Development of teachers’ knowledge and skills in implementing a physical education curriculum: A New Zealand early childhood intervention study
- Authors: McLachlan, Claire , Smith, Jessica , McLaughlin, Tara , Ali, Ajmol , Conlon, Cathryn , Mugridge, Owen , Foster, Sophie
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International journal of early childhood Vol. 49, no. 2 (2017), p. 211-228
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: In order to support children’s physical health and well-being in early childhood education programmes, it is important to understand how teacher practices concerned with physical activity and nutrition can be addressed effectively. Current evidence suggests that young children’s opportunities for physical activity in early childhood are increasingly limited. This study assessed how teachers’ knowledge and skills changed as the result of the implementation of a 10-week physical activity intervention programme (Jumping Beans) and participation in a related professional development programme. Participating teachers in four centres were interviewed before and after the intervention. Overall, qualitative and quantitative data from teacher interview data were highly positive, as a result of their participation. However, further research about how teachers’ skills can be enhanced to intentionally teach with confidence in curriculum domains related to physical health and physical literacy needs to be considered.
Interprofessional simulation of birth in a non-maternity setting for pre-professional students
- Authors: McLelland, Gayle , Perera, Chantal , Morphet, Julia , McKenna, Lisa , Hall, Helen , Williams, Brett , Cant, Robyn , Stow, Jill
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Nurse Education Today Vol. 58, no. (2017), p. 25-31
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background Simulation-based learning is an approach recommended for teaching undergraduate health professionals. There is a scarcity of research around interprofessional simulation training for pre-professional students in obstetric emergencies that occur prior to arrival at the maternity ward. Objectives The primary aims of the study were to examine whether an interprofessional team-based simulated birth scenario would improve undergraduate paramedic, nursing, and midwifery students' self-efficacy scores and clinical knowledge when managing birth in an unplanned location. The secondary aim was to assess students' satisfaction with the newly developed interprofessional simulation. Design Quasi-experimental descriptive study with repeated measures. Setting Simulated hospital emergency department. Participants Final year undergraduate paramedic, nursing, and midwifery students. Methods Interprofessional teams of five students managed a simulated unplanned vaginal birth, followed by debriefing. Students completed a satisfaction with simulation survey. Serial surveys of clinical knowledge and self-efficacy were conducted at three time points. Results Twenty-four students participated in one of five simulation scenarios. Overall, students' self-efficacy and confidence in ability to achieve a successful birth outcome was significantly improved at one month (p < 0.001) with a magnitude of increase (effect) of 40% (r = 0.71) and remained so after a further three months. Clinical knowledge was significantly increased in only one of three student groups: nursing (p = 0.04; r = 0.311). Students' satisfaction with the simulation experience was high (M = 4.65 / 5). Conclusions Results from this study indicate that an interprofessional simulation of a birth in an unplanned setting can improve undergraduate paramedic, nursing and midwifery students' confidence working in an interprofessional team. There was a significant improvement in clinical knowledge of the nursing students (who had least content about managing birth in their program). All students were highly satisfied with the interprofessional simulation experience simulation. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd
Literacy in the early years: reflections on international research and practice
- Authors: McLachlan, Claire , Arrow, Alison
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Book
- Relation: International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: This edited collection provides an in-depth exploration of different aspects of contemporary early childhood literacy research and the implications for educational practice. Each chapter details how the research was conducted and any issues that researchers encountered in collecting data with very young children, as well as what the research findings mean for educational practice. It includes photographs of effective literacy practice, detailed explanations of research methods so the studies can be replicated or expanded upon, and key features for promoting effective literacy practice in early childhood settings. This book is an essential read for everyone who is interested in exploring the complexities and challenges of researching literacy acquisition in the youngest children.
