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"Teaching"

Due to the increasing average age of skilled professionals in the field of construction and municipal facilities as well as increasing the number of migrants who often do not possess the necessary skills to carry out construction work and research, there is an urgent need to an influx of skilled workers with different levels of education and training. In this regard, it is necessary to improve the skills of teachers and trainers, to help them in their acquisition of professional experience in work with the modern technological equipment, contribute to the development of innovative technologies applied to the leading construction companies in the region; and train the concept of "double teacher", who can solve several problems. Solving this problem allows Technical College will contribute effective organization of production practices, will increase interest in the building trade, the formation of the graduates of the college corporate spirit and the emergence of confidence in their own employability. © 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

In higher education there is a growing demand for graduates with the competence to transform our society toward a sustainable future. Part of this competence in sustainability is anticipatory competence, the ability to engage with multiple futures, manage uncertainty and hold a worldview that the future can and should be steered toward a more just sustainable path. In order to further examine and operationalise anticipatory competence, a course "Sustainability and the Future" was developed and run in the University of Vechta, Germany, as part of an action research cycle exploring key competencies for sustainability in higher education. Reflective journaling was used to explore the competence acquisition process along with focus groups with students after the course. The analysis of this programme shows that while certain subject areas such as values, transport and population models provoke more critical reflection on the future, skills such as the ability to work with emotional aspects of the future, for instance hope, were perceived to be necessary for anticipatory competence. © 2015 by the authors.

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to assist in identifying the value to the student of the College of Policing approved Certificate in Knowledge of Policing (CKP), whilst identifying some of the challenges encountered by both students and staff. Design/methodology/approach-The research involved students completing self-administered questionnaires both on commencing their study of the CKP and completing the programme. Written student feedback was also collected and a focus group was facilitated with the academic teaching staff. The research approach adopted was aimed at influencing the development of the programme, whilst establishing the value of the CKP to students. Findings-The research suggests that completing the CKP did not significantly influence the students' career choice, however, it did have a positive impact on the development of their confidence in terms of applying for the role of a police officer. Both staff and students identified the quantity of the knowledge to be taught and learnt, with staff also reporting the additional benefit to them of refreshing their subject knowledge. Research limitations/implications-The external validity of this research beyond the sample group is limited, due to, for example, different programmes of study at different institutions, etc., however, the findings are informative. The reliability of the research is good, however, it must also be considered the behaviour of respondents may have been influenced by taking part in the research. Further longitudinal research should be conducted following cohorts of students completing the CKP through initial application to employment. Practical implications-The CKP is currently viewed by many as an educational package to be completed prior to an application for employment as a police officer, whereas consideration should be given to using the CKP as a way to inform and build an individual's confidence that the police officer role is the career for them, or otherwise. Originality/value-This research has identified how, amongst this group of students, completing the new concept of a pre-employment CKP, approved by the College of Policing, has increased their confidence in applying to become a police officer. As such, this is of value to those teaching the CKP and the College of Policing. © 2015 © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

An inquiry-based curriculum was cooperatively designed by a group of vocational high-school teachers and researchers/teacher educators under the "High Scope Project" funded by the National Science Council of Taiwan. The designated curriculum was implemented to enhance vocational high-school students' learning of advanced technology and their competence in scientific inquiry. Within the context of the targeted inquiry learning environment, possible changes of targeted students' competence in scientific inquiry were assessed both qualitatively and quantitatively to serve as cardinal evidence in supporting this innovative reform. A mixed methods approach was employed in this study for assessing targeted vocational high-school students' competence in scientific inquiry. Within the context of the High Scope Project, ten teachers of two departments ("Department of Electrical Engineering [DEE]" and "Department of Mechanical Engineering [DME]") in a vocational high-school in southern Taiwan participated in the process of designing and implementing the interdisciplinary inquiry curriculum, while their students also engaged in the learning processes. This mixed methods study was composed of two parts: a qualitative case study and a follow-up quantitative quasi-experimental study. In this article, we present the designated curriculum designed in the High Scope Project. The summary of the qualitative results showed that eleven aspects of students' change and progress in competence in scientific inquiry were generalized and categorized into six types of competence. These competencies, in turn, were classified into three dimensions: basic, advanced, and criticizing competences. The quantitative findings revealed that all participating students gained superior improvement on their competence in scientific inquiry, verifying the effectiveness of the designated curriculum. Implications derived from findings and discussions were proposed for further improvement and future study with the ultimate goal of enhancing students' competence in scientific inquiry. © 2015 TEMPUS Publications.

Field experience makes a strong contribution to the learning of students. However, the procedure for conducting training sessions based on experiential teaching methods is relatively unclear, and the contents and aspects of students’ reflections during such training are not well known. This study applied experiential teaching methods in a college field experience course and investigated reflections on the experiences of 13 students. The content of students’ thoughts and other relevant data were analysed using Kolb’s experiential learning model. The students’ concepts formed during reflection might not immediately develop into the active experimentation process, indicating the challenges faced by students with the process of reflection during field experience. © 2014, © 2014 Taylor & Francis.

