scholarly journals Archipelago of Possibilities: Facilitator Guide

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marian Mahat ◽  
Wesley Imms

Archipelago of Possibilities is a strategy and professional development workshop created specifically to help teachers and educators uncover what they hold dear in their teaching practice and discover what they consider most important for a successful practice. This workshop uses travel as a metaphor to guide participants in reflecting on their practice, identifying successful factors for success, examining what is holding them back from achieving their ideal practice, and developing steps to create a future ideal teaching and learning space.

Author(s):  
Joko Nurkamto ◽  
Teguh Sarosa

<p>Reflective practice has become a significant aspect in determining good teaching and learning practices and is an important part of professional practice and professional growth. However, English teachers in Indonesia has not been able to perform reflection on their teaching in order to improve their teaching practice. This study reports the results of an intensive training held by PKM UNS to help teachers develop a reflective teaching habit. The participants were 30 English teachers of Islamic Senior High School in Solo Raya. Observation field notes and teacher assignments were used as the main data collection method. From this program, it was found that the English teachers encountered plethora of challenges in developing reflective practice due to their lack of understanding of reflective teaching. However, the teachers show an improvement in implementing reflective teaching strategies after their participation in the training. Recommendations to include reflective practices in teacher professional development programs is drawn based on the findings.</p>


Author(s):  
Katherine Carter ◽  
Michelle Maree ◽  
Geoffrey Shakwa

Few studies have examined the use and impact of technology in professional development programs in higher education. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the significance of technology as a tool for professional development in a postgraduate program in higher education in Namibia. Framed in the interpretive paradigm, the study adopted a qualitative approach. Data were collected through an open-ended qualitative questionnaire distributed to participants in the first four weeks of the postgraduate program and a second time six months afterwards. The findings reveal that the use of the flipped classroom approach and the use of the reflective e-portfolio enhance the quality of teaching and learning in the delivery of the postgraduate program as well as in the participants' teaching practice.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. e1501422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry L. Derting ◽  
Diane Ebert-May ◽  
Timothy P. Henkel ◽  
Jessica Middlemis Maher ◽  
Bryan Arnold ◽  
...  

We tested the effectiveness of Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching IV (FIRST), a professional development program for postdoctoral scholars, by conducting a study of program alumni. Faculty professional development programs are critical components of efforts to improve teaching and learning in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines, but reliable evidence of the sustained impacts of these programs is lacking. We used a paired design in which we matched a FIRST alumnus employed in a tenure-track position with a non-FIRST faculty member at the same institution. The members of a pair taught courses that were of similar size and level. To determine whether teaching practices of FIRST participants were more learner-centered than those of non-FIRST faculty, we compared faculty perceptions of their teaching strategies, perceptions of environmental factors that influence teaching, and actual teaching practice. Non-FIRST and FIRST faculty reported similar perceptions of their teaching strategies and teaching environment. FIRST faculty reported using active learning and interactive engagement in lecture sessions more frequently compared with non-FIRST faculty. Ratings from external reviewers also documented that FIRST faculty taught class sessions that were learner-centered, contrasting with the teacher-centered class sessions of most non-FIRST faculty. Despite marked differences in teaching practice, FIRST and non-FIRST participants used assessments that targeted lower-level cognitive skills. Our study demonstrated the effectiveness of the FIRST program and the empirical utility of comparison groups, where groups are well matched and controlled for contextual variables (for example, departments), for evaluating the effectiveness of professional development for subsequent teaching practices.


The rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT) has been increasingly changing the ways of teaching and learning and teacher development. While the literature shows a proliferation of studies exploring various issues of applying ICT in teacher development and teaching practice, there is a lack of overview of the literature in this field. This study aimed to address the gap by reviewing the literature in two themes: (1) ICT in teacher professional development (TPD), and (2) ICT in teaching practice. Six journals of a high impact in the field of teaching and teacher education were selected, from which 85 articles involving ICT applications and published from 2013 to 2019 were identified. Among them, 18 empirical articles highly relevant to the two themes were analysed. The content analysis of these publications identified a set of specific ICT applications in TPD and in teaching practice. Moreover, the analysis revealed the key features of these ICT applications in terms of their functions, their effects on teaching and teacher development, the factors influencing their applications, and the problems in existing applications.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 328-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duane Knudson ◽  
Karen Meaney

This article describes the implementation and evaluation of an initiative to promote active learning through facility renovation and faculty training. Twenty faculty representing a variety of academic areas from 2 departments participated in a 3-part active-learning professional development workshop series. Department of Health and Human Performance faculty (N = 14) teaching 19 courses and 416 of the students in the new active classroom were surveyed on their attitudes on the facilities, room design, professional development, and active-learning instruction. Consistent with previous active-learning research, there were subtle differences between student and faculty perceptions of the importance of renovation features, active-learning exercises, and philosophy of the learning process. The initiative was effective in helping predisposed faculty to implement active-learning experiences in their classes and engaging in more scholarship of teaching and learning, as well as enhancing the visibility of the department as a leader in active learning and the scholarship of teaching and learning at the university.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Belton ◽  
Sue Folley ◽  
Sophie McGown

Learning technologies have the potential to transform Higher Education, although multifaceted demands on staff time, confidence and training in using new technologies, and a lack of support can make this transformation difficult. The University of Huddersfield recently transitioned to a new virtual learning environment (VLE), which provided the opportunity to change the way staff view and use the new VLE for teaching and learning. As part of this project, three off-site retreats were run to help staff to reflect on and develop their teaching practice to better support student learning in the digital space and develop advanced online resources that support the democratisation of learning, close differential attainment gaps and give every student the best chance of success. Although much is written about different models of practice, there is a lack of theory and conceptualisation around changing practice. Examining the motivations and experiences of staff who participated provides insight into the challenges of implementing change on an institutional level, whilst examining their setup and design highlights ways to support staff during this process. Using participant feedback and experiences to underpin this research, we explore the immediate and ongoing outcomes of these off-site retreats to help transform the University’s approach to technology-enhanced learning.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olena Zhukova

