Diversity, Disability, and Addressing the Varied Needs of Learners

This chapter presents a thorough examination of international and U.S. legal and educational foundations which justify instructional variation and diversification for all students, particularly for those with disabilities. With the exploration of various instructional frameworks, objective setting, methods and strategies, materials, and outcomes assessment, the reader develops an understanding of instructional diversification and why it is important for students with and without disabilities. The diverse educational approaches of differentiated instruction, multi-sensory instruction, Bloom's taxonomy of learning, understanding by design, and universal design for learning are presented and explained.

Teacher efficacy and attributes on the implementation of tiered instructional frameworks

United States federal mandates and reforms to address the needs of at-risk students have resulted in many states being required to implement evidence-based practices (EBP) and tiered systems of support (TSS). We examined the relationships between successful implementation of EBP and tiered frameworks, specifically Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS) and the constructs of teacher self-efficacy, collective efficacy, and teacher attributions. Data were collected using the School-wide Evaluation Tool (SET), Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale (TSES), the Collective Efficacy Scale (CES), and Teachers’ Attributions for Student Behavior Measure (TASBM). Significant correlations were found between PBIS implementation level and 1) Instructional Strategies subscale of the TSES; 2) Collective Efficacy Scale and both of its subscales; and 3) TASBM and its Stable and Blame subscales. Significant differences in mean ratings were found between high implementing schools and low implementing schools on the Instructional Strategies subscale of the TSES, on the CES, and both of its subscale. Results showed a decrease in mean ratings on the Blame subscale of the TASBM in schools that had higher implementation scores on the SET.

Instructional Design Technology in Higher Education System

Higher educational Institutions all over the world are grappling with increased student population, several domains of learning and varied disciplines and instructors with varied experiences in using instructional design technologies. The chapter focuses on how it is possible to facilitate instructional design experiences for the stakeholders in higher education for creative learning. The chapter addresses the emergence of Instructional Design Technology (IDT). The role of IDT and its importance in higher educational institutions is studied with current practices in the field. The impact that this field had made in the evolution of instructional frameworks across the different layers of tertiary educational system is studied especially with regard to improving the teaching and learning experiences of educators and students respectively. The role of Creative Learning technologies' is discussed based on the success that these systems have enjoyed in improving instructional design.

Diversity, Disability, and Addressing the Varied Needs of Learners

This chapter presents a thorough examination of international and U.S. legal and educational foundations which justify instructional variation and diversification for all students, particularly for those with disabilities. With the exploration of various instructional frameworks, objective setting, methods and strategies, materials, and outcomes assessment, the reader develops an understanding of instructional diversification and why it is important for students with and without disabilities. The diverse educational approaches of differentiated instruction, multi-sensory instruction, Bloom's taxonomy of learning, understanding by design, and universal design for learning are presented and explained.

The Essential Three (e3): A University Partnership to Meet the Professional Learning Needs of Rural Schools

The Essential Three (e3) is a professional learning series that focuses on supporting rural school districts and school leaders as they engage in the important work of prioritizing and determining areas of instructional focus. As educators transition to new rigorous state and national standards and face the challenges of learning newly adopted instructional frameworks/evaluation tools, the e3 training has offered educators much needed guidance and support within high-needs, rural districts in Florida. As the result of a partnership between the North-East Florida Educational Consortium (NEFEC) and the University of North Florida, teacher leaders and school administrators have now implemented a streamlined process to increase rigor, collaboration, and student engagement within the learning environment. This work details the comprehensive implementation process, as well as various promising practices for educators and rural school leaders to impact policies and instructional practice.

Identificación, explicitación y desarrollo del CTPC de la química en profesores en formación

