Search Results for
"Teaching"

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is widely applied in higher technological and vocational education and it has been proved to be a very effective way of teaching in many fields but with a number of difficulties remained unsolved. The aim of this study is to study the essence of PBL in order to understand what the difficulties of the PBL model in Taiwan can be and how different cultures can generate impacts on its application. Based on content analyses and interviews, this study is expected to fully resolve the nature of PBL and suggest the necessary steps of adjustment when applying the PBL. © 2012 IADIS.

The 'tribes and territories' metaphor for the cultures of academic disciplines and their roots in different knowledge characteristics has been used by those interested in university life and work since the early 1990s. This book draws together research, data and theory to show how higher education has gone through major change since then and how social theory has evolved in parallel. Together these changes mean there is a need to re-theorise academic life in a way which reflects changed contexts in universities in the twenty-first century, and so a need for new metaphors.Using a social practice approach, the editors and contributors argue that disciplines are alive and well, but that in a turbulent environment where many other forces conditioning academic practices exist, their influence is generally weaker than before. However, the social practice approach adopted in the book highlights how this influence is contextually contingent-how disciplines are deployed in different ways for different purposes and with varying degrees of purchase.This important book pulls together the latest thinking on the subject and offers a new framework for conceptualising the influences on academic practices in universities. It brings together a distinguished group of scholars from across the world to address questions such as:• Have disciplines been displaced by inter-disciplinarity, having outlived their usefulness?• Have other forces acting on the academy pushed disciplines into the background as factors shaping the practices of academics and students there?• How significant are disciplinary differences in teaching and research practices?• What is their significance in other areas of work in universities?This timely book addresses a pressing concern in modern education, and will be of great interest to university professionals, managers and policy-makers in the field of higher education. © 2012 selection and editorial material P. Trowler, M. Saunders and V.Bamber; individual chapters, the contributors. All rights reserved.

The Project-based learning of Web Quest could improve the students' research positivity and also the abilities of getting all kinds of resources online. And the important way for them is to quest information independently on the internet via the induction of their teachers. But it is a big problem all the time for the teaching-stuffs that how to get and share the educational resources in the best way. So we use net technology to develop the Web Quest distribution system. The system is developed because of the educational requirements of primary and secondary schools. And its resources framework is a definite topic, it is a program of convenience, function, joint development by teachers and students. The system is significant to improve and promote the reform of teaching. © 2012 IEEE.

Tertiary curriculum design has increasingly emphasized work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities. This qualitative study provides an overview of a variety of WIL activities at Massey University, New Zealand. Descriptive comments, provided through interviews with fifteen academic supervisors from disciplines ranging from the applied sciences through social sciences to business, education and creative arts, highlight the following six factors to be considered in the resourcing of WIL programs. Themes related to set-up include placement requirements, support, selection, location, and risk management issues. Student preparation involves pre-requisite theoretical knowledge, general career preparation (CV & interview skills) and readiness for practice. With respect to supervision, an on-campus academic mentor and a work-place supervisor are both important to the student. Competencies linked to team work and professional standards include self-confidence, communication and people skills. The teaching pedagogies used include lectures and labs, oral presentations, scenario-based-learning and project work. Assessment involved a learning contract, reflective journal, oral presentation, and final report.

This work is based on the experience of the authors' involvement in the development of a Masters of Vocational Pedagogy program in Uganda and Southern Sudan between 2007 and 2011. This is also grounded in work with Vocational Education and Culture (VET) over many years. The terms VET and Culture are interdependent; both terms are highly contested in our classdivided world. Vocational, associated closely with the manual labour market, which is often stigmatized as a poor cousin of general education. Culture, on the other hand, from colere (Latin: to cultivate) has to do with patterns of human activity and symbolic systems that lend them meaning in both phylo- and ontogenetic senses. Implicitly or explicitly, VET studies focus on comparative policy content and standardization in the face of an ever-changing labour market. We argue that, given the sectional interests in society, epistemological honesty demands a clear exposition of the researcher's standpoint of knowing. Where does the VET analyst stand in society and in relation to comparative studies? What is demanded of the eyes and ears of researcher from the North working in the South? How about the colleagues in the South? Long ago Ngugi wa Thiong'o entitled one of his books Decolonizing the Mind (1981), which remains a useful descriptive endeavour for both North and South. The authors are both concerned with learning and teaching in communities of practice. Liv Mjelde has spent her working life learning/teaching in the working class culture of VET, and the other with learning and teaching in 'multicultural' under-class settings. A source of inspiration for this work has been critical voices from indigenous people and empirical work in VET done both in 'North and South'. The work discussed here draws on activity theory, or learning activity as a social relationship as discussed by Vygotsky, Leont'ev and Luria and using Dorothy Smith's 'standpoint of knowing' in relation to the social organization of knowledge. © eContent Management Pty Ltd.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to look at the employability skills development efforts of Greek higher education institutions (HEIs) and recommend ways to help them create the employable graduate. Design/methodology/approach - The paper draws on extensive secondary data analysis. Findings - It is revealed that HEIs in Greece have failed, so far, to integrate key skills into their curriculum and as a result graduates are not equipped with a range of skills designed to be of practical value in the world of work. The paper argues that there is an immediate need for policy makers to develop a national policy on key skills in HE, in order to help students secure employment, as well as help domestic firms meet their skill needs. Practical implications - The paper indicates that the role of HEIs in the country remains undermined. In this context it is suggested that a graduate apprenticeship scheme needs to be developed to prepare graduates for the world of employment and that stand-alone modules around key skills should be incorporated into each program of study. Additionally, deans, departmental leaders and teaching staff should commit themselves towards skills initiatives and should work towards developing a skills-based curriculum that would equip students with marketable skills. Originality/value - The paper informs the existing literature about the employability development efforts of HEIs in the context of an advancing country, where the current understanding is very limited. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore how the induction of new teachers might be regarded as a form of apprenticeship in which informal support (on-the-job learning) plays an important role alongside formal continuing professional learning (off-the-job learning). The sample teachers are part of the Teacher Induction Scheme in Scotland, which provides a reduced teaching workload during the induction year, so that new teachers have time to develop their practice through continuing professional learning and development activities. Design/methodology/approach - A sequential mixed methods study was undertaken, with two online questionnaires sent to 167 new teachers and two sets of semi-structured interviews with ten new teachers. Findings - The findings highlight the importance of a reduction in teaching hours and the significance of informal learning for new teachers. Furthermore, while an induction scheme framework with reduced workload is important, new teachers need supportive colleagues to learn from and with during their first year of teaching. Research limitations/implications - This study only involved new teachers who had completed their initial teacher education at one Scottish university. Policy makers and school leaders could do more to recognise, value and encourage informal work-based learning and collegiate support for new teachers. Originality/value - The paper provides a deeper understanding of the nature of informal learning, often characteristic of the apprenticeship model, in the context of a formal induction scheme. It highlights that more than a formal induction scheme on its own is needed to support teachers in their transition from student teacher to qualified teacher. The paper draws attention to the need for policy makers, local authorities and schools to be more supportive and responsive to the learning and development needs of new teachers when implementing an induction scheme for new entrants. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