Abstract Quality teaching, being a key factor in shaping students’ academic and personal growth, has been at the centre of scientific debate for many years. Sustainable professional development of novice teachers has recently been recognized worldwide as one of the key areas for improving the quality of teaching and learning in schools. Given that the initial years on the job are generally characterised by novice teachers as the most challenging and intense in their career, the following questions typically arise: What can be done to sustain and facilitate teaching at the early developmental stages in teachers’ career? What are the contextual factors and the prerequisites leading to the quality of teaching and learning? The article presents the findings from a two-year longitudinal qualitative study aimed to contribute to the research base for understanding this crucial stage. More specifically, the purpose of this study was to provide deeper understanding and insights into key factors influencing and shaping novice teachers’ early professional development and learning, as well as their capacities to effectively adapt to their new roles and operate in complex and dynamically changing open-ended school environment. The research is framed as a cross-case analysis of 4 cases of novice teachers working in public secondary schools. The data were collected through multiple sources (i.e. semi-structured in-depth interviews, questionnaire, and focus groups) over a two-year period spanning the participants’ first and second full-time teaching years. Substantial differences in experiences and beliefs among the novice teachers, with varying levels of job satisfaction and professional support received, were identified in the study. The authors have also identified numerous patterns of novice teachers’ teaching practice closely associated with teachers’concerns and early professional experience interpretations, which might result in substantial fluctuation in teaching quality and teacher’s career paths. Implications for teacher education programs, mentoring, supervision, teachers’ professional development, and future research are discussed.


Author(s):  
Gwyneth Meyers ◽  
Michele Jacobsen ◽  
Elizabeth Henderson

Background: Advances in networked learning technologies have impacted our understanding and organization of teaching and learning. In the modern context of a learning society, conventional classroom-style education and transfer of knowledge is being challenged. Infection prevention and control (IPAC) educational practice must respond to the change that technology brings to teaching and learning. While education is an important component of IPAC professional practice, few Infection Control Professionals (ICPs) have formal pedagogical training. ICPs need support in shifting from teaching-as-telling approaches to becoming designers of contemporary active and engaged teaching and learning environments. Methods: To build ICP pedagogical expertise and practice within the Alberta Health Services (AHS) IPAC program, a Design-Based Research methodology was used to systematically engineer an intentionally disruptive professional development experience (PDE) for ICPs that aligned with contemporary teaching and learning strategies. The PDE was situated in the context of a Community of Learning (CoL) located within the ICPs’ workplace practice. Learning in the CoL was mediated through participation in collaborative design, teaching, and learning activities over a period of one year. Results: The PDE framework that emerged in this study facilitated changes in the AHS ICP CoL participants’ understanding of teaching and learning, their sense of identity as educators, and their educational practices. The core of the framework focused on designing for a flexible, responsive collaborative learning environment supported by four strategies: a) creating an awareness of ICP educational practice, b) building pedagogical knowledge, c) experiencing different teaching and learning strategies, and d) building ICPs’ identity as educators. Discussion: Creating conceptual change and new designs for teaching practice is not easy, as it involves significant transformation that can be uncomfortable and complex and often requires new ways of learning. This paper discusses the guiding principles used in the design of this intentionally disruptive yet positive and responsive learning experience to build the participating ICPs’ pedagogical expertise and practice.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 49-62
Author(s):  
Lisa Thomas ◽  
◽  
Kathryn Harden-Thew ◽  
Janine Delahunty ◽  
Bonnie Amelia Dean ◽  
...  

The higher education (HE) sector in Australia is in a state of flux due to a range of social, political and economic factors. Increased competition, greater student diversity, tautening of industry exigencies, reduced funding, and rapid technological advances are key drivers of change in this environment. Within this period of transformation, HE institutions remain steadfast in maintaining quality teaching and learning practices. Challenges are therefore presented on the traditional role and function of the teaching academic, creating opportunities to explore how staff can be better prepared to teach into the new era of HE. Professional development for learning and teaching is one approach that can support staff to enhance teaching practice. Professional development programs however that fail to meet the contemporary needs of HE or consider the academic’s professional requirements, may be at risk of becoming extraneous. A move towards a more flexible approach to professional development may be necessary to meet these requirements to provide appropriate, timely support for teachers. This paper problematises approaches to professional development which adopt a ‘one-size-fits-all’ model and introduces a new, innovative program Continuing Professional Development (Learning & Teaching) (CPD [L&T]) at the University of Wollongong . The CPD (L&T) model supports the professional development of all teaching staff – from casual teacher to professor level, academic and professional staff. The model is externally referenced and features self-nominated activities for accreditation. CPD (L&T) enables multiple, ongoing methods of engagement across a professional’s teaching career, supporting a new, You-topic vision of professional development in learning and teaching.


2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 15-44
Author(s):  
Gosia Klatt ◽  
◽  
Amy Berry ◽  
Anne Suryani ◽  
Veronica Volkoff ◽  
...  

This study investigates the perceptions of teaching and learning of teachers from Saudi Arabia who participated in a 12-month professional development programme based in Australia. Considering the design of the programme and the vast differences between the education systems and cultures of the two countries, this study examines Saudi teachers’ classroom practices and challenges while teaching at schools in their home country, and whether their perceptions of teaching practice changed during and after participating in the professional development programme in Australia. Factors that might have influenced the changes to and nature of their teaching aspirations and plans for their students and schools in Saudi Arabia are also discussed.


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