This study investigates how inservice teachers constructed new knowledge, the extent of knowledge construction achieved, and how instructors participated in and facilitated the online discussion to affect knowledge construction. One finding is that most inservice teachers seemed to favor discussion activities at the stage of knowledge confirmation rather than knowledge construction. Another finding is that some facilitation approaches used by the instructors when serving as both facilitator and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Computer Mediated Communication, Inservice Teacher Education, Teacher Role, Online...
The interest in online learning has been growing at a rapid pace, especially for professionals who find it inconvenient to attend face-to-face workshops or courses. This is particularly true for educators pursuing inservice professional development, as there is precious little time to be away from their classrooms. This need, combined with the growing demand for science content courses for teachers, resulted in the NSF-funded National Teacher Enhancement Network, a series of online science...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Online Courses, Professional Development, Teaching Methods, Inservice Teacher...
Ever since technology became a major component in education, schools have been charged with teaching and integrating technology to enhance learning and ensure technology literacy. However, there is still no consistent definition, process, or assessment in place, leading to concerns about accountability. Because technology standards are seemingly arbitrary and open to multiple interpretations, each school district, each school, and even each teacher will have to develop their own definition,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Industry, Federal Legislation, Technology Integration, Educational Technology,...
Cochran-smith, Davis, and Fries (2004) reviewed the research, practice, and policy of multicultural teacher education during the last decade of the twentieth century and the first few years of the twenty-first century, and pointed out that the field needed to include inquiries that involve the work of practitioners who are studying their own courses and programs (p. 965). As a multicultural teacher educator, the author studied the autobiographical curriculum she developed while teaching...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Student Teachers, Multicultural Education, Preservice Teacher Education, Inservice...
Over the years, teachers and school leaders have engaged in some form of training beyond their formal preservice, university preparation programs. Whether referred to as in-service training, professional day, or staff or professional development, this activity normally had one purpose: to improve participant's knowledge or skills. With limited teacher time to attend in-service training and limited financial resources to pay for this training, districts are searching for training that provides...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Faculty Development, Student Improvement, School Effectiveness, Outcomes of...
Reflecting on one's teaching practice is often an implicit goal for faculty development programs. Yet very little has been documented on how programs for diverse groups of university teachers actually engage faculty in such reflection. This paper examines how theoretical constructs of reflective practice were applied in the context of an 8-month "UBC Faculty Certificate Program on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education" (FCP). The "Teaching Perspectives Inventory" (TPI)...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Faculty Development, Inservice Teacher Education, Reflective Teaching, College...
As part of a Canadian International Development Agency funded project working with rural teachers in central China, recent graduates Lebans and Radigan spent a month teaching in Chinese schools. The primary purpose of the project is to work with members of the Sichuan Provincial Teacher Training Centre and rural teachers from Wenchuan County develop a professional development plan in response to China's current focus on education reform. This article is a synthesis of Lebans' and Radigan's...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Rural Schools, Educational Change, Foreign Countries, Faculty Development, Teacher...
The induction of beginning teachers has assumed a burgeoning priority given existing North American preoccupations with teacher retention, state educational standards, and large-scale assessment. In Canada, and especially Ontario, school boards are following the lead of many American institutions in establishing key partnerships with university faculties of education and provincial governing bodies to best prepare and induct beginning teachers into the profession. The objective of this...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Beginning Teachers, Inservice Teacher Education, Teacher...
Through the competitive proposal process, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) received a three-year Teacher Enhancement Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in March 1998. The Maryland State Department of Education provided additional funds for the grant. The purpose of the grant was to administer the Technology Education Leadership Project (TELP), a statewide project designed to enable technology education teachers to more effectively deliver instruction that results in...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Learning Strategies, Professional Training, Technological Literacy, Grants,...
Historically, elementary science teacher inservice has not been an effective means of improving science teaching for most elementary teachers. "Guidelines for Effective Elementary Science Teacher Inservice Education" were developed by Klein (2001) to address this need. This paper illustrates, through a review of program evaluation documentation, how the guidelines were implemented in an elementary science teacher inservice education program. (Contains 4 tables.)
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary School Science, Inservice Teacher Education, Program Evaluation,...
