scholarly journals Exploring Teachers’ Lived Experiences of Cooperative Learning in Ethiopian Higher Education Classrooms: A Phenomenological-Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 332
Author(s):  
Tefera Tadesse ◽  
Aregu Asmare ◽  
Hashim Ware
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Cooperative Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Phenomenological Case Study

A growing body of research indicates that teaching is the most important determinant of student learning in higher education (HE). However, HE teachers have a persistent challenge to transform pedagogical practices from a teacher-centered to a student-centered approach. In this study, the authors employed a phenomenological-case study design to examine the teachers’ lived experiences with cooperative learning (CL) pedagogies as applied in the undergraduates’ classrooms in a large public university in Ethiopia. The authors collected the relevant data from two teacher participants through both reflection and a semi-structured interview, along with document analysis of course-related material. The teacher participants felt that their involvement in the CL lessons gave them insight to understand strategies used to implement CL and practical learning opportunities on how to use it as one variant of student-centered teaching methods. As the teacher interviewees suggested, the CL lessons helped them change their mindset from traditional lecture-based teaching to a student-centered approach and transform their pedagogical practices. The results of this study suggest that CL pedagogies offer teachers with professional development opportunities for a meaningful transformation of their roles in HE classrooms. Additionally, the results have important practical implications for many HE institutions (HEIs) and their teachers who work with undergraduate students.

scholarly journals Serving the Less-Commonly-Trained Teacher: Perspectives from Arabic Instructors

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dustin De Felice ◽  
Amanda Lanier ◽  
Paula Winke
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Perspectives ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Graduate Degree ◽  
Career Placement ◽  
Professional Challenges ◽  
Trained Teacher ◽  
Phenomenological Case Study

As proficient speakers of less-commonly-taught languages seek to meet the demand for qualified instructors, they face a range of personal and professional challenges. In an effort to understand the perspectives of these instructors and their particular educational experiences and needs, we conducted a phenomenological case study of two aspiring Arabic teachers. Specifically, we sought insights into their lived experiences, their motivations for pursuing a graduate degree, their attempts to connect coursework with pedagogical practices, and their needs in terms of professional development. Our findings illuminate the intersecting objectives these instructors must achieve. They need to position themselves as qualified candidates for the available positions as instructors, but they also need to reconcile a number of different roles as they develop their teacher identities and connect their backgrounds to ambitions for students’ growth. As teacher educators, we find that we need to facilitate career placement as well as the negotiation of these roles.

scholarly journals Training Adequacy and Pedagogic Practices of Teachers in Reception Facilities for Refugee Education in Greece during the Economic Crisis: A Case Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Anna Asimaki ◽  
Archontoula Lagiou ◽  
Gerasimos S Koustourakis ◽  
Dimitris Sakkoulis
Keyword(s):  
Structured Interview ◽  
Classroom Teachers ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Refugee Students ◽  
Refugee Education ◽  
Interview Research ◽  
School Classroom ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Pedagogic Practices

This research paper, which uses Basil Bernstein’s theoretical framework, aims to search the training adequacy of the teachers who work in Reception Facilities for Refugee Education (RFRE) and to examine the pedagogic practices that they use at the micro-level of the school classroom. Teachers who worked in a RFRE in Greece participated in this research, which was conducted with the use of the semi-structured interview research tool. The findings showed the following: a) the insufficient training that the RFRE teachers had received from the official national bodies; the teachers’ effort to acquire the appropriate knowledge on their own initiative, in order to be able to teach refugee students; the teachers’ expressed need for training in matters of intercultural education, b) the pedagogic practices teachers used at the RFRE is linked to the implementation of an invisible form of pedagogy with a clear student-centered focus.

scholarly journals ‘Centering’ Teaching Excellence in Higher Education

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diarmaid Lane
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Effectiveness ◽  
Corporate University ◽  
Teaching Excellence ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Teaching Awards ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Significant Weakness

This paper explores the complexity of ‘teaching excellence’ (Kreber, 2002) in contemporary higher education. It describes how a university academic, who has been the recipient of numerous teaching awards, questions if they really are an ‘excellent teacher’ and if their student-centered philosophy is sustainable.  An analysis of data related to teaching and learning effectiveness over a seven year period highlights a significant weakness in how the academic approached the teaching of undergraduate students.  This had a subsequent negative effect on several levels.  The paper concludes by describing the merits of academics ‘centering’ themselves between the corporate university and the needs of students in striving for ‘teaching excellence’.