Push or pull? Unpacking the social compensation hypothesis of Internet use in an educational context
- Authors: Grieve, Rachel , Kemp, Nenagh , Norris, Kimberley , Padgett, Christine
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Computers and education Vol. 109, no. (2017), p. 1-10
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Individual differences such as social anxiety and extraversion have been shown to influence education outcomes. However, there has been limited investigation of the relationship between individual differences and attitudes towards online and offline learning. This study aimed to investigate for the first time how social anxiety and extraversion influence student attitudes to online and offline learning, specifically in relation to tertiary level practical activities. Based on the social compensation hypothesis, it was predicted that students with higher levels of extraversion and lower levels of social anxiety would report more favourable attitudes to face-to-face learning activities. It was further predicted that less extraverted and more socially anxious students would have more favourable attitudes to online learning activities. Undergraduate students (N = 322, 67% female) completed the HEXACO-60 personality inventory, the Mini Social Phobia Inventory, and measures of attitudes towards online and offline activities. Two hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted. The first revealed that neither extraversion nor social anxiety contributed significantly to preference for online practical activities. The second regression revealed that greater emotionality, greater extraversion, greater conscientiousness, and lower levels of social anxiety were associated with more favourable attitudes towards face-to-face practical activities. In contrast to predictions, extraversion and social anxiety did not significantly contribute to attitudes to online learning activities. However, in line with predictions, greater extraversion and lower levels of social anxiety were associated with more favourable attitudes towards face-to-face practical activities. These findings indicate that online learning activities have limited compensatory effects for students who experience social discomfort, and that the social compensation hypothesis may apply within an educational framework, but in unexpected ways. •Applies the social compensation hypothesis of Internet use as a theoretical paradigm.•Examines role of social anxiety (SA) and extraversion in online and offline learning.•Extraversion and SA not associated with attitudes to online activities.•Extraversion and low SA positively predict face-to-face activity attitudes.•Online learning has limited compensatory effects for socially anxious students.
The impact of a Web-based educational program on the recognition and management of deteriorating patients
- Authors: Liaw, Sok , Chng, Devon , Wong, Lai , Ho, Jasmine , Mordiffi, Siti , Cooper, Simon J. , Chua, Wei , Ang, Emily
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Clinical Nursing Vol. 26, no. 23-24 (2017), p. 4848-4856
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Aims and objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of a Web-based educational program to enhance enrolled nurses’ knowledge and skills in the recognition and management of deteriorating patients. Background: Ward nurses of different skill levels play a pivotal role in detecting and responding to deteriorating patients. A skill mix of registered nurses, enrolled nurses, licensed practical nurses or healthcare assistants is often employed for the provision of nursing care in acute settings. Non-registered nurses frequently perform bedside care and are in the best position to detect deteriorating patients and initiate immediate actions, including commanding the attention of registered nurses. Education is needed to improve the knowledge and skills of these nurses. Design: A randomised controlled trial with a pretest–post-test design. Methods: The sample included enrolled nurses from an acute care tertiary hospital. Following a baseline evaluation, the experimental group received a Web-based educational intervention. Pre–post assessment of skills and knowledge was performed with a simulated scenario and a knowledge questionnaire. Sixty-four nurses completed the entire study. Results: Following the intervention, participants from the experimental group were significantly more likely than those in the control group to monitor the patient's respiratory and pulse rates. In addition, they had significantly higher post-test mean scores for knowledge and skills in assessing and managing clinical deterioration and reporting deterioration. Conclusion: The Web-based educational intervention significantly improved enrolled nurses’ knowledge and skills in the recognition and management of a deteriorating patient in a simulated setting. Relevance to clinical practice: Ease of access to the Web-based platform contributed to the feasibility and acceptability of this study, which has the potential to positively impact patient safety. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
‘If there’s no sustainability our future will get wrecked’: Exploring children’s perspectives of sustainability
- Authors: Green, Monica
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Childhood Vol. 24, no. 2 (2017), p. 151-167
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Education for Sustainability is an internationally recognised field of learning that is currently mandated as a cross-curriculum priority in the Australian curriculum. Empirical research into children’s views about sustainability, and how they develop sustainability knowledge, however, remains limited. This article focuses on research that investigated children’s perspectives of sustainability in Victoria, Australia. The children were recruited through the Sustainable School Expo where they delivered keynote presentations about their school’s respective Education for Sustainability initiatives. Data were generated from interviews with 16 children aged from 9 to 13 years and included a set of self-created and designed sustainability artefacts. The article contends that children have strongly conceptualised ideas about sustainability that are developed through interactions with material entities (human/more than human) in diverse environments. A key finding suggests that children become vital stakeholders in Education for Sustainability through experiential, investigative, sensorial and place-oriented ways of learning, which informs how they build sustainability knowledge.
