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Descriptors:
Educational Technology; Technology Integration; Instructional Design; Web 2.0 Technologies; Web Sites; College Instruction; College Students; Student Attitudes; Content Analysis; Juvenile Justice; Constructivism (Learning); Formative Evaluation; Conventional Instruction; Course Evaluation; Cooperative Learning

Abstract:
Current literature indicates an increased pedagogical value of technology integration in university coursework. One form of technology that encourages collaborative, online teaching and learning is a "wiki," an online application that allows participants to partner and direct a website. This article describes the design and formative evaluation of a semester-long wiki project that was conducted during three face-to-face juvenile justice courses. Upon completion, 61 students completed written, open-ended evaluations of the project with a focus on (a) the strengths of the project, (b) knowledge of the juvenile justice system gained through the project, and (c) suggestions to improve the overall effectiveness. NVIVO8 was used to code and analyze the results of their responses. Results indicate that the Juvenile Justice Wiki Project demonstrated a real-life (online) understanding of the juvenile justice system in a face-to-face meeting, a more comprehensive examination of the juvenile justice system compared to a more traditional book and lecture pedagogy, and a perceived value in the collaborative, constructivist approach. A formative evaluation indicates future structural and pedagogical project modifications according to student evaluations and perceptions. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Work Environment; Vocational Education Teachers; Teaching Methods; College Instruction; Immigrants; Student Diversity; Constructivism (Learning); Intervention; Faculty Development; Teacher Competencies; Vocational Education; Intercultural Communication; Cultural Pluralism; Multicultural Education

Abstract:
Immigration is an integral phenomenon of our globalising world. The increasing flow of people creates new challenges for educational institutions and workplaces. The purpose of this article is to address challenges that vocational teachers face with diversity at colleges and workplaces. Two research questions are addressed: how do teachers prepare immigrant students for working life? What challenges related to intercultural competence do teachers preparing immigrant students for working life face? The theoretical background lies in cultural-historical activity theory, developmental work research and in the concept of intercultural competence. The change laboratory method used in study is a formative intervention method evolved within developmental work research. The data comprised two change laboratories organised at the same vocational college in 2001 and 2011. The results showed that teachers' work with multicultural students and groups can be developed by following five perspectives: preparation, reflection, contribution, guidance and responding. Intercultural competence is constructed contextually and is intertwined with activities such as teaching, facilitating students' learning and cooperating with wor kplaces. The participants of the change laboratories experienced it as a good instrument for their intercultural work. Based on the results, some implications are suggested. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Academic Achievement; Achievement Tests; Students; Anxiety; Classroom Environment; Scientific Concepts; Constructivism (Learning); Grade 10; Well Being; Interests; Secondary School Students; Experiments; Genetics; Correlation; Scores; Science Education; Foreign Countries

Abstract:
We examined selected situational emotions (interest, well-being and anxiety) experienced by 291 secondary school tenth graders during a hands-on gene technology lesson. Two different instruction groups (I-1, I-2) participated in the same teaching unit, in which four basic gene technology experiments were performed. Using a modified "constructivist teaching sequence", a teacher confronted group I-2 with the alternative conceptions of their peers regarding central issues and processes of gene technology in addition to providing the scientific concepts. The pupils within the I-2 group scored higher in the positive emotions of interest and well-being. The negative emotion anxiety was almost absent in both instruction groups. Furthermore, our results indicate a potential influence of interest and well-being upon learning success. Pupils who felt fine and worked with interest in the experimental lessons scored significantly higher on the cognitive achievement test. Eliciting pupils' alternative conceptions and using them in a wide variety of teaching contents is therefore advisable. By doing so, teachers could help create a classroom environment where pupils feel safe and confident. Also, a pupil's interest regarding the choice of material needs to be taken into account if positive emotions need strengthening and the learning achievement needs improvement. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Social Justice; Teacher Education; Teacher Education Programs; Early Childhood Education; Constructivism (Learning); Young Children; Student Teachers; Reflection; Developmentally Appropriate Practices; Infants; Toddlers; Preschool Education

Abstract:
Five essential ideas or understandings that should underlie early childhood teacher education programs are discussed conceptually. Inquiry and reflection into practice are critical for continued teacher learning and development; learning and development are cultural and constructivist processes; the teacher's image of the child should be as a strong and capable participant in the culture; the education of young children is a community privilege and responsibility; and while the child's future is of concern in education, it is just as vital to think of the child in the here and now. These ideas are essential for incorporating a social justice orientation in teacher education. An exemplary early childhood teacher education program is described as a model of the way in which these underlying ideas might be incorporated in preparing early childhood teachers in the pursuit of social justice aims for all of their students and families. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Museums; Research Methodology; Data Analysis; Communities of Practice; Educational Practices; Young Children; Early Childhood Education; Participatory Research; Action Research; Program Development; Educational Innovation; Partnerships in Education; Educational Cooperation; Program Effectiveness; Program Evaluation; Constructivism (Learning); Performance Factors; Preschool Education; Cooperative Programs

Abstract:
This study explores the integration of two key ideas and working frameworks: a community of educational practice formed by the synergy between a natural history museum and a university department of pre-school education, which undertook participatory action research aimed at the creation of innovative museum programmes for young children. Data analysis and the evaluation of the research process show that the community was able to bring its situated knowledge into question and interrogate propositional knowledge by means of re-evaluating the learning targets, the nature of children's activity, the nature of interaction between adults and learners, and the nature of resources used in existing and newly designed programmes offered to young children. Participatory action research enabled the community to monitor the implementation of theory with scientific rigour and formulate a new "knowledge strategy", which in theoretical terms will guide future developments. (Contains 6 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
College Faculty; Race; Conflict; Student Diversity; Racial Relations; Racial Factors; Higher Education; Interviews; Grounded Theory; Constructivism (Learning); Ethnicity; Instruction

