaching that appear to support the practices of the group of teachers studied. The analysis also shows the power of the professional knowledge, built over the practice, and the influence of the experience as a student in the future teacher s formation, showing clearly the existence of a teacher´s culture that preserves acquired conceptions and fits recommendations for change into old practices.
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Wright, Pete. "Teaching mathematics for social justice : translating theories into practice." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2015. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/53984/.
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This study reports on a project exploring how a commitment towards teaching mathematics for social justice amongst teachers can be translated into related classroom practice. It recounts how a group of teacher researchers set about achieving this through developing, trying out and evaluating a series of teaching ideas and activities. It contrasts the abundance of research literature on theories of mathematics education and social justice with the relative scarcity of studies on developing practice in this area. Mathematics lessons are generally characterised by too much focus on factual recall and procedural understanding, resulting in unacceptable levels of disengagement and disaffection amongst learners. A critical methodological stance is adopted in arguing that this current situation should not be taken as given. The research design is based on a model of participatory action research, which is socio-political, participative, collaborative, emancipatory and recursive in nature, and aims to bring about desirable social change. Careful consideration is given to the credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability of the research findings, and particular attention is paid to the role of the researcher in facilitating the research group. Data was collected primarily from meetings of the research group and a series of semi-structured empathetic interviews conducted with each teacher researcher. Audio-recordings were transcribed and condensed before being coded inductively and analysed through a thematic approach, using the constant comparative method to draw out meaning from the data. A case study approach was used as a means to capture and report the stories of how teacher researchers' thinking and classroom practice evolve and develop over the course of the project. Findings from the project demonstrate how the five teacher researchers, through their involvement in the project, begin to question seriously and rethink previously held views about the nature of mathematics, their own relationship with the subject and notions of mathematical ability. They exhibit a growing belief that the development of students' mathematical understanding and awareness of social justice issues are inextricably linked, rather than separate objectives. These changes in epistemologies appear to have an impact on teacher researchers' classroom practice and their students' dispositions towards learning mathematics. There is evidence that making mathematics more relevant and meaningful leads to raised levels of student engagement, and that focusing on how mathematics can be used to understand real-life issues and to construct an argument for change leads to increased student agency. The collaborative and participative nature of the research group shows how a mutually supportive environment can be created which promotes the self-efficacy of teacher researchers in addressing issues of social justice in their mathematics classrooms. By relating the findings back to the underlying theories, conclusions are drawn of relevance to practitioners and researchers in the field of mathematics education. These relate to the relationship between teacher epistemologies and teaching approaches, the relevance and purpose of the school mathematics curriculum and the potential of participatory action research as a model of professional development which has a strong impact on classroom practice and promotes teachers' genuine engagement in and with research.
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Daubney, Mark. "Language anxiety in English teachers during their teaching practice." Doctoral thesis, Universidade de Aveiro, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10773/3720.
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Doutoramento em DidácticaEste estudo explora a influência da ansiedade linguística em futuros professores de Inglês em situação de prática pedagógica. Setting the Scene descreve o aumento de interesse pela ansiedade linguística por parte dos investigadores no contexto da aprendizagem e do ensino, e a relevância desta questão para professores estagiários fazendo a transição de aluno para professor. O autor também considera a sua própria experiência de ansiedade – enquanto estudante e investigador – de modo a gerar um maior entendimento desta emoção complexa. O Capítulo 1 da Parte 1 descreve como o afecto na aprendizagem e na investigação da língua tem vindo a ser um factor preponderante no interesse mais alargado sobre as emoções em contextos educacionais. A recente influência da teoria social na aquisição de uma segunda língua e como esta pode ajudar a repensar a investigação das emoções é discutida antes do final do capítulo, onde se examina ainda como as emoções são expressas na comunicação e interacção. O Capítulo 2 concentra-se na ansiedade na aprendizagem da língua e em como o peso da noção em contexto social alargado tem provavelmente influenciado uma abordagem dominantemente de cariz positivista na investigação sobre a ansiedade linguística. Controvérsias e variáveis da personalidade relacionadas com a ansiedade linguística são