scholarly journals Portraits of Undergraduate Discipline-Specific Thinking: Guiding Students from Novice to Proficient Learner

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Stovey ◽  
Tiffany Trimmer
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Habits Of Mind ◽  
College Level ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Cognitive Behaviors ◽  
Second Nature ◽  
Historical Methods ◽  
First Time

This case study presents our experiences, insights, and the pedagogical techniques used to guide undergraduate students toward discipline-specific thinking. It demonstrates the role of student-centered practices in moving students from what we categorize as novice to proficient, a common goal in rite-of-passage courses across the disciplines. Our study follows two semesters of students in undergraduate college-level Historiography and Historical Methods courses to identify common stumbling blocks encountered when learning contextualization (our discipline-specific thinking skill). We analyze students’ habits of mind, cognitive behaviors, and assumptions when learning to think differently. We present a qualitative portrait demonstrating the range of student cognitive behaviors as they attempt to move towards proficiency. As experts immersed in our fields of study and its practices, we can sometimes forget that what comes second-nature to us is far from natural to our students—regardless of their enthusiasm. We may overestimate the background knowledge that our students have, and underestimate the brain bandwidth required when trying—for the first time—to think differently.

Blended Learning & the Redesign of Psyc 100

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bawks Jordan ◽  
Sammy Boggs
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Group Learning ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Small Group Learning ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Learning Labs ◽  
Course Material

A great deal of research has shown that lectures with large class sizes struggle to promote active learning resulting in poor knowledge acquisition and retention as well as limited conceptual understanding. Based on the benefits observed for blending learning models and small group learning in the literature, Introductory Psychology (Psyc 100) at Queen’s has recently undergone a massive redesign with the goal of improving the student experience.The structure of Psyc 100 has been changed from 3 hours of traditional lecture a week to 1 hour of lecture, 1 hour of online learning, and 1 hour of learning lab per week. The goal of this redesign is to increase student engagement through learning labs, grant more freedom to pursue the course material via interactive online tasks, and delve deeper into exciting and relevant topics with more in-depth lectures.The labs are specially designed with a student-centered approach that helps learners to engage with fellow students and the material through group discussions, quizzes, games, and debates. Upper year students majoring in Psychology comprise approximately 2/3 of the tutorial facilitators for these labs, which provide undergraduate students with an important opportunity to take a more active role in the Psychology department and develop a love for teaching.We will present the research behind this redesign, demonstrate how it has been incorporated into the new Psyc 100 curriculum, and share our experiences as student facilitators through the ongoing refinement of the course.

Facebook as Complementary Teaching Material: Reconceptualizing the Context Boundaries of Formal and Informal Learning in EFL Higher Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (9) ◽  
pp. 23-35
Author(s):  
Iman Abbas
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
English Language ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Survey Analysis ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Formal Curriculum ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Skills Learning

This article is a case study that aims to understand and explore a teacher's perspective about integrating Facebook as an informal social platform into the EFL classroom in a higher education context in Oman. The study further aims to identify the attitudes and perspectives of a group of students belonging to the same context. Research data came from semi-structured interviews with a teacher participant and a survey questionnaire with student participants. The study provides a set of findings based on interview data analysis and questionnaire survey analysis. The study's findings revealed the teacher and students' positive attitudes and perspectives towards the role of Facebook in boosting pedagogical practices and increasing English language skills learning. This study contributes to knowledge by providing insights on the integration of Facebook as an informal platform into the formal curriculum-based learning in TESOL. The insights and findings are of value to the teachers and instructors in EFL higher education contexts. Pedagogical implications for ESL (English as a second language) and EFL (English as a foreign language) and researchers are offered in the light of these results.

scholarly journals ‘I'll play the game, but I cannot stay’ : The role of third space professionals in encouraging the retention, success and sense of belonging of undergraduate students

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Hughes ◽  
Debra Cureton ◽  
Jenni Jones
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Third Space ◽  
Academic Identity ◽  
Educational Provision ◽  
Academic Coach

