scholarly journals Teaching and Learning Science in the 21st Century: Challenging Critical Assumptions in Post-Secondary Science

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Glaze

It is widely agreed upon that the goal of science education is building a scientifically literate society. Although there are a range of definitions for science literacy, most involve an ability to problem solve, make evidence-based decisions, and evaluate information in a manner that is logical. Unfortunately, science literacy appears to be an area where we struggle across levels of study, including with students who are majoring in the sciences in university settings. One reason for this problem is that we have opted to continue to approach teaching science in a way that fails to consider the critical assumptions that faculties in the sciences bring into the classroom. These assumptions include expectations of what students should know before entering given courses, whose responsibility it is to ensure that students entering courses understand basic scientific concepts, the roles of researchers and teachers, and approaches to teaching at the university level. Acknowledging these assumptions and the potential for action to shift our teaching and thinking about post-secondary education represents a transformative area in science literacy and preparation for the future of science as a field.

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-119
Author(s):  
Patrick Brady ◽  
Philip Allingham

This study examined perceptions of preparedness for post-secondary education in the province of Ontario. Participants were 272 university students enrolled in the first year of a four-or five-year concurrent teacher education program and represented two distinctive groups: (a) entrants who had completed the old five-year Ontario Academic Credit system, and (b) those who were admitted to university via the new four-year program. They responded to a questionnaire which inquired into the degree to which they believed that their final year of secondary school had adequately prepared them for the transition to university level studies. Although data analysis did not reveal any significant difference between the two groups in terms of academic achievement, Grade 12s reported feeling less prepared overall for the challenges of university, especially in terms of the acquisition of specific academic skills, as well as adjustment to the university social milieu.


1969 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-76
Author(s):  
Cindy Ives ◽  
Lynn McAlpine ◽  
Terry Gandell

This article describes a research-driven heuristic for the scholarly evaluation of teaching and learning interventions, which is systematic, collaborative, and discipline focused. We offer this guide to educational developers and other instructional support staff who are tracking the impact of interventions in teaching and learning with academic colleagues who lack backgrounds in educational evaluation or social-science research. Grounded in our experience in three different faculties, the framework may be modified to meet the needs of other contexts and disciplines. To aid such modification, we explicitly describe the thinking underlying the key decision-making points. We offer practical advice that may assist academics and academic developers with evaluation processes, thus addressing the scarcity in the literature of comprehensive, programmatic, scholarly, and systematic assessments of innovations in teaching and learning at the university level.  


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-222
Author(s):  
Silvia-Lucretia Nicola ◽  
Shahen Mohammed Faraj

Students from the University of Halabja were asked in a survey conducted in April 2019 about their attitudes towards emigration in the wake of a prolonged financial crisis burdening the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) since 2014. While these students are not yet migrants, researching the reasons for their envisaged migration helps to better understand the challenges they face. Despite a continuous development of its post-secondary education sector, the KRI still struggles with low absorption rates of graduates. At the same time, the KRI exhibits a growing youth bulge, as well as high unemployment levels among its young population. These unfavourable conditions might cause a brain drain, pushing the educated youth to leave the country in search of better financial means, as well as waves of social unrest as seen throughout Iraq and the wider Middle East. First results show that more than half of the surveyed students have considered emigrating. Local job opportunities would, however, diminish their percentage.


Author(s):  
Cheresa Greene Simpson ◽  
Gerrelyn Chunn Patterson

This chapter will address an engaging pedagogical strategy to prepare pre-service teachers to work in diverse communities challenged by social issues such as poverty and food instability. The chapter presents a service-learning pedagogical approach that creates a collaborative partnership between faculty, students, the university, and the greater community. It demonstrates how stakeholders can work and learn together within a common service-learning project that positively impacts change in diverse communities. The chapter will benefit faculty at the secondary and post-secondary education levels who are interested in enhancing teaching and learning through service learning, collaboration and community engagement.


Curationis ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Searle

On April 5, 1982 in her capacity as President of the South African Nursing Association, the author received a letter from the then Minister of Health. Dr. the Hon. L A P A Munnik to inform her that the Minister of Education had submitted the information to him that the Advisory Council of the Universities of South Africa had approved the principle whereby universities could develop an association with nursing colleges on the same lines as exist in respect of teacher training colleges, that is, as colleges external to the university but linked on an academic level to the university concerned.


Author(s):  
Barbara Motyl ◽  
Stefano Filippi ◽  
Gabriele Baronio ◽  
Domenico Speranza

AbstractThis paper presents the results of a survey carried out with students enrolled in the first two years of the BS in Engineering at three Italian university locations. The study is part of a wider range of methods, tools and aids for the improvement of teaching and learning of technical drawing at university level developed by the University of Brescia, Udine, and Cassino and Southern Lazio. In particular, this work analyses the results of questionnaires related to the basic technical drawing outcomes, taking inspiration from previous research work in this field. What emerges is a positive picture that shows students’ interest in 3D CAD modeling topics such as part or assembly construction, but also their interest in more traditional subjects like sketching and dimensioning.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. p478
Author(s):  
Jorge F. Figueroa ◽  
Emarely Rosa-Dávila

This article presents a study on the perspective of two higher education professors from Puerto Rico in the use of social media for the ESL classroom. It covers the millennial generation characteristics and its influence on the teaching and learning process at the university level. Several strategies within the use of social media and emergent technologies are presented. The study participants reflect on the use of social media in the classroom and present how beneficial it has been in student achievement, retention, and engagement. Several remarks are made within the use of social media for the classroom and participants expose their experiences in the ESL classroom at the university level.


Author(s):  
Kaisu Tuominiemi ◽  
Scott Benzenberg

Art programs at the university level are often designed in a studio-based model where the curriculum objective is “high-levels of disciplinary expertise” (Hong, Essig, & Bridgstock, 2012). These programs graduate artists who, while highly proficient in creation and performance, must navigate a career market which is limited and highly competitive.  This studio model is shifting. Many arts programs at the university level are now beginning to incorporate courses which help artists as they navigate the business of the art world, but these types of interventions still neglect opportunities to fully harness artistic skillsets of art students. Arts Entrepreneurship is an emerging discipline in post-secondary education. This discipline aims address the needs of the artist while also recognizing the unique habits of mind the artist might bring into enterprise. The scope of this discipline extends beyond studio practices by considering and measuring the impact of an artists’ work. “The unique mission of arts programs and therefore a unique of arts entrepreneurship education and a defining aspect of its signature pedagogy is the practice of making art work in and for the real world” (Hong, Essig, & Bridgstock, 2012). In this discipline, artists extend the scope of their “work” beyond creation and towards practices which can future sustain an artistic venture. Arts Entrepreneurship therefore seeks to graduate artists who are able to consider and measure the scope of external impacts. The proposal here seeks to address the need of graduates in art education to pursue meaningful employment while also generating new potentials the artist’s role in wider society.


Author(s):  
Maree Gosper ◽  
Karen Woo ◽  
Helen Muir ◽  
Christine Dudley ◽  
Kayo Nakazawa

<span>This paper reports on a project involving software selection in the context of a curriculum redesign of a university level Japanese language program. The project aimed to improve learning outcomes, increase flexibility in student access, and increase flexibility in approaches to teaching and learning, through the use of a variety of software packages and digital resources. In doing so, an imperative was to ensure the solutions adopted were manageable within the existing organisational arrangements of the Department and the University. The selection process has led to the development of three instruments which form the CICTO Framework for Software Selection.</span>


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