discutidas, considerando-se a possibilidade de novas direcções para a investigação. A prática pedagógica é vista como um campo fértil de investigação sobre a ansiedade linguística em estagiários, com estilos de supervisão e discursos – nomeadamente estratégias de delicadeza e de mitigação – sendo considerados influências importantes na experiência desta emoção. O Capítulo 3 da Parte 2 detalha a abordagem etnográfica e etnometodológica do estudo e o procedimento de investigação em si. Os dados foram recolhidos em três momentos distintos. Primeiro, através de inquéritos aplicados aos estagiários antes do começo do estágio. Numa segunda fase, durante o estágio, os dados principais foram recolhidos através das aulas e duma entrevista semi-estruturada com os estagiários, ambas vídeo gravadas, e dos encontros de pós-observação áudio-gravados. Os dados subsidiários recolhidos nesta mesma fase incluem reflexões escritas e dossiers dos estagiários, observações escritas das aulas do investigador e o relatório intercalar dos professores supervisor e cooperante. Na última fase, posterior às aulas, a recolha dos dados principais foi realizada através de uma vídeo gravação da reunião de avaliação final com todos os participantes e de stimulated recall protocols com cada professor estagiário. O Capítulo 4 é predominantemente uma análise qualitativa de discurso, utilizando categorias de análise para identificar sinais de ansiedade emergentes dos dados. Os resultados mostram que um dos estagiários pode ser caracterizado como tendo uma experiência de ansiedade mais debilitadora, outro uma ansiedade mais facilitadora, enquanto a experiência do terceiro é menos pronunciada e mais difícil de caracterizar. Sinais e fontes múltiplos e complexos de ansiedade foram identificados mas as próprias autoimagens dos sujeitos como professores de Inglês, construídas em interacção ao longo do estágio, estão no centro desta experiência emocional. O Capítulo 5 considera as implicações e as conclusões deste estudo. São dadas indicações para a relação estagiário-supervisor e quanto aos estilos do supervisor no quadro da prática pedagógica assim como sugestões para que a ansiedade linguística seja explicitamente abordada na formação em supervisão. Finalmente, é ponderada se a experiência da ansiedade linguística destas estagiárias e as suas fontes têm ou não implicações na formação dos alunos de línguas.
This study explores the influence of language anxiety on three pre-service teachers of English during their teaching practice. Setting the Scene describes the rise of interest in language anxiety for researchers working in language learning and teaching contexts, and its relevance to trainees making the transition from student to qualified teacher. The author reflects on his own experience of anxiety – both as a language learner and researcher – in order to shed greater light on this complex emotion and the motivation for researching it. Chapter 1 of Part 1 relates how affect in language learning and research has become an established consideration within a broader interest in emotions in educational contexts. The recent influence of social theory on second language acquisition and how it can help to rethink the research of emotions is discussed before the final part of the chapter looks at how emotions are expressed in communication and interaction. Chapter 2 focuses on anxiety in language learning, and how the powerful notion of anxiety in our society has likely influenced a dominant, positivist approach to researching language anxiety. Controversies and personality variables related to language anxiety are considered, and possible new directions for research considered. The language teaching practicum is seen as fertile ground for researching language anxiety in the trainees, with supervisor styles and discourse - namely politeness and mitigation strategies - being considered important influences on the trainees’ experience of this emotion. Chapter 3 of Part 2 details the ethnographic and ethnomethodological approach of data collection and the research procedure itself. Data was collected in three distinct phases: first, through questionnaires applied to the trainees before the teaching practice; next, during the teaching practice itself, the main data were collected through video recorded lessons, a video recorded semi-structured interview with the trainees, and audio recorded post-observation conferences whilst secondary data consisted of the researcher‘s written observations on the lessons, trainees’ written reflections and teaching files, and the supervising and cooperating teacher’s mid-term report. The last research phase saw the main data collected through a video recorded final assessment meeting with all the participants and, finally, stimulated recall protocols with each trainee. Chapter 4 is largely a qualitative analysis of discourse, using categories of analysis to identify signs and sources of anxiety emerging from the data. One trainee can be characterised as experiencing a debilitating anxiety, another facilitating anxiety, whilst the third trainee’s experience is much less pronounced and difficult to characterise. Multiple and complex signs and sources of anxiety were identified but the images of themselves as English teachers, jointly constructed in interaction, were at the core of the trainees’ emotional experience. Chapter 5 discusses the implications and the conclusions of the study. Indications for supervisor-trainee relationships and supervisor styles within the context of the practicum are put forward as are suggestions to make language anxiety an explicit consideration on supervisory courses. Finally, the experience and the sources of the trainees’ language anxiety and the possible implications these may have for pupils/students in their language classes are briefly considered.