Best practice in clinical simulation education − are we there yet? A cross-sectional survey of simulation in Australian and New Zealand pre-registration nursing education
- Authors: Bogossian, Fiona , Cooper, Simon J. , Kelly, Michelle , Levett-Jones, Tracy , McKenna, Lisa , Slark, Julia , Seaton, Philippa
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Collegian Vol. 25, no. 3 (2018), p. 327-334
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: Simulation is potentially a means of increasing clinical education capacity. Significant investments have been made in simulation but the extent to which this has improved uptake, quality and diversity of simulation use is unclear. Aim: To describe the current use of simulation in tertiary nursing education programs leading to nurse registration Australia and New Zealand, and determine whether investments in simulation have improved uptake, quality and diversity of simulation experiences. Methods: A cross sectional electronic survey distributed to lead nursing academics in programs leading to nurse registration in Australia and New Zealand. Findings: 51.6% of institutions responded and reported wide variation in allocation of program hours to clinical and simulation learning. Simulation was embedded in curricula and positively valued as an adjunct or substitute for clinical placement. While simulation environments were adequate, staff time, training and resource development were barriers to increasing the quality, amount and range of simulation experiences. Quality assurance and robust evaluation were weak. Discussion: Simulation program hours are inconsistently reported and underutilized in terms of potential contribution to clinical learning. Benefits of capital investment in simulation physical resources have been realised, but barriers persist for increasing high quality simulation in nursing programs. Conclusion: Transitioning components of clinical education from the clinical to tertiary sectors has resource implications. Establishment of sustainable, high quality simulation experiences requires staff training, shared resources, best practice and robust evaluation of simulation experiences in nursing curricula. © 2017 Australian College of Nursing Ltd
Early childhood education and care in Aotearoa/New Zealand: History and features
- Authors: Tyler-Merrick, Gaye , Phillips, Joanna , McLachlan, Claire , McLaughlin, Tara , Aspden, Karyn , Cherrington, Sue
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Care: Early Childhood Education in the 21st Century Chapter 12 p. 127-142
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Since the 1990s, New Zealand/Aotearoa has been a leader in providing quality early childhood education (ECE) for children/tamariki and their families/whānau. ECE represents a diverse set of services for children under the age of five. A unique feature of the New Zealand system is the integration of education and care for young children, under the Ministry of Education. Services are licensed as teacher-, whānau- or parent-led, and may be located in centre, community or home settings. A diversity of philosophical approaches to ECE are evident, including services specifically focused on promoting Māori and Pasifika languages and cultures. Recent trends towards increased private, including corporate, ownership and reductions in services offering half-day programmes are also evident. The system is nationally regulated and is monitored and publicly reported by the Education Review Office. The early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki: He Whariki Matauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa (Ministry of Education, 1996), is holistic, culturally responsive and inclusive of all children and their families. However, there has been no formal evaluation of this curriculum, but recent critique of this document in relation to how equipped teachers and centres are to implement this holistic, competence-based curriculum has been undertaken. Very recently, the Ministry of Education called for an update of Te Whāriki. This chapter will critique the ‘old’ and ‘new’ curriculum in light of the framework, curriculum goals and the cultural gains and restraints the curriculum places on New Zealand parents, teachers and children. Implications for practice and for future research will be explored.