Esta investigación aborda el proceso a través del cual los profesores en formación del curso «problemas de la enseñanza y aprendizaje de la química», comienzan a identificar, explicitar y desarrollar el CTPC (Conocimiento Tecnológico y Pedagógico del Contenido) de un tópico del currículum de esta disciplina. Para ello, éstos deben enfrentarse a actividades de aprendizaje en los cuatro ámbitos de reflexión que estructuran dicho curso. Cada una de estas actividades suministran los marcos curriculares e instruccionales para el desarrollo progresivo de la CoRe (Content Representation) cuya estructura lógica representa los elementos del CTPC. Se utilizó una metodología de investigación de estudio de casos con las siguientes fuentes: versiones de las CoRes, entrevista semiestructurada, videos de clase y relatos narrativos. El análisis se orientó por la teoría fundamentada, centrándose en las etapas de descripción, ordenamiento conceptual y teorización, el cual condujo a generalizaciones como orientaciones hacia la enseñanza, currículum, comprensión de los estudiantes de un tópico específico, conocimiento tecnológico y pedagógico, conocimiento tecnológico del contenido, estrategias instruccionales y formas de evaluar. Los resultados de esta investigación permiten evidenciar el potencial que tiene el desarrollo de la CoRe para lograr que los profesores en formación desarrollen las relaciones complejas entre el contenido, la pedagogía y la tecnología, y de esta manera identifiquen y expliciten el CTPC.Palabras claves: Enseñanza de la química, CTPC, profesores en formación, CoRe.AbstractThis research examines the process through which student teachers enrolled in the course «problems when teaching and learning chemistry» begin to identify, explain and develop the TPCK (Technological and Pedagogical Content Knowledge) of a curriculum topic in the discipline. To achieve this purpose, they must face a series of sequenced and temporalized learning activities within the four areas of reflection in the course. Each of these activities provides them with curricular and instructional frameworks for the progressive development of the methodological tool CORE (Content Representation) whose logical structure represents the elements of TPCK. The research methodology used in this study is qualitative with an interpretative case study perspective where data is collected from the following documentary sources: versions of the cores, semi-structured interview, class videos, and narratives. The analysis of these data is guided by grounded theory focusing on the stages of description, conceptual planning and theorizing. This analytical process allows to produce naturalistic generalizations such as orientations for teaching science, science curriculum, student understanding of a specific scientific topic, technological and pedagogical knowledge, technological knowledge of the contents, instructional strategies for teaching science; and ways to evaluate ideas. The main purpose of these generalizations lies in the representation of TPCK. Finally, the results of this research have spotlighted the potential development of the CoRe as an instrument in designing learning environments for specific topics, which bring teachers in training to develop connections between content, pedagogy and technology, leading to the identification and explanation of TPCK. Keywords: Teaching chemistry, TPCK, training teachers, CoRe.

Instructional Design Technology in Higher Education System

Higher educational Institutions all over the world are grappling with increased student population, several domains of learning and varied disciplines and instructors with varied experiences in using instructional design technologies. The chapter focuses on how it is possible to facilitate instructional design experiences for the stakeholders in higher education for creative learning. The chapter addresses the emergence of Instructional Design Technology (IDT). The role of IDT and its importance in higher educational institutions is studied with current practices in the field. The impact that this field had made in the evolution of instructional frameworks across the different layers of tertiary educational system is studied especially with regard to improving the teaching and learning experiences of educators and students respectively. The role of Creative Learning technologies' is discussed based on the success that these systems have enjoyed in improving instructional design.

Cocktail of Food Science and Argumentation: Shaken or Stirred for Learning?

Food science like other domains of science poses challenges to teachers and learners. A significant challenge concerns the articulation in the learning environment of the evidence and justification for the knowledge claims made about food. Often such claims are based not on evidence but myth. What is the evidence that a potato will absorb excess salt in a soup or stew? Or that butter will spoil if not refrigerated constantly? Articulation of the evidence and justification necessitates the incorporation of the epistemic practices of food science in the learning environment. Epistemic practices are the cognitive and discursive activities that develop epistemic understanding – understanding of the nature of knowledge including how knowledge production occurs. Argumentation, the coordination of theory and evidence, is an example epistemic practice that has grown as an area of interest in science education in the past two decades. Numerous studies have highlighted the importance of argumentative discourse in the acquisition of scientific knowledge and the development of habits of mind in science. The implication is that argumentation is a form of discourse that needs to be appropriated by learners and explicitly taught through suitable instruction, task structuring and modeling. In this paper, an example introduced to illustrate how argumentation can be contextualised in food science with concrete teaching and learning scenarios. The question is raised about whether the argumentation orientation poses a radical stir or it could be integrated into existing instructional frameworks in food science. A set of recommendations for the design and implementation of professional development provision are provided to enhance food science teachers’ learning of epistemic practices of science including argumentation.