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Barscz, Marjorie M. Brazie. "Teaching of principles and practice of prayer to adults." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1997. http://www.tren.com.
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Wong, Long-chi Rinna. "Evaluating constructivist teaching and learning of social work practice /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 2002. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B25617965.
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Hoopes, Rebekah Susan. "Teaching Practice and Motivation Among Albanian and Japanese Missionaries." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2015. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5500.
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This study explored the relationship between the use of motivational strategies by Albanian and Japanese teachers and the observed and reported motivation of missionaries at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Provo, Utah. The aim of this study was to collect baseline data about the motivational strategies already employed by teachers in the Albanian and Japanese areas of the MTC and to explore the relationship that the teachers' use of these strategies has with the motivation of the respective missionaries. The data for this study was collected from seven teachers and 28 learners during a series of observations using a modified version of the Motivation Orientation of Language Teaching (MOLT), a classroom observation instrument developed by Guilloteaux and Dörnyei (2008). The MOLT is used to record the observable motivated behavior of learners as well as the motivational practices of the teachers according to Dörnyei's (2001) foreign language classroom motivational strategy framework. Each participating class was observed using the MOLT three times during the missionaries' nine-week stay in the MTC. The data from the observations was supplemented with teacher and learner surveys administered during the first and final weeks of the study period. Not only was this study useful for collecting valuable information about teaching practice at the MTC, but it also adds a new dimension to the empirical research that has been done in motivation in second language acquisition by expanding the research to English speakers being taught in foreign languages, whereas most research had been focused in ESL and EFL contexts. It is the first study to combine surveys with an observation component in target languages other than English. The results of this study support previous findings that teacher use of motivational strategies does indeed correlate significantly with learner motivation.
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Conyers, Marcus. "Improving teaching practice through education, mind, and selected brain research." Thesis, University of Westminster, 2017. https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/q1497/improving-teaching-practice-through-education-mind-and-selected-brain-research.
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Around the world, there is an unprecedented opportunity for improving educational outcomes by aligning the practice of teaching with the emerging science of learning. However, a research-to-practice gap persists, and many students, particularly low-income and minority children and youth, are failing to reach their academic potential. The texts submitted with this document (Conyers & Wilson, 2015a, 2016; Wilson & Conyers, 2013b, 2013c) were written as a means of bridging this gap by applying two original frameworks developed through transdisciplinary, practice-based research over 15 years. The first translates implications of education, mind, and selected brain research on how people learn into a conceptual framework and strategies for enhancing teaching and learning. The second focuses on a process for supporting changes in teaching practice and aligns with research and theory from implementation science. These frameworks have been incorporated into professional development programmes for some 100,000 educators and 2,500 teachers from 47 U.S. states, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia through one of the first two graduate degrees in this field. Studies suggest a positive impact on teaching practice and student learning. The four texts extend the impact of this body of work to a broader audience of teachers, researchers, faculty, and other educational stakeholders and uniquely incorporate research, theory, and examples of practical strategies being applied in real-world settings.
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Dafiotis, Panagiotis. "Art practice as a form of research in art education : towards a teaching artist practice." Thesis, Institute of Education (University of London), 2011. http://eprints.ioe.ac.uk/7362/.