- Description: Since the 1990s, New Zealand/Aotearoa has been a leader in providing quality early childhood education (ECE) for children/tamariki and their families/wh
Education and social class : How did we get to this and what needs to change?
- Authors: Simmons, Robin , Smyth, John
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Education and Working-Class Youth: Reshaping the Politics of Inclusion Chapter 10 p. 233-259
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: This chapter locates the classed nature of education within a critical socio-historical framework, and considers how questions of social class are played out not only in the classroom but also at the institutional and the systemic level. Historical and contemporary debates about the nature and purpose of education are used to challenge the status quo, and present an agenda for change. The chapter argues that re-engaging with social class as a key organising concept is necessary in order to understand the nature of contemporary schooling in western neoliberal societies such as the UK, and to re-imagine young people’s relationship with education. This, it is argued, is necessary to re-engage working-class youth in ways that are not only meaningful but also socially and economically just.
Electrical power engineering education down under : Australia and New Zealand are adding energy to their University Curricula
- Authors: Nair, Nirmal , Martin, Daniel , Saha, Tapan , Islam, Syed , Watson, Neville
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: IEEE Power and Energy Magazine Vol. 16, no. 5 (2018), p. 64-73
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: On 4 August 1888, Reefton became the first town in New Zealand to have its own public electricity supply powered by hydrogeneration. In Australia, the first supply of electricity to the public at large was in two small country towns in New South Wales. Tamworth, with a population of 3,000, switched on arc and incandescent street lighting on 9 November 1888. In April 1889, the smaller town of Young switched on its incandescent street lighting and shortly thereafter went on to connect shops, offices, and homes within reach of its lines. However, the history of electricity supply in Australia traces back earlier, with Brisbane as one of the first cities in Australia to use electricity commercially, in 1882. Thus, electricity utilization down under coincided with the history of its emergence among the countries of the Northern Hemisphere.
Mobilising a lens of inclusivity within initial teacher education. Teacher education in and for uncertain times.
- Authors: Goriss-Hunter, Anitra , Burke, Jenene
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Australian Teacher Education Association and Teacher Education Forum of Aotearoa New Zealand Conference, 4-6 July 2018, Melbourne.
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: In uncertain contemporary times, Initial Teacher Education (ITE) educators are under considerable pressure from political, social and institutional sources to ensure that PSTs are “classroom ready”; fully equipped to prepare diverse student cohorts to lead fulfilling post-school lives in an increasingly complex and changing world. To achieve this goal, current research and policy is increasingly focusing on foregrounding inclusive teaching practice. A great deal of education literature focuses on notions of diversity and inclusion with regard to student education in schools (Blackmore, 2009, Campbell & Whitty, 2002, Nieto, 1999, Smyth & McInerney, 2007, and Smyth & McInerney, 2009). Much has also been written about the difficulties inherent in educating PSTs regarding the complexities of inclusive teaching (Blackmore, 2009, Shor, 1992, Sleeter, 2001, Smyth & McInerney, 2007, and 2018 ATEA & TEFANZ Conference: Teacher Education in and for Uncertain Times Smyth & McInerney, 2009). In addition, leading education organizations and accrediting institutions, such as the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) and the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) promote inclusion as a mandated teaching approach. While inclusion is the approach mandated in Australia for catering for diversity, the authors argue that current notions of inclusive teaching are still haunted by ghosts of integration and other non-inclusive practices in approaches that hierarchical, additive and focused on deficit thinking. In this model, students are diagnosed as having a particular condition, disorder, impairment, or other difference, which is prioritized as their chief learning characteristic. The rich complexity of a learner’s strengths, preferences, challenges and goals is then narrowed down to one major ingredient – the impairment or difference – which becomes the focus of strategies and practices recommended as appropriate for that particular condition. In