Abstract:
The majority of higher education faculty value diversity in the classroom; however, the majority of faculty also report making no or few changes in their classroom practices to deal with diversity issues. Faculty are in a position to facilitate classroom diversity in such a way that pedagogically avoids, supports, or challenges students' learning about race and dealing with overt or covert racial conflict. Some faculty take on this challenge vigorously, while others approach it with considerable anxiety about their own knowledge or skills and students' emotional reactions. This article explores some of the ways faculty address student conflict amid and around racial diversity in the classroom. Interviews with 66 faculty of different races and ethnicities, genders, and disciplines led to analyses of the various approaches they enacted and dilemmas they experienced in the face of such racial conflict. They include a range of decisions, such as: to avoid conflict through attempts to control the classroom environment; to minimize such conflict; to divert or distract students' attention from conflict; to react to the conflict in a way that attempts to incorporate tensions for further learning; and to proactively design course activities to normalize and surface conflict in ways that enhance students learning about race and racial interactions. Examples and analysis of different ways of dealing with classroom racial diversity and conflict as well as the need for interventions to improve faculty members' ability to deal with such situations are offered. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Teacher Effectiveness; Self Efficacy; Foreign Countries; Instructional Innovation; Correlation; Constructivism (Learning); Educational Change; Role; Prediction; Surveys; Teaching Methods; Educational Policy

Abstract:
Constructivist instruction has been implemented in the current instructional innovation in Singapore. Large scale survey study was conducted to examine the roles of teacher efficacy in implementing the innovative constructivist instruction. The results showed that the positive correlation between teacher efficacy and constructivist instruction was stronger than the correlation between teacher efficacy and didactic instruction. The study suggests that policy makers and school leaders should try to improve teacher's efficacy beliefs so that innovative instruction could be effectively implemented by school teachers. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Adjustment (to Environment); Personality Traits; Youth; Rural Areas; Grounded Theory; Constructivism (Learning); Resilience (Psychology); Qualitative Research; Foreign Countries; Poverty; African Culture; Collectivism; Indigenous Populations

Abstract:
Resilience, or adaptive behavior in the face of adversity, has recently come to be understood as a phenomenon that should not be uniformly conceptualized across contexts and cultures. This emerging understanding has urged exploration of what resilience might mean in specific cultural contexts. As in other majority nation contexts, there is scant documentation of what resilience might mean in an African context. In this article, the authors report on an exploratory qualitative study, rooted in a constructivist grounded theory approach, in which 11 South African adults from an impoverished rural area were invited to provide a description of resilient Basotho youth. In contrast to Eurocentric perspectives, their descriptions, verbal, written, and hand-drawn, offer an Africentric understanding of resilience. This emerging African conceptualization of resilience advocates for deeper exploration of collectivist philosophies underpinning Black youth resilience and continued research into the process of African resilience. (Contains 1 table, 2 figures and 2 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Student Attitudes; Secondary School Students; Elective Courses; Measures (Individuals); Foreign Countries; Opinions; Musical Instruments; Constructivism (Learning); Science Curriculum; Core Curriculum; Nonmajors; Interdisciplinary Approach; Music Education; Acoustics; Instructional Development; Questionnaires; Attitude Measures; Scientific Attitudes; Pretests Posttests

Abstract:
This study is aimed to develop the interdisciplinary SoSTI (science of sound in traditional Thai musical instruments) course for Thai non-science upper secondary school students to study the students' attitudes toward science before and after studying from the course. The SoSTI course development is based on the interdisciplinary concept model and constructivist theory. The research study is divided into five phases: (1) pre-developing the course, (2) developing the course, (3) conducting the pilot study, (4) implementing and evaluating, and (5) analyzing data and writing the conclusion, respectively. The SoSTI course is an elective course corresponding to the Basic Education Core Curriculum B.E. 2551 (A.D. 2008). This course was conducted with 35 12th-grade non-science students in the second semester of the 2010 academic year at a school in Bangkok, Thailand, for a whole semester. The research instruments were students' attitude toward science questionnaire, and students' opinions toward the SoSTI course questionnaire. The results of this study presented that, after completing the SoSTI course, the students' attitudes toward science comparing before and after studying the SoSTI course were not significantly different at the 0.05 level. However, they have positive opinions toward the course. [This work was financially supported by the Institute for Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology (IPST), Bangkok, Thailand.] (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Algebra; Public Schools; Foreign Countries; Control Groups; Constructivism (Learning); Grade 7; Outcomes of Education; Instructional Effectiveness; Mathematical Concepts; Quasiexperimental Design; Experimental Groups; Pretests Posttests; Statistical Significance; Comparative Analysis; Comparative Testing; Achievement Gains; Scaffolding (Teaching Technique); Cohort Analysis; Test Theory; Intermode Differences

Abstract:
It is a bitter reality that the curricula and traditional pedagogy prevailing in public schools of Pakistan in general and Sindh in particular do not incorporate the algebraic concepts properly. Both the content and the presentation therein cannot be considered up to the mark, thereby making "Algebra" a tough and dry subject. This quasi-experimental study focused to find out the effect of teaching algebra through social constructivism on the students learning outcomes of 7th graders in public schools of District Jamshoro Sindh. For this purpose two existing in-tact sections of grade 7 (7th A, and 7th B) of a government high school of district Jamshoro were selected as quasi control and treatment groups. The pre and posttest analyses were carried out. The first pattern t-test analysis revealed that both groups were parallel, however, the latter posttest analysis revealed that treatment group that was taught through social constructivist approach excelled in achieving statistically significant learning outcomes than that of control group that was taught through traditional one-way teaching. (Contains 5 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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