PREFERRED CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM PERSPECTIVE: TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF LOWER-SECONDARY SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS

The (written) state curriculum is one of the cornerstones influencing education. Its specifically mediated by textbooks. In an open textbook market, the influence of the state curriculum is limited, and the main responsibility passes to individual schools or teachers. In order to understand education from the potential attainment of curriculum goals’ point of view, it is necessary to pay attention to the teachers’ textbook preferences. This research was focused on the field of lower-secondary chemistry education in Czechia, with special attention paid to the textbooks in use, their choice, and teachers’ perception of them. The data were gathered using a questionnaire distributed to a representative sample of 387 lower-secondary school chemistry teachers. The results showed that teachers favor traditional chemistry teaching conceptions. Most teachers stated that textbooks play a vital role for them when preparing lessons and new textbooks are mostly chosen by the most experienced teachers. Most teachers also expressed their preference for textbooks which contain subject-matter ordered according to the structure of chemistry, i.e. not adjusted for learners, as well as textbooks dominantly orientated towards the transmissive approach to education. Regarding the teachers’ perception of textbooks, potential limits were identified in implementing innovations in (chemical) education. Keywords: chemistry textbooks, lower-secondary school science education, teachers' teaching conception

Secondary Teachers and Creativity in Teaching: Conceptions and Practices

In recent years, there seems to be a sharp shift towards the concept of creativity in education. Given that many theorists and researchers find it difficult to define the concept of creativity itself, this paper will attempt to investigate a) the conceptions about creativity in teaching of 5 teachers of humanistic subjects (Modern Greek Language, Ancient Greek Language, History, Greek Literature) in Greek secondary education b) how these specific conceptions are reflected in their teaching practices and c) the degree to which certain teaching strategies that seem to better facilitate creativity in teaching. The research data were collected from five (5) interviews, transcripts and worksheets of ten (10) teachings including field notes. Data were analyzed by the method of grounded theory. Data analysis showed that the emphasis is placed on "creative teaching" rather than on "teaching in order to develop student‟s creativity", as distinguished by Jeffrey and Craft. The most important finding of the research is that despite their good intentions or stated open perceptions, the research subjects do not systematically promote students' creativity unless they abandon their regulatory role and leave a genuine space of self-efficacy to their students. The authors conclude that further research is needed to answer the following questions: why is the model of creative teacher dominant and not that of the teaching that promotes students' creativity and in what extent and in which ways is creativity defined by specific cognitive subjects.

Secondary Teachers and Creativity in Teaching: Conceptions and Practices

In recent years, there seems to be a sharp shift towards the concept of creativity in education. Given that many theorists and researchers find it difficult to define the concept of creativity itself, this paper will attempt to investigate a) the conceptions about creativity in teaching of 5 teachers of humanistic subjects (Modern Greek Language, Ancient Greek Language, History, Greek Literature) in Greek secondary education b) how these specific conceptions are reflected in their teaching practices and c) the degree to which certain teaching strategies that seem to better facilitate creativity in teaching. The research data were collected from five (5) interviews, transcripts and worksheets of ten (10) teachings and including field notes. Data were analyzed by the method of grounded theory. Data analysis showed that the emphasis is placed on "creative teaching" rather than on "teaching in order to develop student’s creativity", as distinguished by Jeffrey and Craft. The most important finding of the research is that despite their good intentions or stated open perceptions, the research subjects do not systematically promote students’ creativity unless they abandon their regulatory role and leave a genuine space of self-efficacy to their students. The authors conclude that further research is needed to answer the following questions: why is the model of creative teacher dominant and not that of the teaching that promotes students’ creativity and in what extent and in which ways is creativity defined by specific cognitive subjects.