this presentation, the authors ask the thorny question, how do we teach PSTs to identify the complexity of learner needs and to make pedagogic decisions to enable learning to occur for all students? The presentation contributes a way forward through the authors’ examination of a range of pedagogies used in class to facilitate PSTs’ investigation of approaches and practices that encourage teaching for inclusion. In order to facilitate PSTs’ learning concerning inclusive teaching, the authors focus on creating opportunities to enable students to work with a diverse range of learners “selecting strategies on the basis of what is to be learnt rather than what is wrong with the learner” (Florian, 2008, p. 2004). As an exploration of pedagogic decisions and teaching approaches, the paper outlines a case study that makes use of a self-study methodology as well as discourse analysis. This research mode “includes elements of ongoing inquiry, respects personal experience, and emphasizes the role of knowledge construction. The collaborative component of self-study acknowledges the important role of the social construction of knowledge (Lassonde, Galman & Kosnik, 2009, p. 10). The inclusivity of a self-study approach and its multi-faceted nature encourages reflection, collaboration and on-going dialogue between educators and PSTs providing insights into teaching practices. From observations and reflective examination of their teaching practices and course development, the authors identify and analyse the pedagogies that are being used to achieve the aims of promoting teaching for inclusion in ITE courses. In addition to a self-study methodology, discourse analysis is used to examine formal literature and policy discussing diversity and inclusion."
Cloud-assisted gamification for education and learning – recent advances and challenges
- Authors: Hakak, Saqib , Noor, Nurul , Ayub, Mohamad , Affal, Hannyzurra , Imran, Muhammad
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Computers and Electrical Engineering Vol. 74, no. (2019), p. 22-34
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Gamification has gained considerable interest in education circles due to its capability of enhancing the learning process among students. In the future, it is expected that gamification will overtake the traditional way of learning resulting in issues such as scalability, upgradation of learning modules. To address these issues, merging gamification with cloud computing seems a viable solution. However, the employability of gamification through cloud computing is still in its infant stage. Hence, this article investigates the applicability of gamification through cloud computing and presents a comprehensive survey of state-of-the-art gamification in education and learning. We also identify the subject areas that can be gamified and taught using the cloud service. The critical elements and minimum requirements necessary to gamify education are also identified. Moreover, a specific cloud-assisted gamification architecture is proposed and discussed together with its possible applications. The article is concluded with the research challenges and suggestions for future work. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Muhammad Imran” is provided in this record**
Creating a culturally safe space when teaching aboriginal content in social work: A scoping review
- Authors: Fernando, Terrina , Bennett, Bindi
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian social work Vol. 72, no. 1 (2019), p. 47-61
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Teaching Aboriginal content in social work education presents risks of retraumatisation for students. There are international calls for a trauma-informed teaching model that creates cultural safety in the classroom. This study aimed to develop a trauma-informed model for social work education by reviewing the literature on cultural safety for Aboriginal peoples. This model incorporates key aspects of ensuring Aboriginal cultural safety: de-colonise social work education collaborative partnerships build relationships critical reflection develop cultural courage and yarning and story-telling. It provides a valuable framework for creating a more equitable teaching and learning environment that also ensures the essential academic content is covered. IMPLICATIONS Trauma underlies the historical, contemporary and cultural narratives of Aboriginal peoples. Students engaging in Aboriginal content that is traumatic can mean connecting with trauma that has occurred in their own lives. Trauma-informed teaching and learning will ensure that educators create culturally safe spaces that enable students to engage well with content. The adoption of the framework proposed in this paper may lead to the creation of a culturally safe space for teaching and learning in social work education.