Field experiences are critical to teacher learning and enhance the effectiveness of methods courses; however, when methods courses are offered in the summer, traditional school-based field experiences are not possible. This article describes an alternative campus-based experience created as part of an elementary science methods course. The Summer Kids' Inquiry Program in Science (SKIPS) provided an authentic context in which teachers had the opportunity to plan and instruct science lessons in...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary School Science, Methods Courses, Inservice Teacher Education, Field...
This study evaluated the manpower-training program for teaching personnel in mid-western Nigeria by the National Teachers' Institute. Overall, 240 participants involved in the training program who were randomly selected from the area constituted the sample for the study. A questionnaire designed by the authors was the major instrument used for data gathering. Analyses of the results showed that the programs are fairly effective in upgrading the skills and knowledge of the participants. It was...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Needs, Foreign Countries, Program Evaluation, Developing Nations,...
This study examined the effects of peer coaching on mathematics teaching practices and teacher beliefs about their capacity to have an impact on student learning. Twelve teachers in grades 3 and 6 participated in a brief but intensive professional development program over six months. The program focused on effective mathematics teaching strategies and peer coaching opportunities. Data sources included classroom observations, teacher self-assessments, interviews, and field notes. Data were...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teacher Effectiveness, Interaction, Educational Change, Grade 3, Peer Teaching,...
The main objective of this self-study is to reflect and document the development of our own praxis by using teacher research in our teacher education courses. By praxis we mean an ongoing interdependent process in which reflection, including theoretical analysis, enlightens action, and in turn the transformed action changes our understanding of the object of our reflection. Based on the examination of our reflective journals, collegial dialogue, and students' teacher-research reports, we have...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Inservice Teacher Education, Education Courses, Teacher Educators, Scaffolding...
Over the past decade many university-based teacher education programs and school districts have forged partnerships creating restructured, collaborative programs aimed at improving teaching and learning for credential candidates, as well as the children that they serve. According to data from the California Department of Education, progress is being made in raising the percentage of fully certificated teachers teaching in urban schools; however, it is unknown whether this progress will be...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Urban Schools, Professional Development Schools, Inservice Teacher Education,...
Concern for the status of linguistic minority education in Idaho provided motivation to investigate the perceptions of the inservice educators who work most closely with a large proportion of English language learners (ELLs) in the rural state's public schools. This study sought to learn directly from the state's ELL educators what they perceived as the greatest challenges and needs for improvement of ELL education. The investigation aimed to directly solicit solutions and priorities from...
Topics: ERIC Archive, English (Second Language), Second Language Instruction, English Teachers, Bilingual...
The rapid growth of online learning has led to the development of faculty inservice evaluation models focused on quality improvement of degree programs. Based on current "best practices" of student online assessment, the Online Faculty Development and Assessment System (OFDAS), created at the Canary Islands, was designed to serve the dual purpose of faculty development and classroom learning environment assessment. Results, as illustrated in this paper, show that the OFDAS encouraged...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Teaching Skills, Classroom Environment, Faculty Development,...
In 2001, a program of distance learning was started within Kigali Institute of Education in collaboration with the Rwanda's Ministry of Education. It is an in-service training program that aims to upgrade in-service secondary school teachers and alleviate the shortage of teachers both in terms of quality and number. This program runs parallel to a pre-service program, also conducted within the Kigali Institute. Academic staff members working in the pre-service program are involved in this...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Distance Education, Focus Groups, Foreign Countries, Secondary School Teachers,...
In this article we discuss findings from a case-study related to the distance education of teachers of Italian as a second/foreign language. This case-study has examined interactions among teachers during their discussions in a web-forum exploiting the model of content analysis proposed in the "Practical Inquiry Model" by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2001). The results of the content analysis of emerging themes using descriptive data and qualitative data analysis by, allows us to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Education Courses, Distance Education, Online Courses, Data Analysis, Content...
This article attempts to synthesize teachers' conceptions-of-teaching and integrate them into a structure for professional development. It presents one route by which a teacher might become more expert at the practice of teaching. Various conceptions-of-teaching theories are considered in the light of how they impact on the practice of teaching. How the conceptions influence and are linked with the progression from novice to expert as outlined by Dreyfus and Dreyfus in 1986 is discussed. The...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teaching Methods, Teacher Attitudes, Educational Philosophy, Educational Principles,...