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Although the borders between art practice and domains like philosophy have been questioned, education and its relation to art seems somehow to be overlooked in these exchanges. In my arts-led research I examine the ways the teaching artist may be able to cross the borders between art and education to produce a hybrid field in which hierarchical distinctions are questioned and the voices of students legitimised. Through my own practice as a teaching artist I am attempting to recognise, theorise, ground and develop a framework for this hybrid field. In my practice-led PhD I am trying to create space for an alternative, parallel possibility within art education. To do so, I draw on the work of Kester (2004) and Bourriaud (2002) who analyse dialogic artworks and relational aesthetics (respectively). I perceive art lessons as artistic events in the relational sense and the space where these exchanges take place, as an ever-evolving installation artwork. To this effect I have created a series of multimodal installations, which question the dichotomy of visual arts and pedagogy. These installations became increasingly participatory 'culminating' in a project, (The Benevolent Trap' May, 2010) which involved pertinent presentations and discussions with fellow students. Affect through the visual becomes the fulcrum for inciting dialogue on the relation between art and meaningmaking. On a theoretical level I draw on Deleuze and Guattari, and particularly on their notions of the 'rhizome' and 'smooth space'. In my practice-based research project I therefore explore art making as a meta-process in which making about making becomes a way of thinking about thinking. The quest though is to create a space where participants can revisit their own assumptions and reflect on them.
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Richmond, Pam, and n/a. "The more things change : enhancing the capacity of teachers to change their classroom practice." University of Canberra. Education, 1997. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20061107.130304.
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The major issue of this thesis is that for effective change in teachers'
classroom practice to occur, multiple actions are required at different
levels of participation, from federal and state education jurisdictions
through to school communities and individual classroom teachers. The
thesis supposition is that practical action factors in schools and the
community can be found which meet the needs of the change.
The history of attempts to achieve educational change through changed
classroom practice is littered with a range of different approaches, usually
one-off events. They have sometimes succeeded. Stakeholders, including
parents, social pressure groups and particularly governments have
increasing expectations of what it is that teachers can achieve in terms of
their students' learning outcomes. The degree to which actual teaching
practices are changed at the classroom level will depend on the degree to
which teachers are able to manage and implement change. However,
studies in the area of curriculum change reveal that the gap between
policy and practice remains an ongoing concern.
This thesis draws upon theory and applied research findings from the
traditions of educational change, health education, models of change,
evaluation and social science research methods. The purpose of this
thesis is to identify and make comparisons in the practical action factors
which enhance the capacity of teachers to change their classroom practice.
These are investigated through a multiple case study consideration of the
school context, the professional development inputs, and the classroom
programs. The patterns of effective practical action in the research study
would support the thesis supposition.
A multiple case study-theory building approach was used to analyse the
data from twelve school sites selected from the School Development in
Health Education (SDHE) Project. Data analysis employed the technique
of matrix displays, with several rounds of analysis in order to generate
some significant factors related to teacher change. The results were
considered for endorsement by an expert panel from the field in order to
enhance confidence in the validity and the reliability of the research
study.
Results from first round of analysis in the multiple case study showed
school team commitment, teachers' attitude to professional development
and community cooperation to be important factors in educational
change. The second round of analysis highlighted the importance of
placing the teacher at the centre of change when planning professional
development. Finally, the third round presents a summary of the factors
emerging from the analyses in five major focus areas: professional
development; principal leadership; school organisation and culture;
school team; and system support. The importance of the relationships
among these factors was recognised in their impact on teachers' abilities to
make educational changes in their classrooms.
The thesis has found that the professional decision-making and practice
of teachers is value added by the actions of other players - professional
development providers, school principals and education systems.
Teachers' capacity to change is enhanced by appropriate school-based
professional development, flexible school organisation, and the
opportunity to work collaboratively in school teams.
From the patterns emerging from the strong and weak clusters of cases
the thesis is able to make conclusions about teachers' professional practice,
professional development approaches, principal leadership, school
organisation, education systems and the nature of change. This thesis
shows that educational change requires multiple actions at different
levels of participation. Finally, the thesis offers recommendations to the
different players in the field: education systems, principals and
professional development providers.
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Samuelowicz, Katherine. "Academics' Educational Beliefs and Teaching Practices." Thesis, Griffith University, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365985.
