The Trajectory of an Undergraduate Researcher

This article focuses on the progress of an undergraduate English major on the scholarship continuum outlined by Laurie Grobman (2009). The student engaged in authentic research in a research methods course for English majors, a class that also meets a university requirement of “quantitative intensive,” and she completed two research projects of note. Her journey has implications and significance for faculty in designing undergraduate research experiences.

Using and Adapting Simulated Teaching Experiences to Support Preservice Teacher Learning

This chapter provides a set of recommendations for teacher educators interested in using simulated teaching experiences to support teacher learning of pedagogical practice in the post-COVID era. Built from existing research, the recommendations from the study come from lessons learned as five elementary mathematics and science teacher educators used a simulated teaching experience to support preservice teacher learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors begin by situating this work in the larger context of practice-based teacher education and then provide an in-depth description of how five teacher educators at different universities integrated a simulated teaching experience into their elementary mathematics or science methods course. The chapter ends with a discussion of lessons learned and how educator preparation programs and teacher educators can leverage the opportunities created by using simulated teaching experiences in the post-COVID era.

The Methods Course as Access Point

This article examines a required undergraduate empirical methods course in writing, rhetoric, and literacy to assess how well it introduces humanities students to empirical research methods. The common curriculum contains a commitment to affordable learning as well as to making students agents of their own learning. Student work artifacts, pre- and post-course surveys, and course evaluations were collected and analyzed to examine the impact of the course on student understanding of and engagement in undergraduate research. Initial results indicate that students are gaining skills that will enable them to function as researchers going forward.

Beyond Apple Pies, Popsicles and Patriotism: Leveraging Digital Literacy to Unpack Matters of Race, Power, and Privilege

It is important for all educators, but especially those working in P-12 systems, to not only be prepared to navigate the digital terrain but to do so while taking a critical stance and encouraging students to critically examine and confront injustice. To that end, this article spotlights the work being done in a literacy methods course for preservice teachers. Consideration is given to efforts to engage preservice teachers in the integration of information communication technologies (ICTs) in ways that develop critical consciousness while promoting social justice and equity.

An Analysis about Attitudes Towards the Changes in Online Tutorials from the Perspective of Teachers

This study aims to explore the teachers’ attitudes towards changes in online tutorials and what changes they will adapt to these challenges for achieving long-term development. In this study, the data collected is quantitative and use a questionnaire to collect related information from 117 samples. Through the investigation and analysis of teachers’ attitudes about the changes in online tutorials, the following two conclusions are mainly drawn. Initially, majority of teachers has recognized attitudes towards the teaching methods, course content and teaching effects of existing online tutorials, and is willing to accept the changes in online tutorials. At the same time, the age (teaching age) and experience in online tutorials are also important factors that have an impact on teachers’ attitudes towards changes in teaching methods and course content. Secondly, teachers’ attitudes towards existing online tutorials can also impact on teachers’ recognition and behavioral intentions of changes in online tutorials. Teachers, on the whole, are in favor of changes in the design and content of online tutorial courses, which implies that the curriculum will be more student-centered and high-quality. These two findings support the validity of the research hypothesis. Furthermore, the research suggests that teachers take advantage of the opportunity to develop their teaching abilities, overcome their fear of challenges, embrace change, and ensure technical support, based on the literature and research. However, in order to gain a better grasp of this topic in the future, more in-depth research will be required. In summary, this research has both theoretical and practical significance.

Building community using experiential education with elementary preservice teachers in a social studies methodology course

There is urgency for teacher educators to instruct preservice teachers in the tenants of social justice education. This urgency is based upon the American demographic landscape and the responsibility of educators to teach for social justice. Preservice teachers report feeling inadequately prepared to educate for social justice when entering the classroom setting (citations from below). Feelings of incompetence in social justice teaching expressed among preservice teachers coupled with minimal examination in the literature of the effects of teacher education practices that aid in the readiness to teach for social justice provided the foundation for this study. This study examined experiential methodologies that can prepare preservice teachers to teach for social justice, particularly within a social studies context. The study focused on two research questions: (a) How do preservice elementary teachers in a social studies methods course conceptualize teaching for social justice within an experiential framework? (b) In what ways did preservice teachers operationalize teaching for social justice in the practicum classroom? Also examined was how the development of community in a social studies methodology course fostered the understanding of teaching for social justice. The findings highlight how preservice teachers were able to conceptualize building communities with experiential methods to teach for social justice and how doing so created an effective learning community. Although the preservice teachers valued the implementation of experiential methods to foster the teaching of social justice, difficulties were expressed in their incorporation of experiential methods in the practicum environment due to a lack of confidence, teaching competence, or collegial support.

Fusing the Jigsaw Method and Microsoft Teams: A Promising Online Pedagogy

The Covid-19 pandemic has triggered a universal disruption over the past year, and has caused unforeseen and formidable changes, but simultaneously has also enthused a digital transformation for educational institutions of all levels. With the upsurge in the usage of digital technologies, some potential caveats should be addressed, in particular, the speculative effective methods, course design and structure. A prodigious deal of reappraising and reimagining the philosophy of what is deemed to be the most familiar is imperative, not only to promote student-centred learning, but also encourage online engagement. Considering the suspension of all face-to-face classes due to the rapid spread of the global pandemic, the purpose of this study was to assess the usability and adoption of the jigsaw method on the web-based platform, Microsoft (MS) Teams for both synchronous and asynchronous teaching and learning. A pre-experimental research design was utilised with one post-test dataset obtained from the post-experiment learning analytics. Subsequently, the usability and adoption of the jigsaw method in MS Teams were evaluated based on the reciprocity of students’ responses towards the design. It is postulated that MS Teams stand out as a promising technological tool to facilitate the integration of the jigsaw method into an online learning environment. It advocates better students engagement and collaboration, and thus leads to the positive impact on students’ performance and enhanced comprehension of course content, specifically the availability of customized MS Teams features; channel and synchronous chat, which are recommended to support an engaged learning ecology.

Using technology to automate syllabus construction for programmatic, curricular, faculty and experiential assessment activities

PurposeWith a growing need to assess multiple aspects of healthcare education, the goal of this study was to develop an innovative web-based application to streamline assessment processes and meet the increasingly complex role of the educational manager.Design/methodology/approachAARDVARC (Automated Approach to Reviewing and Developing Valuable Assessment Resources for your Curriculum) was created with the core function of standardizing course syllabi through the use of a web-based portal and the ability to query fields within the portal to collect multiple points of data. AARDVARC permits quick and efficient gathering of programmatic, curricular, faculty, teaching, preceptor and financial data to facilitate meaningful change and a shared responsibility of assessment. This software has allowed automatic completion of complex analytics each semester, including coverage of program outcomes, course learning objectives, teaching and assessment methods, course readings, topics covered in the curriculum, faculty teaching hours, experiential activities, coverage of disease states and scheduling of peer observation of teaching.FindingsThree years after its initial launch, AARDVARC is now used by 520 faculty, 60 staff, 44 preceptors and over 2,000 students across multiple health profession and science programs. Data analytics through AARDVARC have allowed the School to reimagine how assessment can be conducted and have provided a pathway for making evidence-based programmatic and curricular changes.Originality/valueThis original software has provided an innovative approach to conduct assessment that combines best practices in curriculum, assessment, data analytics and educational technology while improving the overall quality, speed, and efficiency of academic and business operations.