Ongoing educational reform initiatives have ushered in significant changes in teacher-certification regulations. Many states no longer offer permanent certification, but instead require teachers to participate in career-long professional development (PD). Accordingly, increasing attention is being paid to the effectiveness of PD initiatives, raising questions concerning how best to provide PD services for teachers--e.g., how such services should be designed, what topics they should cover, and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Attainment, Educational Change, Certification, Teaching Experience,...
The "No Child Left Behind" legislation requires states to classify schools based on students meeting the state's academic standards. A combination of factors, including scores on state specific tests and nationally normed tests, can result in a school being awarded a low classification or a high classification. In the authors' state, schools in the low classification are labeled "underperforming," and schools that are persistently classified as underperforming can eventually...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teacher Effectiveness, Federal Legislation, Standardized Tests, Academic Achievement,...
In response to the need to train teachers to effectively integrate technology into elementary and secondary education, a teacher professional development program funded by a federal grant provided a selection of instructional technology integration courses to K-12 teachers. This study investigated the impact of these courses on the course participants' self-efficacy in learning about and implementing instructional technology. The study also explored the differential effects of these courses on...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Federal Aid, Elementary Secondary Education, Self Efficacy, Technology Integration,...
Each August, teachers from around the state gather for the Arizona K-12 Center's Tech Camp, a week-long immersion in technology for the classroom. The Arizona K-12 Center's mission is to improve teaching and learning in Arizona's schools through high-quality professional development and teacher leadership. The formula Tech Camp follows is a simple one: take motivated teachers, give them basic direction to get started plus time to gain hands-on experience and access to facilitators to answer...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary Secondary Education, Teacher Leadership, Cooperation, Educational...
This paper reports on the beliefs of a group of K-8 mathematics teachers about appropriate goals and methods of mathematics teaching for students with mathematics learning difficulties and for students generally. The teachers were involved in a brief professional learning program that aimed to provide them with effective strategies for mathematics teaching for numeracy, and to influence their relevant beliefs towards a more inclusive view of mathematics teaching. The questionnaire used in the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Learning Problems, Mathematics Education, Numeracy, Mathematics Teachers, Mathematics...
Over the past 20 years, teacher educators have increasingly turned to case-based instruction with Pre-service, novice, and even experienced teachers. However, advocates of case-based teaching rarely point out the many challenges that might detract from effective case-based instruction. I briefly outline some of the more obvious challenges facing case instructors as they attempt to use the method for improved teacher education.
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teacher Educators, Case Method (Teaching Technique), Teaching Methods, Preservice...
In this paper we describe the design of a managed learning environment called MTutor, which is used to teach an online Masters Module for teachers. In describing the design of MTutor pedagogic issues of problem-based learning, situated cognition and ill-structured problems are discussed. MTutor presents teachers with complex real-life teaching problems, which they are required to solve online through collaboration with other teachers. In order to explore the influence of this online learning...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Problem Based Learning, Learning Experience, Teaching Methods, Masters Programs,...
This study investigated how agricultural education programs prepare teacher education students for work in diverse situations. It assessed the extent to which agricultural education programs are infusing diversity, multiculturalism, and pluralism into their curriculum as courses, field experiences, and in-service for current teachers. This census study included all universities with an agricultural education program as identified in the 2005 Directory of Agricultural Education on the American...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Student Teaching, Required Courses, Education Courses, Agricultural Education, Field...
Schools in the United States and schools across majority of countries around the world today face two critical issues: "Inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms" and a contributing factor to success of this inclusion, teachers prepared to use best practices. "Best practices" in education are approaches to teaching, programs used with students, classroom procedures followed, teaching strategies used, and methods incorporated that may have...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Inclusive Schools, General Education, Disabilities, Special Needs Students, Teaching...
This study examines the learning of a diverse team of five professional developers as they led or supported a mathematics initiative. Although teachers are typically the focus of learning in professional development, we contend that the learning of professional developers is important and should not be overlooked. We examined our learning as a professional development team through first-person inquiry which drew on reflections, conversational accounts and other artefacts. These data sources...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Faculty Development, Professional Development, Mathematics...