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The research presented in this thesis focuses on two questions—how academics conceptualise teaching and learning and whether their educational beliefs and teaching and assessment practices are ‘thematically related’. The interest in finding answers to these questions lies in their implications for improving teaching and ultimately students’ learning. Although academic staff development as such was not the main focus of the present research, understanding how academics think about teaching, how they teach and what they value as learning outcomes is a prerequisite for effective staff development. Several literatures were relevant to the present research: phenomenographic analysis of conceptions of teaching (eg. Prosser, Trigwell & Taylor 1994); research focused on academics’ educational beliefs (eg. Fox 1983; Gow & Kember 1993); and research exploring the relationship between beliefs and practices of academics (Quinlan 1997; Bain 1998) and of school teachers (eg. Thompson 1984; Wilson & Wineburg 1988). The relevance of the ‘conceptions’ research lies in a shared research focus on how academics perceive teaching and learning. The relevance of the ‘beliefs’ research in the school sector lies in the methods used and the beliefs described thus far. The present research was conceived within the ‘beliefs’ framework and borrowed the research approach from it. The dimensions revealed by both streams of research were used in devising the interview schedules.
Thirteen academics participated in Study 1 and 37 in Study 2, with 20 of the latter also participating in Study 3. Data were obtained through semi-structured interviews which, in Studies 1 and 2, ranged widely over such issues as teaching, learning, understanding, knowledge, knowing, and curriculum design. In Study 3 the questions were closely focused on participants’ assessment tasks and desired learning outcomes. Participants were encouraged to exemplify their perspectives by reference to their teaching practices because the aim was to elicit beliefs grounded in practice rather than espoused beliefs (Argyris & Schön 1974). The method of analysis proceeded from global categorisation of the participants’ orientations to teaching and learning to detailed analysis of the similarities and differences between orientations. The initial categorisation process was based on the constant comparison method (Glaser & Strauss 1967) and proceeded on the working hypothesis that beliefs and practices were ‘internally related’ (Marton & Svensson 1979) in thematically coherent ways. Once the orientation categories were stabilised they were analysed for the qualitative dimensions on which their underlying similarities and differences could be arranged. The resulting framework is a matrix comprising orientations (rows) and qualitative dimensions (columns). This framework enables academics’ ‘typical’ and relatively stable ways of thinking about, and understanding, teaching (Studies 1 and 2) and assessment (Study 3) to be described and compared. The results (Study 2) confirm previous findings that academics conceptualise teaching in qualitatively different ways. Seven orientations to teaching, ranging from imparting knowledge to encouraging knowledge creation, were identified. Broadly, academics think about teaching in two major ways—they either orchestrate situations in which students are encouraged to learn (learning-centred orientations) or they transmit knowledge/information to students (teaching-centred orientations). Within each of these major groupings several distinct orientations to teaching were identified. These seven orientations to teaching are described in terms of nine dimensions that reflect academics’ beliefs about: learning, desired learning outcomes, students’ understandings, the nature of and responsibility for transforming/organising knowledge and the nature of teacher-student interaction. Dimensions (and the coding system developed) also provide a mechanism for ordering the categories from simple (less well developed) to complex. Findings (Study 3) show that assessment practices are not belief-free. What is assessed depends on how knowledge, learning and the role of teachers and students in the getting of knowledge are conceptualised. The six orientations range from assessing students’ ability to recall information presented to them in lectures and study materials, to assessing students’ ability to integrate, transform and use knowledge purposefully. The six orientations can be simplified (in an analogous way to orientations to teaching and learning) into two major orientations expressing the two contrasting beliefs just implied: assessing knowledge as presented by teachers and texts versus assessing knowledge (re)formulated by students and used to understand and interpret the world. The orientations just referred to are composites of beliefs and practice (or beliefs grounded in practice), because the relationship between these domains was emphasised in the method of questioning and in the method of analysis. The force of this claim is demonstrated through narrative descriptions of the perspectives of academics selected to illustrate major orientations to teaching and learning. These narratives provide a strong sense of thematic coherence: academics’ beliefs are closely aligned with their practices; there is a compelling sense in which one constrains the other. For example, academics who set tasks requiring students to transform knowledge or to use knowledge to interpret the world believe that students have to ‘do the learning’ and that their role as teachers is to facilitate the learning process. Conversely, academics who test students’ ability to recall information or emulate a decision process believe that reproduction of knowledge and skill are worthwhile learning outcomes and that their task is to provide the knowledge and skill in an accessible form. Finally, investigation of the congruence between orientations to teaching and assessment practice showed a strong relationship between beliefs and practice. The assessment practices of all but three academics (17 out of 20) were congruent with their orientations to teaching and learning.
