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"Teaching"

Inquiry-based science education is an important innovation. Researchers and teachers consider it to be stimulating for pupils' application of research skills, construction of meaning and acquiring scientific knowledge. However, there is ambiguity as to what competencies are required to teach inquiry-based science. Our purpose is to develop a profile of professional competence, required for effective inquiry-based science teaching in primary schools in the Netherlands. This article reviews literature and compares the outcomes to the American National Science Education Standards (NSES). In so doing, it seeks to answer the following research questions: What elements of competencies required by primary school teachers who teach inquiry-based science are mentioned, discussed and researched in recent literature? To what extent are the American NSES (introduced 15 years ago) consistent with elements of competencies found in recent literature? A comprehensive literature review was conducted using Educational Resources Information Centre and Google Scholar databases. Fifty-seven peer-reviewed scientific journal articles from 2004 to 2011 were found using keyword combinations. Analysis of these articles resulted in the identification and classification of 22 elements of competencies. This outcome was compared to the American NSES, revealing gaps in the standards with respect to a lack of focus on how teachers view science teaching and themselves as teachers. We also found that elements of competencies are connected and poor mastery of one may affect a teacher's mastery of another. Therefore, we propose that standards for the Netherlands should be presented in a non-linear, holistic, competence-based model. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

This article reports on a study of the perspectives of new tutors teaching traditional vocational trades who recently commenced teaching in the Institutes of Technologies and Polytechnics (ITPs) sector in New Zealand. The perspectives are collated from questionnaires and interviews of 13 tutors, from five ITPs, who have been teaching full-time for two years. In this article, a focus is made on the transformation process from expert trade worker to effective trades tutor, along with suggestions to assist the 'boundary crossing' process between two diverse vocational identities. Suggestions include aligning trades tutors' existing workplace training-based conceptualisations of teaching and learning to extend trades tutors' teaching craft knowledge, skills, and dispositions. © 2012 Copyright 2012 Australian Teacher Education Association.

The first purposes of this study was to investigate the needs of language and communication capability for electrical engineering department students at the Higher Technological and Vocational Education System in their future working field, and the second purpose was to establish their basic indicators and assessment model by the concept of human resources. Six experts, including trade bosses and high-level technologists of the electrical engineering field, and professors of educational institutions with language backgrounds were invited to discuss required verbal and communication capabilities and emphasize listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The first objective of the study was curriculum development, teaching implementation and the standard of assessment as the principle of the Higher Technological and Vocational Education System, and the other objective of the study was to transform the basic competencies and the indicators into the curriculum. We hope this study becomes a reference to set up the research and development center for the Higher Technological and Vocational Education System in the electrical engineering department, and the standard of language and communication models for all engineering fields as employment, salary, in-service training, vocational education and general education. © Common Ground, Farn-Shing Chen, Yi-Chia Cheng, Mu-Chu Chen.

Introducing new methods of teaching and learning requires an institutional approach to professional development in order to cater for the different levels and requirements of staff. The increase in e-learning use has prompted many institutions to adopt a whole organisation approach to professional development for lecturers. This paper proposes to answer three related questions. How do institutions of vocational education within New Zealand structure their institutional provision of e-learning professional development? What training or other development opportunities are provided by institutions? What do e-learning managers feel are the types of e-learning professional development that work best in terms of lecturer development and support? A literature review was completed and interviews were held with e-learning managers from 13 institutions. The data collected from the interviews were then analysed using a grounded analysis approach. The analysis process yielded concepts that were related to different types of professional development training, information and support. The analysis provided a structure of professional development. Furthermore, the efficiency of the types of e-learning professional development was analysed based on e-learning managers' perception and evaluation models. Professional development with opportunities for skill acquisition and collaboration was deemed the most effective. © 2011 The Author. British Journal of Educational Technology © 2011 BERA.

Over the last decade, some UK Geography Departments have diversified their range of courses to offer Foundation degrees (Fds), providing students with alternative routes through higher education (HE). These courses are delivered either offsite at further education colleges (FECs), embedded within an undergraduate programme at higher education institutions (HEIs), or by work-based learning. These pathways present students, staff and institutions with new opportunities, issues and challenges. This study examines contrasting pathways of offsite and onsite Fds in Tourism Management and Development Geography offered by two HEIs and two FECs in southwest England. The needs and experiences of Fd students are varied, related to the individual's personal and academic background, the course pathway taken, institution-specific issues and the degree of support and preparedness for HE. The contrasting academic cultures, teaching methods and assessments encountered in FECs and HEIs, and the availability of resources, raise generic and specific issues, such as confidence building and learning to become independent and autonomous learners, which challenge Geography and Tourism students during their academic careers. This study concludes that closer collaboration between the HEI and the partner FEC is necessary for Geography and Tourism courses, and highlights the need for better alignment and reinforcement of HE systems in FECs, for instance through fieldwork, and the offering effective induction and support in study skills. Finally, it is important to facilitate the smooth transitions of students 'topping-up' to Year 3 of an Honours degree at the parent HEI. Managers of undergraduate courses in Geography and associated subjects can also learn from the vocational and contextualized learning promoted by Fd courses and direct entry students to undergraduate courses. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Clinical communication education is now part of the core curriculum of every medical school in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has emerged over 30 years because of various societal, political, and policy drivers and is supported by an impressive evidence base.For a variety of reasons, however, clinical communication has become separated from other parts of medical education and tends to be positioned in the early years of the curriculum, when students have limited experience of being in the clinical workplace and working with patients. The teachers of clinical communication, whether medical-school-based or clinically based, may not share learning goals for the subject and this may, therefore, provide a disintegrated learning experience for students.Clinical communication teachers need to inject fresh thinking into the teaching and learning of the subject to unite it with clinical practice in the authentic clinical workplace. Engaging with theories of workplace learning, which aim to overcome the theory/practice gap in vocational education, may be the way forward. The author suggests various ways that this might be achieved-for example, by situating clinical communication education throughout the whole undergraduate curriculum, by integrating the topic of clinical communication with other areas of medical education, by developing coteaching and curriculum design partnerships between medical school and clinical workplace, and by developing a greater range of postgraduate education that offers opportunities for professional development in clinical communication for qualified doctors that is complementary with what is taught in undergraduate education.

