scholarly journals Addressing Horizontal and Vertical Gaps in Educational Systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (S1) ◽  
pp. S104-S120
Author(s):  
Alan H. Schoenfeld

Students are often ill-prepared for the leap in expectations within disciplines when they make the transition from secondary to university-level instruction. Moreover, another equally large challenge exacerbates these vertical disciplinary gaps. At all levels, instruction takes place largely in disciplinary silos – in language and literature, history, mathematics, science, and so on. Learning goals in these silos are often phrased in very different language, e.g. ‘becoming a reader’ (or writer) in language arts, ‘inquiry’ in science, and ‘problem solving’ in mathematics. Such horizontal gaps result in instruction being far less coherent from the student’s perspective than it might be. The Teaching for Robust Understanding framework, known as TRU, may provide a means of addressing both kinds of gap. TRU focuses on the nature of learning environments that support the development of students as powerful learners. Through the lens of the TRU framework one can see commonalities across disciplines and across grade levels, and shape instructional practices accordingly. Within any particular discipline, treating students as active sense makers and arranging learning environments to provide opportunities for active sense making may help to bridge the gap between secondary and higher education.

Author(s):  
Robert F. Siegle ◽  
Rod D. Roscoe ◽  
Noah L. Schroeder ◽  
Scotty D. Craig

The expansion of online education into massive open online courses (MOOCs) and equipment have created a unique opportunity for delivering immersive learning experiences at scale. However, although the inclusivity of the MOOC ecosystem can be commended, many online courses lack key benefits associated with traditional classroom environments: immersive, engaging, and team-driven learning opportunities. Immersive learning environments (ILEs) address these educational gaps but has not been able to operate at the broad scale that MOOCs offer. Importantly, ILEs address opportunities missing from MOOC systems, they add unique learning opportunities that would also be missing in a traditional classroom. The inclusion of this virtual reality technology is pivotal topic for educational research. This theoretical paper will briefly define immersive learning environments and the potential benefits of incorporating immersive learning environments into scalable educational systems. We will also consider developers constraints on creating these online ecosystem and suggested strategies for overcoming them.


1988 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 62-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. McNeil

Recent studies have revealed themes of giftedness that have implications for the curriculum in the language arts. These themes include the desire to know and inquire, the uses of play and imagination, the thrust toward coherence, the motivational ambience of the family, and the value of varied apprenticeships. Correlatively, trends in the language arts curriculum reflect the growing influence of the constructivists' theory of learning with its emphasis on active generality of meaning by students. These curriculum trends are propitious for the gifted who excel in learning environments characterized by independent activity and filling in the gaps left by incomplete and less structured teaching. This paper describes how new directions in the language arts curriculum match the themes of giftedness and suggest how gifted students can be helped to share their images and meanings through the language arts.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanya Surette ◽  
Kelly Brenton

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted educational systems worldwide, shifting everything from pedagogy to learning environments. The emerging needs and complexities presented during this time has challenged long-standing practices, requiring creativity and innovation to adapt in the midst of uncertainty and accelerated change. This has been the reality within graduate counselling programs where coursework and internships were interrupted, and the counselling environment altered. In the face of such changes, the critical assessment and evaluation of pre-service counsellor competence remains a high priority of counsellor educators. This article outlines the practice of adopting an Oral Final Evaluation (OFE) of post-practicum graduate counselling students as a means of addressing the need to accurately assess counsellor competence in the changed landscape of the current pandemic. This article provides a rationale for integrating an OFE and space for reflection on its implementation, along with feedback from participating students, faculty, and site-supervisors.


1996 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane E. Prather

Predicting that by the 21st century the majority of students will not be prepared for university level curricula, this address raises a major challenge to sociologists: what action are we willing to take now to improve the preparation of future students? Smelser's value-added theory of collective behavior provides the framework for examining this educational crisis. Analyses of the learning environments of the very young and school-age children and of the school difficulties of teenagers provide evidence that an educational crisis is imminent. In closing, I suggest actions sociologists can advocate to meet the educational challenges of the next century.


