Supporting teacher professional learning in Oman: The effects of principal leadership, teacher trust, and teacher agency

Lagging student performance in the Sultanate of Oman has, in recent years, led the Ministry of Education to target teachers’ professional learning as a key strategic pillar in its efforts to reform the education system. While international evidence finds principal leadership can make a meaningful difference in teacher engagement in professional learning, this has yet to be studied in Arab societies. The current study collected data from 887 teachers in 78 Omani middle schools with the aim of understanding if and how their principals’ learning-centered leadership influences teacher agency, teacher trust and teacher professional learning. Factor analysis, structural equation modelling, and bootstrapping were used to explore both partial and full mediation models of these relationships. Results validated a partial mediation model in which learning-centered leadership had moderate direct and indirect effects on teacher professional learning. The validated model also highlights the important role that principals can play in creating a climate of trust where teachers believe that investing their time and effort in professional learning will be beneficial for themselves and their schools. The results from Oman are compared with findings from other Asian societies and implications discussed.

Lesson Study as a Means to Change Secondary Preservice Physics Teachers’ Practice in the Use of Multiple Representations in Teaching

Multiple representations, such as experimental data, schemas, tables, and graphs, are an essential resource in science teaching. However, their use in the classroom typically poses a challenge for preservice teachers. The aim of this research is to examine changes in the practices of a group of preservice teachers regarding the use of multiple representations in the teaching of kinetic energy to 9th grade students, when this training is included in their initial teacher education program. For this purpose, a collaborative, reflexive, and student-learning centered approach, namely, a lesson study with three cycles, was implemented. A descriptive and content analysis for qualitative data collected showed improvement in the practices of the preservice teachers, namely on the representations both of the event that represents the “real” world, as well as of the scientific concepts. The results obtained contribute to deepening the knowledge on the use of multiple representations by preservice teachers, as well as to increasing the knowledge on using lesson study to develop the ability to use multiple representations during initial teacher education.

Economies of Scale Through E-Teaching in the Post-COVID Era – Students’ Improvements Recommendations Using Mixed Methods Design

This study centers on a retrospective investigation of effective and pedagogic planning of academic digital courses taught during the COVID-19 crisis, from the students’ perspective. We shall focus on the difference between the traditional, teaching-centered paradigm, and the modern learning-centered approach, while emphasizing the formulation of learning outcomes in online study expanses, in light of the learning experience imposed on teachers and students at the various academic institutions.The study explored the learning outcomes from students’ point of view, as well as the benefits and challenges embodied by formulating learning goals in the post-COVID era, according to the learning-centered paradigm, relating to the strengths and weaknesses of the Zoom teaching method from the students’ perspective, predicated on 1,828 students from several institutions. We used a mixed methods design incorporating qualitative and quantitative analysis to develop the Online Teaching Recommendations (SOTR) model. We used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) for goodness-of-fit.The research findings indicate that the various types of e-learning challenge academic institutions to carry out renewed thinking about the main potential advantage of physical academic institutions where students and teachers meet, talk, and discuss directly and unmediated, compared to virtual bodies of knowledge and teaching that are evolving at present and that are allegedly threatening to render universities irrelevant.

Modeling the Influence of Principal’s Leadership on Teachers’ Professional Learning in Governmental Schools in the Sultanate of Oman

The study aimed to identify the degree of principals' learning-centered leadership (PLCL) and teachers' professional learning (TPL) in governmental schools in Oman, then to modeling the effects of (PLCL) on (TPL) in governmental schools in Oman, through identify the level of this influence and compare the effects of the different dimensions of (PLCL) on (TPL). The study employed the quantitative approach using the structural equation modeling to analyze the data collected from a convenient sample of teachers (n=574) from government schools in the Sultanate of Oman. The study found that the practices of (PLCL) were at the high level for all its dimensions; while the "modeling" dimension came as the most practiced dimension, the "managing of learning program" dimension was the least. For the teacher’s professional learning also showed at high level for all dimensions (reflection, experimentation, collaboration and reach out to the knowledge base); while the experimentation dimension was the highest, reach out to the knowledge base was the least one. On the other hand, the study found a positive influence of the principal leadership on teacher professional learning; The source of that influence was from the two dimensions: “managing the learning program” and “building a learning vision”. The study presents a set of recommendations, such as recommending the implementation of structured programs to develop the skills of the school principal in support of teachers’ professional learning. Keywords: Learning-centered leadership, teacher professional learning, structural equation modeling, The Sultanate of Oman

Improving Student Learning Outcomes During The Covid-19 Pandemic Using Learning Videos and E-Learning

The problem that arises in learning in the Covid-19 era is unilateral learning centered on teacher activities, by giving assignments. Students only work on assignments and then the work is photographed and sent via whatsapp, causing students to lack understanding of the material and reluctant to do assignments. The solution to the problems above is the use of video for learning and e-learning. This research phase begins with action planning, action implementation, observation and reflection. This stage is repeated until the expected increase in learning outcomes is achieved, and does not require further improvement. The final result analysis showed that in the pre-learning cycle the percentage of classical completeness was 27.28%. In the first cycle there was an increase in classical completeness reaching 54.5%. In the second cycle there was an increase in classical completeness reaching 91%. Thus, it can be concluded that the use of video for learning and e-learning during the covid-19 pandemic is able to improve student learning outcomes. [Permasalahan yang muncul dalam pembelajaran di era Covid-19 adalah pembelajaran sepihak yang dipusatkan pada kegiatan guru. Dengan pemberian tugas siswa hanya mengerjakan tugas kemudian karya tersebut difoto dan dikirim melalui whatsapp sehingga menyebabkan siswa kurang memahami materi dan enggan mengerjakan tugas. Solusi dari permasalahan di atas adalah pemanfaatan video untuk pembelajaran dan e-learning. Tahap penelitian ini dimulai dengan perencanaan tindakan, pelaksanaan tindakan, observasi dan refleksi. Tahap ini diulangi sampai tercapai peningkatan hasil belajar yang diharapkan, dan tidak memerlukan perbaikan lebih lanjut. Analisis hasil akhir menunjukkan bahwa pada siklus pra pembelajaran persentase ketuntasan klasikal sebesar 27,28%. Pada siklus I terjadi peningkatan ketuntasan klasikal mencapai 54,5%. Pada siklus II terjadi peningkatan ketuntasan klasikal mencapai 91%. Dengan demikian, dapat disimpulkan bahwa pemanfaatan video untuk pembelajaran dan e-learning di masa pandemi covid-19 mampu meningkatkan hasil belajar siswa]

Republication of “Principles of effective course design: What I wish I had known about learning-centered teaching 30 years ago”

Ten years ago, after 20 years as a university professor, I was asked to direct the teaching and learning support center at my university. I quickly realized I had almost no knowledge of the published scholarship on this subject. From my reading of this literature, I found the research on the predictors of student learning particularly informative. In particular, I gained an appreciation for the impact of course design. In this article, I summarize a framework for designing “significant learning experiences.” In discussing the three key components of course design (learning outcomes, learning activities, and learning assessments), I offer tips and give examples relevant for the field of management. My intent is to share the most important information I have learned from a decade of conversations with experts on student learning—the things I wish someone had taught me 30 years ago.