The research presented in this thesis makes a considerable contribution to the literature. First, it extends understanding of the ways in which academics conceptualise teaching by describing their typical and stable ways of thinking about teaching indicative of a disposition to teach in a particular way. In contrast, ‘conceptions’-based research, prevalent in higher education and mostly conducted using phenomenographic methods, identifies possible ways in which teaching and learning can be conceptualised (eg. Dall’Alba 1991; Prosser, Trigwell & Taylor 1994), The two features—typicality and disposition to act in a particular way—increase the usefulness of the findings of the present research for staff development activities. Second, the present research confirms previous findings of Samuelowicz and Bain (1992) that academics conceptualise teaching in two broadly distinct ways (teaching-centred versus learning-centred) and provides no empirical support for Kember’s (1997a) ‘transitional’ category which he conjectured may provide a bridge between the two major sets of orientations. Third, the present research adds to a rather modest literature on how assessment is conceptualised and practised. And perhaps most importantly it advances understanding of the relationship between beliefs and practice by detailed mapping of the patterns of this relationship, providing a firmer foundation for conceptualisation of activities aimed at improving teaching and ultimately learning. And finally, the present research provides the first empirical support for studies (eg. Quinlan 1997; Bain 1998) which have reported congruence between beliefs and self-reported teaching practices in higher education.
Further research is needed in several areas. Given the claims (eg. Quinlan 1997) that teaching is framed by beliefs about the nature of academic disciplines, further research is needed into how discipline knowledge is conceptualised and how such knowledge is translated into courses. Efforts to improve teaching are predicated on the assumed link between teaching and learning, but this relationship has to be further investigated since only three articles (Gow & Kember 1993 and Kember & Gow 1994; Sheppard & Gilbert 1991) have been published in this area. The strong alignment of beliefs and practices documented in the research presented in this thesis has implications for how staff development activities are formulated. It suggests that efforts should be directed more at changing beliefs than on altering teaching approaches. Because relatively little is known about effective ways to change educational beliefs further research in this area is needed.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning
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Collins, Roz. "Seeing the point : conceptions of learning and teaching for transfer and influences on teaching practice." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2008. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/67472/.
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This research explored the relationship between lecturers’ conceptions of transferability of learning and the influence of this on their teaching practice. The central proposition was that if transferability of learning lies at the heart of teaching, then lecturers should have specific conceptions of transfer which underpin and feature in their teaching. The research was a qualitative study comparing the teaching of two different courses in similar subject areas at one university. One course had a professional vocational orientation and the other was a more generic degree programme. The main methods of investigation were semi – structured interviews, observations and focus groups. Data were analysed using a variety of processes but focusing particularly on exploring variations and internal relationships common to phenomenographical techniques. A matrix framework was produced, locating lecturers’ conceptions of teaching for transfer with observations of their practice. One of the main findings was that lecturers did hold conceptions of teaching for transfer and there was a marked difference between those held by psychology lecturers and those by social work lecturers. Secondly there was some evidence that these conceptions did influence teaching practice and that transfer techniques occurred most frequently when teachers drew on experience whether their own or those of students. These findings build upon and extend previous research associated with conceptions of learning and teaching by adding the dimension of ‘focus on transfer’. The greater the focus on transfer and this was particularly so with the social work lecturers who used more of the teaching for transfer techniques than the psychology lecturers, the more able students were to ‘see the point’ and apply their learning. Being explicit with students about why any aspect of the curriculum was relevant and how it could be applied, facilitated the learning transfer process.
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Hellström, Rasmus. "Task Based Language Teaching versus Presentation Practice Production : A Comparison of Two Language Teaching Methods." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Avdelningen för språk och kultur, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-125395.
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Whitta, John A. "An investigation of the dimensions of environmental determinants of students' satisfaction with practice teaching." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 1999. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/36615/1/36615_Digitised%20Thesis.pdf.
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In this study, the dimensions of environmental determinants of students' satisfaction with their practice teaching were identified and examined. The study employed a non-experimental survey design and utilised a methodology suggested by Hays (1982) for data analysis. Aspects of the vitamin model of job satisfaction developed by Warr (1986, 1987) provided a theoretical base for the study.