Although much is known about the features that contribute to the effectiveness of professional learning activities these are often not incorporated into the design of professional learning initiatives. This paper describes a mathematics professional learning process that was carefully designed to incorporate such principles, and illustrates its implementation by describing the case of one primary school teacher who participated in it. The potential wider applicability of the process and broader...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Mathematics Instruction, Foreign Countries, Elementary School...
This study examined the impact of training early childhood teachers in an emotional intelligence and classroom management program titled Conscious Discipline[R]. The researchers conducted eight one-day workshops monthly from September through April to an initial group of more than 200 participants. To assess attitudinal changes teachers answered a survey about their school climate and classroom management methods. The survey was initially given in September to participants (n=206) consisting of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary School Teachers, Preschool Teachers, Educational Environment, Emotional...
Video is a powerful medium for communication and learning. With increased accessibility to digital video production equipment, an important question is what role teacher production of video might have in teacher education. Using the lens of design that highlights authenticity, efficacy, and expressiveness as goals, 38 in-service teachers designed videos for use in their classrooms. Interview data investigating the outcome of this activity suggests an effect on teacher thinking in five areas...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Instructional Design, Educational Technology, Teaching Methods, Video Technology,...
This article narrates and interrogates some of the responses of a group of English teachers, and their lecturer, to an assignment in a post-graduate course entitled Language and assessment. The assignment required the teachers to respond to a text in a mode other than writing, and to design the assessment of this representation. Three of their designs, and their lecturer's assessment of these designs, are described and discussed. It is argued that assessment of multimodal representations of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, English Teachers, English Instruction, Education Courses, Inservice Teacher...
This case study describes a rural school district's efforts to identify historically underrepresented gifted students (HUGS) more effectively than in the past. The district developed new policy; disseminated the policy with lists of characteristics of HUGS; provided a workshop for first-grade teachers to encourage early referrals; and provided alternative tests to students who were referred for evaluation and who scored at least one standard deviation above the mean on an individually...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Rural Schools, Academically Gifted, School Districts, Counties, Disproportionate...
This article reports on a longitudinal study that plots the development of a network of Teaching and Learning Observatory (TLO) sites in the United Kingdom. The TLO sites were used to enhance pre- and in-service teacher education. The research explores how classroom boundaries could be redefined through a technological innovation such as the TLO. The TLO linked a network of relatively remote schools with a university education department through video conferencing and interactive internet...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Student Teachers, Schools of Education, Foreign Countries, Educational Technology,...
Background: In 2005, the North Zone Clusters of Schools made action research their niche development project with the aim of equipping the teachers with conceptual understanding and skills in conducting action research. Training workshops were mounted in seven centres. This is the first time action research is promoted en mass among Singapore as a form of professional up-grading. After the workshops, teachers were encouraged to conduct their own action research projects. More than 70 such...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Conferences (Gatherings), Action Research, Foreign Countries, Teacher Workshops,...
This paper describes two attempts to introduce grammar teaching into New Zealand schools. The first case study describes the work of the 6th and 7th form English Syllabus Committee in the 1980s which proposed the uniquely New Zealand solution of using examples from Maori as well as from English to demonstrate grammatical points. The response to this proposal shows the powerful influence of the social and political context of the time. The second case study is the Exploring Language project, a...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Grammar, Foreign Countries, Case Studies, Malayo Polynesian Languages, English,...
Improving the quality of Early Childhood Education has been a priority in Brazil, but it is still a challenging issue to be faced. The fact that an indefinite number of institutions exist on the borders of the educational system, the lack of systematic supervision, and incomplete official statistics are only a few of the challenges. The Millennium Fund for Early Childhood Education has been developed to directly improve the quality of educators who work with Brazil's most socially vulnerable...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Early Childhood Education, Child Care, Educational Responsibility, Private Sector,...
A qualitative study was conducted to describe and explain the educational program at the Ann Sullivan Center, a nationally and internationally recognized program for individuals with disabilities in Peru. The program provides educational programming to individuals with autism, severe disabilities and challenging behaviors across the lifespan. A case study approach was implemented through focused interviews and direct observation. The participants of the interview segment were educational...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Autism, Disabilities, Foreign Countries, Case Studies, Administrators, Educational...