Internship is the transition period from studentship to professional life and therefore is a very important phase of medical education. Despite several attempts for improvement, many problems regarding internship period still continue. This study aims to investigate interns' experiences and opinions about their educational and working environment, their interactions with the teaching staff, residents and nurses. Ethical approval for the study was obtained for the study, from DEUFM Dean's Office and Ethical Board. In this cross sectional and descriptive study, data was collected by a questionnaire including closed and open-ended questions. Descriptive analysis and chi-square test was done. The answers to open-ended questions were read repeatedly by three authors independently, and repetitive, relevant and important statements that could be used as representative of the interns' experiences were specified. Afterwards, these statements were discussed by all authors together and the ones having representative quality were specified by consensus. In April-May 2013, 79.9% of interns were reached and all agreed to fill in the questionnaire on voluntary basis and anonymously. The majority of the interns indicated that they were subject to drudgery (97.6%) and insulting words and behaviours which were humiliating (79.7%), they particularly had problems in interactions with teaching staff and especially with residents. The interns were thinking they are mostly not given due importance during clerkships (91.7%). They also felt that getting prepared for the Specialization Examination in Medicine had an unfavourable effect on their internship period. Survey findings indicate that most interns weren't treated ethically. They particularly had problems in interactions with residents. In the light of the results, we believe that there is a need to define interns' education process and the roles and responsibilities of them more explicitly and to structure it in a manner to protect the educational purpose of the internship period. We believe that this study will support other medical faculties, at the national and international level, to re-evaluate the internship period and to conduct further studies in this field in order to promote improvements and to discuss educational ethics.

Education programmes are designed to equip young populations with the qualifications required to assume responsible roles in specific professions and in society generally. In this paper, the focus of the analysis is on the significance of a number of higher education programme characteristics in allocating young higher education graduates across the labour market and how these graduates perform in their jobs. Graduate performance is analysed in terms of both monetary and non-monetary pay-offs. The findings show that education programmes in which learning is linked to acquisition of work experience result in better paid employment, although an appropriate balance between theoretical and practical-oriented curricula is important. © 2014, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

In recent years, professional vision as an application-oriented aspect of professional teacher competence has become an established indicator for the description of theory-practice-integrated knowledge acquisition among students in university-based teacher education programs. With a view to studying the acquisition of competences among future teachers in Germany across all phases, there is still need for an investigation of the end of the second phase of teacher training. In this study we examine, within the context of the "BilWiss"-project (Educational Scientific Knowledge and the Acquisition of Professional Competences in Teacher Education), the professional vision of N=173 trainee teachers and investigate which factors might explain apparent differences. An enhanced version of the Observer Tool was used which allows surveying a broad knowledge basis among students and trainee teachers. Results show that skills regarding professional vision vary strongly among trainee teachers. Thus, teacher candidates with a strong interest in teaching and learning also show greater skills in professional vision, and a positive perception of the communication culture at the internship school furthermore enhances their abilities. On the other hand, no correlation can be shown between these skills and perceived support given by the instructors in the seminars or the possibility to share experiences with other seminar participants. The findings contribute to a critical discussion of the coordination between knowledge transfer in university courses and during internship. In addition, they reveal the potential inherent in identifying favorable and unfavorable development profiles among prospective teachers.

The use of online methodologies to deliver coursework has become institutionalized in higher education. There is an urgent need to move beyond the question of which delivery model is most effective: face-toface, fully online, or blended, and switch the focus to teaching pedagogy and strategies that effectively engage students in the learning process. This chapter posits that student-learning outcomes are less dependent on delivery mode and instead dependent on a teacher's pedagogical practices; it is the skill of the teacher as facilitator that drives the effective development of the learning community and influences student-learning outcomes. Further, it is suggested that constructivism, as a pedagogy of teaching, be considered, regardless of delivery mode; students construct their own knowledge as the teacher facilitates the process through providing opportunities for active engagement and critical inquiry within a community of learners. teaching opportunities are adapted in response to the needs of students with technology as a tool to deliver learning outcomes. © 2015, IGI Global.

The use of blended learning environments is rapidly expanding in education. This chapter examines a teacher's enactment of the New Tech Network educational model, which utilizes a blended learning environment, and the teaching strategies she used to engage students and gauge student achievement. Detailed teacher interviews, classroom observations, and analyses of student assignments were the sources of data for the study. The findings centered on the integration of culturally relevant pedagogy and authentic instruction within this learning environment and the implications of this integration. Recommendations for future research include a more expansive study of the use of blended learning in social studies and different means of integrating culturally relevant pedagogy and authentic instruction into blended learning. © 2015, IGI Global.