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"Teaching"

Pakistan, like many other countries of the world, has continually been criticized for its unproductive professional development (PD) policies and practices for teachers due to low student achievement in science disciplines. A good portion of science teachers (62%) in Pakistan was found to be uncomfortable in teaching the scientific concepts (National Education Assessment System [NEAS], 2014) and PD programs are failing to address this issue. There is a need to reconstruct the operationalized knowledge of PD for Pakistan to expand the ways of knowledge creation, examination, authentication, and distribution. This also implies the need to review the current western literature on PD designs and practices to explore the ways of addressing the issues of Pakistani PD programs. With this purpose in mind, the current study set out to search the comparative understanding of science teachers' PD learning and experiences in Pakistan. The study was carried out to review the literature on science teachers' PD learning and experiences in the Western context (The US and European countries) while comparing it with the situation of Pakistani science teachers' PD practices. This seeks to address the critical questions of how to increase the effectiveness in Pakistani PD practices. © 2019 International Council of Associations for Science Education (ICASE).

Context: In Finland, vocational education has been competence-based and learner-orientated since the beginning of 2018. Teachers' work has changed because there is a need to pay more attention to students and their specific personal needs. Learning processes are planned individually and more learning options are offered in the workplace. Approach: In this article we ask the following: What kind of teachers' competencies can be identified in Finland? The metadata comprises twelve recent pieces of research on teachers' competencies in the field of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Finland. We apply data-driven content analysis. Findings: According to our results, the work of vocational teachers included 53 separate skills comprising seven categories of competencies and three main categories of scholarships as follows: Scholarship in teaching and learning relating to pedagogy, guidance and counselling, and interaction, Scholarship in authentic learning and development referring to pedagogical leadership, partnership and innovator competency, and Scholarship in evaluation and monitoring associated with assessment. Conclusion: The work of vocational teachers in Finland has become fragmented. The fragmented work of a vocational teacher may influence the teacher's identity. The fragmented nature of the work of vocational teachers also raises the need to share expertise in educational institutions. Scholarship in teaching and learning, as well as evaluation and monitoring, are related to the more traditional way to be a teacher. The main challenge for teachers in vocational education in Finland is to adopt ways of authentic learning and development. © 2019 European Research Network Vocational Education and Training. All rights reserved.

A promising approach to increase students’ motivation for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is integrated STEM education (iSTEM). This is an instructional approach that emphasizes the deeper connections between the STEM disciplines by involving students in design challenges centered around real-world problems. However, the successful implementation of a new instructional approach, such as iSTEM, strongly depends on teachers’ attitudes toward the innovation. Therefore, a deeper understanding of teachers’ attitudes toward teaching iSTEM is necessary. This study uses a survey method to investigate the influence of teachers’ background characteristics and school context variables on teachers’ attitudes toward teaching iSTEM. To do so, a differential approach is used. Attitudes toward five key principles for iSTEM (integration, problem-centered, inquiry-based, design-based, and cooperative learning) are examined separately to get a more in-depth and nuanced insight into the factors influencing these attitudes. Results of the multiple regression analyses show that participation in professional development is positively linked to teachers’ attitudes toward all key principles, whereas several other teacher and school context variables are positively correlated with attitudes toward one or two principles. Moreover, experience in mathematics and total years of teaching show a negative correlation with several aspects of teachers’ attitudes toward teaching iSTEM. Findings of this study are valuable, since they not only provide insight into possible barriers to the implementation of iSTEM but also suggest opportunities for overcoming these barriers. © 2018, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan.

The relevance of this study is due to the ever-growing demands that the rapidly developing society makes to the education system, according to which the priority factor in the development of students is the ability to independently plan their activities to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills during joint creative and cognitive activity. It is confirmed that it is during the implementation of projects that it is possible to reveal the potential of students in self-realization, interaction with others and development of critical thinking. The goal of this article is to study the theoretically grounded and practically proven effectiveness of the use of project-based training in the study of mathematics by students of the secondary school. The main method of this research is a pedagogical experiment, as well as observation, a quantitative method and statistical processing. In the process of teaching mathematics, the specifics of project training as a student-centered method aimed at improving analytical and creative skills were taken into account. Gradual methodological methods for the organization of the project activity of students are developed. In the course of testing, model images of lessons were obtained, substantive content was determined and specified, thematic lines of the project activity in teaching mathematics in basic school were built, and the use of variable forms of the project activity was justified. The peculiarities of the author's approach to the study of the features of project-based learning are the allocation of special criteria for project assessment; comparative analysis of approaches of foreign and domestic scientific schools to the project activity. The study revealed the effectiveness of project-based training in teaching mathematics. The materials of the article are valuable for primary and secondary school teachers, teachers of secondary vocational and higher educational institutions. The use of the project activity in teaching mathematics in basic school contributes to increasing the level of motivation to study the most difficult topics of the course, ensures the implementation of an integrated approach to the study of natural sciences. © 2019 by the authors; licensee Modestum Ltd., UK.

The teaching objectives of technical and vocational education mainly include cultivating students' professional knowledge, technical skills, professional ethics, innovative thinking and adapting to social changes to meet the needs of the future workplace. The purpose of the capstone project course is to enable students to apply what they majored in professional subjects and internship, and to enable students to learn independently and develop problem-solving skills through capstone project courses. This paper analyzes the current situation of literature and vocational education and proposes a special program T (topic) D (discussion) I (implementation) P (presentation) E (evaluation) teaching model (hereinafter referred to as the TDIPE model) combined with industrial resources. This paper provided a special teaching model that combines industrial resources and experience. The school cooperates with industrial companies and maximizes benefits for both sides. © 2019 IEEE.