Two hundred and ninety-five primary teacher education students completed a fifty-five-item questionnaire developed for the study. A factor analysis of these students' responses identified five dimensions. These were named "professional autonomy experienced by student teacher", "social integration into the school environment", "management of the practice teaching program", "mentoring provided by supervising teacher" and "security for the student teacher". Cronbach alpha reliabilities for the dimensions ranged from .94 to .78. Aspects of these dimensions were examined using students' responses to the initial questionnaire items and short statements in which they had provided brief descriptions of events that had occurred during practice teaching and which had given them very high satisfaction or very low satisfaction.
A multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between the five dimensions identified in the study and a measure of students' overall satisfaction with practice teaching. The five dimensions accounted for 72% of the variance in students' overall satisfaction with their practice teaching. Three of the five dimensions contributed significantly to the regression equation. These were "professional autonomy experienced by student teacher", "social integration into the school environment" and "mentoring provided by supervising teacher".
Possible contributions of a range of demographic variables to students' overall satisfaction and their relationships to the five dimensions were also examined. The demographic variables did not contribute significantly to students' overall satisfaction with practice teaching and did not act as intervening variables for the dimensions. Only three demographic variables showed significant correlations with the dimensions.
The study supported Warr's claims that his categories could be used in areas other than the industrial settings in which they were developed and also provided support for his claimed comprehensiveness of those categories. The dimensions appeared to provide a comprehensive coverage of the practice teaching environment and preserved the vitamin aspect of Warr's original model.
Findings were related to previous studies and suggestions provided for further research and improvements for practice teaching.
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Knight, Nikita. "Theory and Practice : A comparison between English schoolbook grammar and English grammar teaching practiced in a Swedish secondary school." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk (SPR), 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-45893.
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This research compares the grammar in English schoolbooks with the grammar teaching practisedin a Swedish secondary school classroom. It explores the grammar content of two Englishschoolbooks from two different levels, and whether the teacher uses other materials when teachinggrammar: language websites with grammar and vocabulary exercises, and listening, reading andwriting activities, that are different or similar to the ones in the schoolbooks. The study also looks atdifferent grammar teaching methods, Grammar-translation method, Direct method andAudiolingual method, used in the schoolbooks. Throughout the years, different methods have beenused for teaching grammar, which is why it is interesting to see which ones are used here. Thegrammar content of two English schoolbooks and the classroom observations of year eight and yearnine English lessons were analysed and compared in order to find out whether the grammarteaching affects the pupils proficiency level and accuracy in their essays. This investigation isrelevant since language teaching has become more and more focused on communication, whichmeans that accuracy has a tendency of being forgotten, even though fluency and accuracy are bothequally important in order to achieve a communicative competence.
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Squires, Monica Lynn. "Is There a Gap between Educational Theory and Exemplary Teaching Practice?: An Examination of the Practices of Nominees for Maine Teacher of the Year." Fogler Library, University of Maine, 2009. http://www.library.umaine.edu/theses/pdf/SquiresML2009.pdf.
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Alvarez, Mexia Nadia Yolanda. "Practica Docente Associated with the Use of Enciclomedia." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/195548.
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This qualitative research focuses on the knowledge of the practica docente associated with the use of the Mexican educational software program known as Enciclomedia and the pre-service preparation that Mexican elementary school teachers gain in order to use this pedagogical tool in their classrooms. Under this type of teacher preparation, the concept of practica docente (translated in English as teaching practice) is primarily used (Fierro, et al. 2005, p.21) to prepare educators in Mexico. While the primary theoretical framework that this study discusses is practica docente, previous studies about the use of technology in schools, education and teacher preparation programs are also included.Beginning in 2001, educational reform in Mexico introduced the use of Enciclomedia in the fifth and sixth grades. The implementation and purpose of Enciclomedia seeks to guarantee access and quality in elementary education but teaching practices (practica docente) were superficially examined to determine how educators can be better prepared in the use of Enciclomedia. The incorporation of Enciclomedia into Mexican elementary classrooms suggests the need for better teacher preparation programs in the use of technology for educational purposes.The primary purpose of this research is to inform how teachers include the use of technology in their teaching practices and how these practices influence the use of technology in the classroom. The qualitative research design involved a study of two teachers, one female and one male, who were teaching in public schools situated in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, a city located in Northern Mexico. The personal story, teacher preparation, and the observations of these two teachers using Enciclomedia served as a context for the portrait that was developed through this study.This study reveals a strong relationship between the use of technology and teaching, teachers' ideology about teaching, daily teaching practices using technology versus the previous preparation teachers received, and the role of the education system in the use of technology. The findings of this study are used to formulate recommendations for staff development to prepare teachers in connect the use of Enciclomedia with their practica docente and better understand the use of technology in the classroom.