In 2019, a diverse, post-92, Midlands university implemented a new, hybrid third space role called the ‘academic coach’ (AC) to support its mission towards to support its mission to make its educational provision fully accessible to all its students, to retain them and to ensure their success to support its mission to make its educational provision fully accessible to all its students, to retain them and to ensure their success of all its students. Since a sense of belonging to their institution is such a powerful influence on students’ sense of wellbeing, their development of an academic identity and their resilience in the higher education context, with consequent positive impact upon their retention and success, this role is devoted to the pastoral care and personal tutoring of levels three and four students. This case study considers the journey of the AC in defining and shaping this new role and offers the ACs’ perceptions of their influence on the experience of students at levels three and four by enhancing collaborative and learning relationships within the wider university.

scholarly journals SOURCE-BASED WRITING AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS: PERSPECTIVE AND CHALLENGES

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 152
Author(s):  
Velayeti Nurfitriana Ansas ◽  
Didi Sukyadi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
State Universities ◽  
The Internet ◽  
International Level ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Research Technology ◽  
Scientific Papers

The level of scientific publications of Indonesian students at the international level is still very minimal. Even when compared to Malaysia and Thailand, Indonesia is still lagging behind. The Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education targets that in 2019 Indonesia will reach 30,000 international publications. Therefore, students' interest in writing must be increased, especially writing based on sources. Therefore, this study would like to find students' perspectives and perceived challenges in writing based on sources. This research was based on a case study.  The research involved 68 students from one of the state universities in Bandung, and it analyzed 20 selected scientific papers written by students. The instruments for data collection included questionnaire and observation. The results of this study found that 59% of students perceived that writing scientific papers is very difficult. The students found it difficult to find suitable sources for writing material and develop their ideas. They tended to use articles as the sources from the internet whose originality is unclear. One reason this happens was because 80% of students did not know where to find or get indexed journals to use as references for their writing. In addition, many students also preferred not to use journals that were majorly English-based because of their limitation of English skills. The implication is that students should be given further understanding of how to access journals and use reference sources in writing. It is expected that every lecturer will give more source-based writing assignments so that the ability of students to write and develop ideas based on existing sources can be further improved.

scholarly journals Class Participation in an Aboriginal Theatre Project: An Exemplar of Undergraduate Student Engagement

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ginny R. Ratsoy
Keyword(s):  
Student Engagement ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Situated Learning ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Canadian Universities ◽  
Class Participation ◽  
Premier Cycle

In the 21st Century, Canadian universities are increasingly emphasizing the importance of student engagement. This research paper, by analyzing the reflections of undergraduate students on their experiences in a co-curricular service learning assignment – integrated into a course that included more traditional assignments – in the context of situated learning theory, advocates for a community-focused assignment as a component in a “traditional” lecture-and-discussion based course as a tool for enhanced engagement through active, collaborative learning. While the case study explored is a drama course, the anticipated audience is pan-disciplinary, as the article casts more broadly by providing brief, general guidelines on implementing an experiential learning assignment and encouraging all professors to reflect on their classroom theory and praxis to the end of augmenting student engagement. Au 21e siècle, les universités canadiennes accordent une place de plus en plus importante à l’engagement des étudiants. Les auteurs de ce rapport de recherche analysent les réflexions des étudiants de premier cycle à propos d’un travail pratique (TP) qu’ils ont effectué dans le cadre de l’apprentissage par le service communautaire– intégré à un cours qui comprenait des TP plus traditionnels – dans le contexte de la théorie de l’apprentissage situé. Les auteurs préconisent des TP axés sur la collectivité en tant que composants d’un cours « traditionnel » comportant des exposés magistraux et des discussions. Ce type de TP est un outil permettant d’améliorer l’engagement grâce à l’apprentissage actif et collaboratif. L’étude de cas porte sur un cours d’art dramatique, mais le public visé par le présent article est multidisciplinaire. En effet, les auteurs de l’article considèrent les choses plus largement en fournissant de brèves directives générales sur la mise en œuvre d’un devoir dans le cadre de l’apprentissage expérientiel et encouragent tous les enseignants à réfléchir sur leurs stratégies d’enseignement théoriques et pratiques afin d’augmenter l’engagement des étudiants.

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