The 3-year Diploma in Chemical Engineering (DCHE) curriculum had undergone a major redesign to transition to a spiral curriculum so as to better meet the learning outcomes mandated by SkillsFuture, the Singapore Government’s national initiative. One of the outcomes is the development of a lifelong learning culture. In response, Singapore Polytechnic came up with several initiatives to enhance the competencies of its students, one of which is self-directed learning (SDL). This is achieved via the progressive nature of learning afforded by the spiral curriculum course structure by explicitly teaching a SDL model to students. This will be done over 4 semesters through 4 practical modules, beginning in Semester 1 of Year 1 when students first joined the polytechnic. There will be 1 practical module per semester where various learning tasks are designed to engage students to develop their knowledge, skills and attitudes as process technicians or future chemical engineers (with further studies). Using the spiral curriculum design, each concept is revisited again and again in later modules with increasing level of difficulty. It is notable that all learning tasks are designed to anchor to a typical chemical plant found in the oil and refining industry, to provide context and continuity required in a spiral curriculum. The 4 practical modules are also supported by other core chemical engineering modules within the same semester and across different semesters as part of the spiral curriculum. Using constructive alignment, students are assessed appropriately using a combination of formative and summative assessment over the 4 semesters. Preliminary findings showed that majority of students in general are receptive to the use of SDL model, but more research is needed to address the effectiveness of the SDL workshop, and improve the students’ learning experience. This paper concludes with a discussion of our plans to move forward. © Proceedings of the International CDIO Conference 2019.

For all undergraduate, postgraduate and school-based routes to qualified teacher status, Learning to Teach in the Secondary School is an essential introduction to the key skills and knowledge needed to become a secondary teacher. Underpinned by evidence-informed practice and focussing on what you need to know to thrive in the classroom, the eighth edition is fully updated in light of changes in the field, covers new topics and provides additional guidance on topics such as developing your resilience, using digital technologies, closing the achievement gap and using data to inform your teaching and pupil learning. The text includes a wealth of examples and tasks to demonstrate how to successfully apply theory to practice and how to critically reflect on and analyse your practice to maximise pupil learning. The wide range of pedagogical features supports both school-and university-based work up to Masters level. Written by experts in the field, the 37 concise units create unit-by-unit coverage that can be dipped into, offering guidance on all aspects of learning to teach including: Managing your workload Lesson planning Curriculum Motivating pupils Promoting behaviour for learning Assessment, marking and feedback Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Applying for jobs, developing as a professional and networking Learning to Teach in the Secondary School provides practical help and guidance for many of the situations and potential challenges you are faced with in school. The text is extended by a companion website that includes additional information as well as specific units covering England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Supported by the subject-specific titles in the Learning to Teach Subjects in the Secondary School Series, it is an essential purchase for every aspiring secondary school teacher. © 2019 selection and editorial matter, Susan Capel, Marilyn Leask and Sarah Younie.

Purpose: Embracing reflective practice and retrospection, with a goal of identifying commonalities, this paper aims to examine delivery of engineering subjects in both traditional higher education (THE) and technical and vocational education and training (TVET). Design/methodology/approach: Reflections on actions and autoethnography were used to examine the teaching and learning experiences of three educators across two higher education (HE) institutions (HEIs) in the greater Chinese context. Literature reviews and historical contexts are outlined to support the approaches and insights identified. Findings: This paper presents a number of common characteristics and challenges identified across both THE and TVET. Drawing on the successful embrace of ambiguity and change in recent software engineering (SE) development paradigms, recommendations are made for how the agile SE themes can be applied in a larger sense to address the wider challenges facing both THE and TVET. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that engineering education has been examined and contrasted in the contexts of THE and TVET. The similarities and common challenges may represent a new focus for related work, and the presented insights, from agile methodologies in SE, represent a new perspective for viewing future HE and TVET sustainability. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited.

In order to solve the problems in online teacher training and innovate teacher training mode, we designed a learning-centered online training mode. In this paper, we used Cognitive Apprenticeship (CA) as the design framework, addressing the research question: How can CA be used to inform the instructional design of an online teacher training? We applied the four components of CA to our instructional design and fully described how they be applied to this online training mode. This is also a blended training mode, which blended teachers’ online learning and offline practice. In practical application, we also developed an online learning system, called Teacher Workshops System (TWS), to support the training activities. The application shows that this training mode has indeed changed the way teachers learn and promoted their teaching practice, but the effectiveness of this mode will be affected by many factors. © 2019, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

By implementing student-centred learning environments, higher education institutions aim to foster student self-efficacy and self-regulation. Previous research that focuses on how students perceive these learning environments usually does not take the differential impact of students’ study motivation into account. However, the type of motivation might influence how students perceive their learning environment. To this end, this study investigates the relationship between students’ perceived autonomy support in student-centred learning environments and self-regulation and self-efficacy by taking study motivation into account. The results indicate that autonomy-supportive teacher behaviour enhances self-efficacy for students who are autonomously motivated. Amotivated students might need other than autonomy-supportive teacher behaviour to develop self-efficacy. Self-regulation seems to play a less distinct role. Overall, when examining the effects of autonomy-supportive teaching in higher education, the quality and quantity of students’ motivation has a role to play, an aspect which is important to consider in future research and practice. © 2019, © 2019 HERDSA.