Threshold concepts for Australian university outdoor education programs : findings from a Delphi research study
- Authors: Thomas, Glyn , Grenon, Heather , Morse, Marcus , Allen-Craig, Sandy , Mangelsdorf, Anthony , Polley, Scott
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of outdoor and environmental education Vol. 22, no. 3 (2019), p. 169-186
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: In Australia, when a person wants to work in the outdoor education or recreation field, they can follow a number of different pathways to gain the required knowledge, skills and experience. Typically, this involves the completion of a formal program with either a training organisation or a university, depending on the qualification sought. Programs delivered by training organisations typically use a national training package to define the specific competencies (knowledge and skills) and the curriculum and outcomes of these programs are clearly defined, and qualifications are usually transferable around the country. Outdoor education programs delivered by universities in Australia, however, have no such clarity. This paper describes a research study that used the Delphi research method to consult with academics working in university outdoor education programs across Australia. The research set out to establish a set of threshold concepts that articulate what a student who completes at least a major in outdoor education knows and is able to do. Over two rounds of consultation the six authors of this paper formed the Delphi facilitation team, which solicited input and feedback from an expert panel. Nineteen different university academics participated in the research and produced seven threshold concepts, which are shared in this paper to encourage discussion and invite feedback from a wider range of stakeholders. More research is required to ascertain the efficacy of these threshold concepts in describing what graduates of university outdoor education programs know and can do. [Author abstract]
What's in a name? Clarifying the nomenclature of virtual simulation
- Authors: Cant, Robyn , Cooper, Simon J. , Sussex, Roland , Bogossian, Fiona
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Clinical Simulation in Nursing Vol. 27, no. (2019), p. 26-30
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Clinical simulation is an essential component of health professional education. Digital technologies can provide students with near-reality, interactive virtual simulation learning experiences on static and mobile appliances. Clarification is needed, however, regarding the various types of virtual simulation and the different program components. We drew on published literature to define virtual simulation modalities and to offer definitive terminology to clarify the nomenclature and composition of virtual simulation. Reporting should include description of ‘Fidelity’ ‘Immersion’ and ‘Patient’ to add clarity and utility to research in the field.
Children's views on making and designing
- Authors: Hatzigianni, Maria , Stevenson, Michael , Bower, Matt , Falloon, Garry , Forbes, Anne
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: European early childhood education research journal Vol. 28, no. 2 (2020), p. 286-300
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: This paper will focus on children's views on their making and design capabilities. There is a paucity of research investigating learning in makerspaces particularly for younger children. Theoretical ideas based on constructionism (Papert), Vygotsky (socio-constructivism) and Dewey's pragmatic, inquiry based and reflective learning underpin this study. Fourteen group interviews were conducted with 34 young children (five to eight years old). Their responses were inductively and thematically analysed. Children provided rich insights into new pedagogical approaches, like makerspaces, and identified challenges with the use of the digital tools (3D App and 3D printers). Children enjoyed directing their own learning and viewed their experiences as creative. This research will advance knowledge on how makerspaces and design thinking skills can be integrated in early childhood and early primary education.
Finding passion and purpose in the teaching of reading in secondary school English through critical readings of practice : A huge kind of spider web
- Authors: McGraw, Amanda , Mason, Mary
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Language and Literacy Vol. 43, no. 3 (2020), p. 205-213
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: We argue in this paper that the experience of reading is an intricate and dynamic weaving of connections much like the tentative construction of a spider's web. We also use the metaphor of the web to examine a professional learning experience for Australian secondary school English teachers who over the course of a year, and by working in Communities of Practice, find and renew passion and purpose in their teaching of reading. The professional learning project, beginning in 2015, is conducted in Victorian schools under the auspices of the Victorian Association for the Teaching of English (VATE) and is funded for six years by the Victorian Department of Education and Training. In five years it has involved 36 schools. In this paper we focus on the experiences of teachers involved in the first three years of the project. The project begins by drawing attention, through an examination of literature, to disturbing levels of disengagement with reading at school and to a culture of pedagogy in English that has shifted over recent times toward transactional teaching and away from a focus on meaning-making. Drawing upon teacher interviews, the paper examines how teachers find passion and purpose in their teaching of reading through an initial focus on student experience revealed in drawings, which they find surprising and moving. In Communities of Practice and with the support of an external Critical Friend, the teachers explore a complex understanding of reading that has imaginative, dialogic, emotional, critical, metacognitive and embodied dimensions and design and trial reading activities with the aim of deepening students' reading experiences. Through a focus on what teachers say, the paper explores what is learned through this experience and examines some of the challenges associated with sustaining change in schools.