2021 ◽  
Vol 113 (3) ◽  
pp. 27-35
Author(s):  
Tony Durr ◽  
Nicole A. Graves ◽  
Alison Wilson

During the spring of 2020, K-12 schools were turned upside-down. The COVID-19 pandemic essentially forced all schools across the nation to close their doors and move their learning environments online. The switch to remote learning put a great deal of stress and responsibility on teachers at all levels. The content taught by family and consumer sciences (FCS) teachers presented those teachers with unique challenges that differentiated them from other content teachers in programs such as math, language arts, and social studies. With a sample of 97 teachers from Midwestern states, this study found that FCS teachers reported higher levels of depersonalization and lower feelings of personal accomplishment.


Author(s):  
Jerremie V. Clyde ◽  
Glenn R. Wilkinson

This chapter explores the limits of simulations for university-level historical education. The authors develop an alternative gamic mode more fit for purpose by focusing on epistemology and procedural rhetoric. This chapter will start by examining how history functions as a form of disciplinary knowledge and how this disciplinary way of knowing things is taught at the post-secondary level. The manner in which history is taught will be contrasted with its evaluation in order to better define what students are actually expected to learn. The simulation will be then examined in the light of learning goals and evaluation. This will demonstrate that simulations are in fact a poor fit for most post-secondary history courses. The more appropriate and effective choice is to construct the past via procedural rhetoric, using games that mirror the structure of the historical argument.


Author(s):  
Marybeth Green ◽  
Linda Challoo ◽  
Mehrube Mehrubeoglu

The potential of augmented reality (AR) as a transformational tool has long been touted in academic circles. However, in order for AR to attain this goal, we must seriously examine previous research to determine if we are on the right path. This study examined 87 AR research studies situated in K-12 environments to determine what grade levels were involved, where the research being done was what content areas were involved, what kinds of triggers were used, and what learning environments were created through the use of AR. This research found that the majority of studies were situated in elementary contexts in science and math. Diverse learning environments were found including inquiry, problem-based learning, visualization, and gamification. Based on these findings, suggestions were made for future research including more research on students creating AR experiences, broadening the grade levels and content areas that are involved, and aiming future AR projects at the transformational level of the SAMR model.


Author(s):  
Julia Bennett ◽  
Fan-Yu Lin

Mobile learning, learning delivered or accompanied by any handheld or individual device that contributes to increasing knowledge or skills, has continuously become popular in educational systems in the 21st century. Apple's iPad has been a popular mobile device that has been chosen for us in 1-to-1 learning environments. Research suggests that utilizing iPads in educational settings is beneficial due to its affordance, portability, ubiquitous access to information, ability to communicate with other iPad users, and the opportunity it offers to showcase creativity and individuality through various applications. Studies have found value in providing students with their own iPads. This chapter overviews both the benefits and concerns of iPad usage in K-12 classrooms. Furthermore, specific web and iPad applications are discussed. When educators take appropriate steps to create a controlled learning environment, concerns and limitations regarding mobile learning with an iPad can be diminished.


2008 ◽  
pp. 176-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
James G. Jones ◽  
Stephen C. Bronack

Three-dimensional (3D) online social environments have emerged as viable alternatives to traditional methods of creating spaces for teachers and learners to teach to and to learn from one another. Robust environments with a bias toward peer-based, network-driven learning allow learners in formal environments to make meaning in ways more similar to those used in informal and in-person settings. These new created environments do so by accounting for presence, immediacy, movement, artifacts, and multi-modal communications in ways that help learners create their own paths of knowing using peer-supported methods. In this chapter, we will review the basics of the technologies and the theoretical underpinnings that support the development of such environments, provide a framework for creating, sustaining, and considering the effectiveness of such environments, and will conclude by describing two examples of 3D virtual worlds used to support course instruction at the university level.


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