Professional development of teachers has become an essential condition in today's knowledge-based society to sustain the quality of teaching. Therefore, the Dutch government promotes this now professional development. As a result, Professional Development Plans (PDPs) are now increasingly used to stimulate and support the professional development of teachers. A PDP is used to encourage teachers' professional development and structure their development path in terms of learning goals and plans of action. However, it cannot be taken for granted that teachers will formulate high-quality PDPs on their own. Previous research suggests that guidance is important in supporting teachers' development. This study examined the effects of guidance on the quality of PDPs. An experimental group of Dutch teachers from a school for secondary vocational education was offered a series of workshops whereas the control group did not have such guidance. Both groups had to fill out a simple structured PDP. To determine the quality of the PDPs, an assessment tool was developed. The results suggest that guided teachers are more capable of identifying their strengths and in formulating learning goals. The guided teachers' PDPs also showed more consistency. No differences were found regarding the action plans which teachers described. © 2012 International Professional Development Association (IPDA).

The first part of the article presents the role of mentors in the practical educational training of students who are offered gradual and controlled access to teaching and mentors' help in teacher training and school practice. In the process students develop various skills. It is therefore extremely important that student teaching programmes are well-planned and implemented to the highest possible standards by the appropriately experienced and educated mentors In the second part of the article the results of a qualitative study involving twentysix mentors are presented. In the academic year 2009/2010, these mentors offered mentorship to the fourth-year students of the Primary Education academic programme at the Faculty of Education, University of Maribor. The study focuses on how mentor teachers evaluate their work and roles. The study further explores how the mentors evaluate the work of the students as teachers, what mentors gain from students, and the relationship between mentors and students The results indicate that the majority of mentors are neither sufficiently intrinsically motivated to take on the mentorship, nor are they professionally ready. The mentors believe that the mentorship support offered to students is not a burden and that the relationship between them and the students is professional. The mentors believe that students have limited teaching experience and their questions refer mostly to the preparation and implementation of the class. The mentors appreciate novelties and motivational games introduced by the students who thus indirectly affect the mentors' professional development.

This research seeks to look into a design process of the development of a model for teaching and learning traditional craft courseware called CDTC model. Specifically, this research focuses on analysis and design phase. The model was developed according to an established methodology and it is relied upon a conceptual framework consisting of four development phases starting from Analysis, Design, Development and Evaluation. The research begins with the preliminary analysis to look into the problems in conventional traditional apprenticeship method for teaching and learning traditional craft by looking at students and craft instructors' perceptions. Various weaknesses were identified in acquiring the craft skills taught to students especially when instructors need to teach a group of students. The results of analysis helps to suggest and determine a practical way to map out the suitable teaching environment and strategy that would best serve for teaching and learning traditional craft. As a result from initial analysis, the proposed CDTC model for educational courseware development for teaching and learning traditional craft was developed consisting of two main components. In Design phase, the proposed CDTC model's components was evaluated by selected craft instructors through initial validation process in order to verify its' components. The results from initial validation among instructors help in establishing and designing a preliminary version of the model. © 2005 - 2012 JATIT & LLS. All rights reserved.

The paper presents the results from a quality framework to measure the effectiveness of a new engineering course entitled 'school-based learning (SBL) to work-based learning (WBL) transition module' in the Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) system in Bahrain. The framework is an extended version of existing information quality frameworks with respect to pedagogical and technological contexts. It incorporates specific pedagogical and technological dimensions as per the Bahrain modern industry requirements. Users' views questionnaire on the effectiveness of the new transition module was distributed to various stakeholders including TVE teachers and students. The aim was to receive critical information in diagnosing, monitoring and evaluating different views and perceptions about the effectiveness of the new module. The analysis categorised the quality dimensions by their relative importance. This was carried out using the principal component analysis available in SPSS. The analysis clearly identified the most important quality dimensions integrated in the new module for SBL-to-WBL transition. It was also apparent that the new module contains workplace proficiencies, prepares TVE students for work placement, provides effective teaching and learning methodologies, integrates innovative technology in the process of learning, meets modern industrial needs, and presents a cooperative learning environment for TVE students. From the principal component analysis finding, to calculate the percentage of relative importance of each factor and its quality dimensions, was significant. The percentage comparison would justify the most important factor as well as the most important quality dimensions. Also, the new, re-arranged quality dimensions from the finding with an extended number of factors tended to improve the extended version of the quality information framework to a revised quality framework.