From digital literacy to digital competence: the teacher digital competency (TDC) framework
- Authors: Falloon, Garry
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Educational Technology Research and Development Vol. 68, no. 5 (2020), p. 2449-2472
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Over the years, a variety of frameworks, models and literacies have been developed to guide teacher educators in their efforts to build digital capabilities in their students, that will support them to use new and emerging technologies in their future classrooms. Generally, these focus on advancing students’ skills in using ‘educational’ applications and digitally-sourced information, or understanding effective blends of pedagogical, content and technological knowledge seen as supporting the integration of digital resources into teaching, to enhance subject learning outcomes. Within teacher education institutions courses developing these capabilities are commonly delivered as standalone entities, or there is an assumption that they will be generated by technology’s integration in other disciplines or through mandated assessment. However, significant research exists suggesting the current narrow focus on subject-related technical and information skills does not prepare students adequately with the breadth of knowledge and capabilities needed in today’s classrooms, and beyond. This article presents a conceptual framework introducing an expanded view of teacher digital competence (TDC). It moves beyond prevailing technical and literacies conceptualisations, arguing for more holistic and broader-based understandings that recognise the increasingly complex knowledge and skills young people need to function ethically, safely and productively in diverse, digitally-mediated environments. The implications of the framework are discussed, with specific reference to its interdisciplinary nature and the requirement of all faculty to engage purposefully and deliberately in delivering its objectives. Practical suggestions on how the framework might be used by faculty, are presented.
Makerspaces pedagogy - supports and constraints during 3D design and 3D printing activities in primary schools
- Authors: Bower, Matt , Stevenson, Michael , Forbes, Anne , Falloon, Garry , Hatzigianni, Maria
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Educational media international Vol. 57, no. 1 (2020), p. 1-28
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Makerspaces have been heralded as an effective way to support the development of 21st Century and STEM capabilities, yet there is a paucity of systematic, multiple-case analysis to guide educator and researcher practice. This collective case study examined 24 primary school classroom contexts to understand what supports and constrains learning and teaching in technology-oriented makerspaces. Thematic analysis of 24 teacher in-situ reflective journals and focus group interviews of all teacher participants revealed 19 supports and 11 constraints, relating to pedagogy, task design, learner attributes, technological factors, the school environment, and teacher capabilities and beliefs. These were used to form an evidence-based framework for learning and teaching in makerspaces. Findings are discussed in relation to previous research which has tended to be anecdotal and based on single cases. Implications for future teaching, research and policy initiatives are also detailed.
Understanding K-12 STEM Education: a Framework for Developing STEM Literacy
- Authors: Falloon, Garry , Hatzigianni, Maria , Bower, Matt , Forbes, Anne , Stevenson, Michael
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of science education and technology Vol. 29, no. 3 (2020), p. 369-385
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: In recent years, arguments have signalled the value of STEM education for building discipline knowledge and an array of capabilities, skills and dispositions, aligned with the needs of young people functioning productively and ethically in dynamic, complex and challenging future work, social and political environments. This combination has been termed STEM literacy and positioned as a desired outcome from STEM education programs. However, knowledge is limited on ways this can be developed in K-12 schools. This article introduces a framework that conceptualises the integrated nature of the characteristics of STEM education. It identifies and maps key characteristics of STEM education, recognising different entry points, curriculum designs and pedagogical strategies for school programs. The framework provides practical guidance for planning and implementing STEM education in schools.