The aim of this study is to test and compare the structural validity of two alternative hypothesized measurement models for the construct of creative teaching in design and technology by performing a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using a structural equation modeling approach A correlated two-factors with the latent variables of creative personality and metacognition operation practices was compared to a correlated three-factors model with planning, monitoring and action as the latent variables. The creative teaching in design and technology (CT), consisting of 58 items from the 21 item creative personality (CP) and 37 item metacognition operation practice (MOP) was administered to 292 Living Skill teachers. The results using AMOS 18 software indicate that the three factor measurement model of creative teaching with χ2=376.231, p=0.01, χ2 /df =2.187, GFI=0.90, AGFI=0.87, RMR=0.014, RMSEA=0.064, provided a better fit compared to the two factors model. All factor loadings for the three-factor model were significant at the 0.001 level, with standardized coefficient, β ranging from 0.36 to 0.89. In conclusion, the three-factor model represents an adequate description of creative teaching in design and technology structure. © 2012 IEEE.

With the impending change in the higher education landscape within the UK there is a greater need for flexibility and innovation in the delivery of degree programmes. One flexible and innovative form of programme delivery is the work-based learning platform. Additional academic guidance is imperative for students undertaking a work-based learning programme due to the flexible nature of the programme. However in providing this academic guidance and support it places additional demands upon both tutor and student. Hence creative approaches which alleviate these demands are required to facilitate conversations between tutor and student as well as that from student to tutor. This paper will describe the current approaches used and how these demands are particularly important within the context of the personalised nature of work-based learning. The contrasting characteristics with classroom based teaching will be highlighted. In particular this will include the authenticity and those factors which relate to the strong ownership of the context by the student within this mode of learning. Copyright © 2012 September.

The Australian Government and industry groups have been discussing the projected skills shortage for a number of years. This concern for the future is mirrored in many countries including the USA and the UK where the risk is not having sufficient skilled people to realise the projects being proposed. Growing tertiary qualified practicing engineers takes time and commitment but without the excitement of the possibility of such a career being seeded in the youth of the world, school leavers won't be attracted to engineering in sufficient numbers. In response, one successful model for exciting school children about engineering and science careers is the international F1inSchools Technology Challenge which was created in the UK in 2002 and implemented in Australia in 2003. It is now run in over 300 Australian Schools and 33 countries. In the Australian context, the program is managed and promoted by the Reengineering Australia Foundation. It is supported and fostered through a range of regional hubs, individual schools and some exceptional teachers. Presented in this paper are some perspectives drawn particularly from the Australian experience with the program over 10 years - which by any measure has been outstanding. The F1inSchools model has been designed specifically through its association with Formula One racing to attract the intrinsic interests of students. It is based on the fundamentals of action learning. Role models and industry involvement are utilised as motivation modifiers in students from Years 5 to 12. While immersing children in project based learning, the program explicitly encourages them to engage with practicing mentors taking them on a journey outside their normal classroom experience. In this program, students have the opportunity to use the design and analysis tools that are implemented in high technology industries. Their experience is one of reaching into industry and creative exploration rather than industry reaching down to them to play in a constrained and artificial school based environment. Anecdotally F1inSchools has been very successful in positively influencing career choices. With the aim of objectively assessing the impact of the program, doctoral research has been completed. Some key findings from this work are summarized and reported in this paper. The children involved truly become excited as they utilise a vehicle for integration of learning outcomes across a range of educational disciplines with a creative design focus. This enthusiasm flows to reflective thought and informed action in their career choice. As a result of F1inSchools, students are electing to follow engineering pathways and they will shape tomorrow's world. Copyright © 2012 by ASME.