Student responses to a tertiary, flexibly delivered physics course are examined. The course was designed to provide secondary science teachers in rural regions of NSW, Australia, with a qualification appropriate to teach senior physics, and is a response to the lack of new physical science teachers currently being trained. Evaluations indicate that it has been highly successful overall, but also reveal something of how participants responded to different modes of delivery. Both students and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Physics, Foreign Countries, Science Teachers, Graduate Study, Science Instruction,...
At a time when special education budgets are constrained and the demand for behavior analysis services continue to increase within school settings a clear implemental system to train the trainers is not only necessary but essential. This paper discusses one possible system for making behavior analysis services and behavior analysis training available to front line special education teachers while maintaining affordability for school systems. (Contains 1 figure.)
Topics: ERIC Archive, Behavior Modification, Special Education Teachers, Inservice Teacher Education,...
Both learner-centered education (LCE) and universal design (UD) require an instructor to be constantly reflective and flexible. But although both focus on the needs of different types of learners, until now LCE has not explicitly included students with disabilities within the array of learners it seeks to serve. And the UD movement, while it begins with consideration of disability, does not yet provide specific processes for integrating UD principles into the design of instruction. This paper...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Disabilities, Special Needs Students, Curriculum Development, Student Needs,...
The effects of instructing teachers in the use of a verbally governed algorithm to solve students' learning problems were measured. The teachers were taught to analyze students' responses to instruction using a strategic protocol, which included a series of verbally governed questions. The study was designed to determine whether the instructional method would affect the number of verbally governed decisions which the teachers made as well as the number of academic objectives achieved by the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Inservice Teacher Education, Teaching Methods, Learning Problems, Instructional...
This contribution investigates a recent research project involving in-service teacher learning as experienced through an online/offline art studio in which common experiences of relationships to particular local landforms generate imaginative and collaborative processes and practices of teaching and learning. EarthShapes Studio is both a pedagogical strategy and a methodological tool for teacher learning that acknowledges an emerging view that the tangible, material effects of relating to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Research, Relationship, Geographic Location, Physical Geography,...
In an era of increasing accountability demands for teachers and students professional development will be the key to success in school reform initiatives as administrators struggle with improving the current teaching force. Research has shown that teacher efficacy is an important variable in teacher effectiveness that is consistently related to teacher behaviors and student outcomes. Furthermore, it has been shown that schools with high performance professional development integrate key...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teacher Effectiveness, Self Efficacy, Beliefs, Professional Development, Inservice...
The tendency of restive secondary school graduates to be used in carrying out vices such as violence, examination malpractice, thuggery and cultism has necessitated this study. In total, 250 secondary school teachers undertaking part-time bachelor of education program in the University of Benin, formed the sample of this study. Simple percentage, summation and qualitative methods were the statistical tools adopted to analyse the data. A very startling and frightening revelation is that no...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Citizenship, Citizenship Education, Foreign Countries, Secondary School Teachers,...
The beliefs and mental images that teachers have about agriculture likely influence what and how they integrate agriculture into their instruction. The purpose of this action research study was to explore the beliefs and needs of elementary and junior high school teachers in regard to integrating agriculture into their classrooms. The sample consisted of 452 teachers from public schools in Illinois. Teachers responded to three, open-ended questions regarding their beliefs of the most beneficial...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Junior High Schools, Action Research, Agricultural Education, Secondary School...
This study examined the role of the sandwich in-service educational program of Delta State University, Abraka in developing agricultural science teachers in the state. Data were collected from 895 agricultural science teachers who completed the program between 1989-2004. However, response to the questionnaire was by 391 in-service agricultural science teachers who studied between 1998-2004. The study revealed that over 74% of the agricultural science teachers were from Delta State and teach in...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Agricultural Education, Foreign Countries, Science Teachers, Educational Facilities,...
The purpose of this study was to determine the competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities) required of effective Agricultural Science teachers both inside and outside the classroom as perceived by preservice and inservice teachers and to suggest ways that preservice teachers can gain those competencies prior to entering the teaching profession. Focus groups were conducted with preservice and inservice teachers. Results indicated that specific competencies are required across the domains of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Focus Groups, Science Teachers, Teaching Methods, Teacher Competencies, Teacher...