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Kachidza-Naik, Anna Runyararo Unesu. "Developing theory about teaching practice in public health nurse education." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2014. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10021642/.
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This thesis explores ways in which practice teachers facilitate student learning on the Specialist Community Public Health Nursing programme. The knowledge they draw on and pedagogic practices they employ in the placement area seem obscure and difficult to articulate and, as a result, tend to be marginalised. A mixed methods approach is adopted drawing on three forms of data collection: semi-structured interviews, a questionnaire and practice teachers’ summative comments on student portfolios. Twenty practice teachers from one university were interviewed and practice teachers’ comments in student portfolios in the same university were scrutinised. The information from the interview data informed the third data collection method, a questionnaire sent nationally to 115 practice teachers in 12 English universities. It aimed to establish whether views expressed in interviews were more generally applicable. The findings offer fresh insights into, and interpretation of teaching practice and the knowledge relied on. Learning in the practice placement becomes an amalgamation of complex professional knowledge, client narratives, and cultural artefacts. These become appropriated and reconfigured as new professional knowledge. This process may result in different acts of translation of the day-to-day realities of each practice teacher rendering the approach person-bound and context specific. The thesis concludes that drawing upon the above process the practice teacher’s individual approach to teaching and learning develops and then (having assessed the context within which she is working) she engages to help with students’ learning by using a mixture of formal knowledge and knowledge developed from practice. A model of responses and relationships has been developed involving complex professional knowledge and pedagogic processes. The study, therefore, sheds light on learning in the practice placement.
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Palmer, Adam. "Developing professional HR practice and teaching in the university sector." Thesis, Middlesex University, 2007. http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/13424/.
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This submission for the award of Doctor of Professional Studies comprises a collection of the candidate's published work and selected strategy papers with an accompanying context statement. The key methodology used for constructing this submission is reflective practice and represents further developments in the writer's thinking through the process of compiling this context statement. The author has been introduced to recent work by Whitehead and Mcniff(2006) that gives him confidence that he can make this claim for a doctoral level award based on his learning journey thus far. In this sense it marks a new beginning in the way in which he will develop his approach to research. Significantly being able to put the "I" into this work, as demonstrated from page 5 onwards, has had a liberating effect on his writing. The publications presented however demonstrate the employment of a range of methodologies including action research, postal surveys with quantitative analysis, qualitative approaches using structured interviews and focus groups. This statement and the accompanying examples of public works is a narrative that traces the career path of a human resource professional, academic and practitioner as he moves from being a practitioner, to being an academic leader and teacher, to being a senior policy maker and then returning to his current role as an academic and teacher. He shares an emerging body of theory supported by a range of selected publications. The central theme of this account is how an HR practitioner tries to live out his values and beliefs as he seeks to influence the practice and development of both his colleagues and students within a rapidly changing world. Some of these changes come from the external environment, for example, the reducing resources threatening the viability of universities coping with large numbers of students. Other changes are within the writer himself as he moves from being an academic to being a policy maker and demonstrates what Mcniff and Whitehead (2006) would term his "living contradictions". The story tells how he has attempted to address this contradiction through maintaining the integrity of his values by working through a range of issues that are the subject of supporting publications: • How to cope with increasing number of students without compromising quality • How can academics best prepare and support students independent study • How to ensure learning resources are allocated in a fair and equitable way • How to support staff and colleagues in encouraging them to disseminate good practice • How to use case studies as a method for both inquiry and development of practice in the context of supporting the human resource function in small business • How to create HR strategy in a collaborative and inclusive way • How to encourage employment diversity in the small business sector • How to develop rewards for teachers that also have benefits for student learning.
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Bastos, Heloisa Flora. "Changing teachers' practice : towards a constructivist methodology of physics teaching." Thesis, University of Surrey, 1992. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/919/.
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