NURSING PROFESSOR IN HIGHER EDUCATION: TIME, MONEY AND RESISTANCE IN THE MANAGEMENT VISION

ABSTRACT Objective: to analyze university teaching in nursing from an institutional dialectic approach. Method: a qualitative research based on Institutional Socioclinics. Eighteen nursing professors from four regions of Brazil and from six public institutions of higher education participated. For data production, interviews, observations, documentary analyses, individual and collective restitution and use of the research diary were performed. Data was organized for analysis by transcription/translation, recomposition/rearrangement, and final reconstruction/narration. Data analysis was produced from analyzers, based on Socioclinics, Institutional Analysis current of thought, and on the qualitative mode of analysis by questioning and writing. Results: two main analyzers made the institution ‘teaching in higher education and the nursing professor’ emerge: time-money relation and resistance. Teaching time, increasingly associated with money, in managerialist logic, has formatted the nursing professors as passive subjects in the production of knowledge, induced by the evaluation model of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Level Personnel and its link to the progression in the university career. In this model, the nursing professor is driven to devote more to research than to teaching. This interferes with teaching conceptions and practices, which are more influenced by managerialism and less grounded in pedagogical theories. Resistance against this model has not yet encountered coping mechanisms. Conclusion: from the analysis produced with the participants, the choices of the nursing professor are so much more grounded in managerialism and so much less based on pedagogical references, especially those arising from dialectical theories. In this sense, resistance is transformed into a movement of adaptation.

Reengineering engineering education at the University of los Andes

Purpose The REDINGE2 – Reengineering Engineering Teaching, version 2 – project seeks to transform engineering education practices at the University of los Andes (UNIANDES) by using technology-based active learning strategies in courses from different disciplines that are to be reformed using a Big-ideas approach. Studies from this two-year project (2017-2018) seek to solve three main questions: What changes in engineering teaching conceptions, methods, tools and practices could be generated by reengineering courses using a Big-ideas approach? What changes in key conditions of learning environments have the students perceived in courses that use a Big-ideas approach? What lessons can be derived from the initial studies of REDINGE2’s pilot experiences? Design/methodology/approach The REDINGE2 project was conceived as a technology-based educational transformation initiative. It is the Faculty of Engineering at UNIANDES’ explicit intention to move engineering teaching from being content-focused to being big-ideas focused. It also wants to migrate from teacher-centered teaching strategies to student- and group-centered approaches. Additionally, this project intends to enrich engineering education ecologies with digital resources by integrating experiential, flexible and collaborative digital learning environments with traditional classroom/workshop/library/home/work learning settings. To promote this organic change, the project implemented a facilitation-from-the side strategy, which redesigned 14 engineering courses: each was given a two-year grant from the Office of the Dean of Engineering to rethink teaching practices and redesign the course. A cybernetic evaluation system was embedded in the life cycle of the transformation process that could support decision-making through each of the project’s stages (Stufflebeam, 1971). Questions of interest in this study are provided with information using triangulation of data at different times during each course’s redesign process. Findings After a year and half of the two-year REDINGE2 project (2017-2018), it is possible to say the following three research questions are fully solved. Concerning Question #1: What changes in engineering teaching conceptions, methods, tools and practices contribute to reengineering courses when using a Big-ideas approach? Participating teaching staff have demonstrated changes in their teaching conceptions, methods and resources, which can be attributed to their exposure to active-learning strategies supported by digital technologies. In fact, each one has redesigned and pilot tested at least one restructured learning unit for one of their courses according to the proposed Big-ideas approach; in addition, most admit to already having adjusted their teaching practices by changing their mindset regarding learning and how to promote it. Concerning Question #2: What changes in key conditions of learning environments have the students perceived in courses that have been redesigned using a Big-ideas approach? Data collected from students and participating staff members, both before the redesign and throughout this process, have provided teachers and students with feedback concerning perceived changes in learning environments. This has had positive results and provided opportunities for improvement. Concerning Question #3: What lessons can be derived from REDINGE2’s pilot experiences? Lessons from this project are multi-dimensional and there are organizational, pedagogic, technological and cultural considerations. A decalogue of critical success factors was established, which considered the things that must go right to successfully accomplish proposed educational transformations. Research limitations/implications This study is a good case of educational transformations in engineering teaching. No generalizations should be made, but it shows that similar processes of planned change can be made in tertiary science, math, engineering and technology (SMET) education. Practical implications The lessons learned from this experience are very valuable for higher education decision-makers who want to innovate by using learning ecologies in their institutions. In addition, theoretical considerations that illuminate the innovation process become very useful to help provide a foundation to similar interventions. Originality/value A non-conventional approach to integrate digital technologies in higher education teaching is the most significant contribution this experience has made. Its focus has been to transform educational practices with pedagogically sound uses of digital technologies instead of just integrating technologies in current SMET teaching practices. Facilitation-from-the-side and embedded cybernetic evaluation through the transformation process are key ideas that add value to organic change processes.