Changing Gears in the Assessment Cycle

There is an ongoing need to prepare postsecondary educators to use not only 21st century assessment tools but also 21st andragogy/pedagogy that meets the needs of all 21st century learners. This chapter reviews those issues, reviews different aspects and approaches to assessment, and proposes an encompassing assessment framework for culturally responsive, authentic, reflective, ethical, formative, universal, and learner-focused (CAREFUL) assessment. The chapter contextualizes these approaches in faculty development (FDEV) to help “change gears” using data from a FDEV opportunity at a midsized, comprehensive university. The chapter provides several examples of CAREFUL assessment and a discussion of how FDEV can improve student learning and experiences.

Building a Conceptual Framework for Culturally Inclusive Collaboration for Urban Practitioners

Special education teacher preparation is one of the most critical areas of teacher preparation in higher education. The field is even more complicated depending on the environment in which it takes shape given urban, high-needs, suburban, and rural school communities. Equally important in today's teacher preparation paradigm is supplying pre-service teachers with the pedagogical skills necessary to meet the needs of their 21st century learners, especially those students from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds and who attend urban schools. This chapter attempts to construct a practitioner friendly framework to examine inextricable linkages between teacher preparation and the role higher education institutions play in providing pre-service special education teachers the requisite skills necessary to become successful urban educators/practitioners. Teacher preparation programs can better support new teacher retention through CRT and family diversity training.

A Correlational Study on Mindset, Grit, and Adversity Quotient of Pre-Service Teachers: Evidence in Philippines and Hongkong

Understanding pre-service teachers' mindset, grit, and adversity quotient boosts their morale, confidence, and self-esteem as future educators. This descriptive-correlational research determined the relationship between the aforementioned constructs of pre-service teachers in the Philippines and Hong Kong. The respondents of the study were 155 pre-service teachers from two Asian countries. The data were gathered through answering an online questionnaire generated through Google forms and disseminated through e-Mail and messenger on social networking sites. The responses from the respondents were automatically stored at the Google drive application. The standardized questionnaires were used in the study. The respondent's mindset was assessed using Dweck's Mindset Instrument (DMI). In terms of grit, it was measured using Duckworth's Grit-Short Scale, and the respondent's adversity quotient was examined using The Adversity Quotient Profile® 9.1 by Dr. Paul G. Stoltz. The majority of the pre-service teachers in the two Asian countries are dominated by female students with an ideal age bracket suited as university students possessing a growth mindset. Students with a growth mindset have displayed a higher level of grit and adversity quotients than those students with a fixed mindset. This study concluded that mindset and adversity quotient is significantly associated. Hence, stakeholders involved in the development of 21st-century learners should promote the mindset, but they may also develop other essential parallel variables, such as the adversity quotient, to encourage them to be desirable attribution necessary for being global and competitive citizens of the society.

21ST CENTURY LEARNERS OF HIGHER EDUCATION (ODL & CONVENTIONAL SYSTEM) IN RELATION TO THEIR LEVEL OF ASPIRATIONS: A CRITICAL STUDY

In the field of education motivation to learn is important for learners in all types of system in general and ODL (Open and Distance Learning) system is particular. In ODL system learners should take ownership of the learning process, should link what they are being taught and toward which they are directing their efforts. These can be characterized as their aspirations of learners. ODL institutions should know the aspirations of learners and have a mechanism to assess the level of aspiration of learners. It’s important to match between learner’s aspirations and behaviors. It is important for learners aspiring to careers, choice of courses, and enthusiasm for doing the kinds of things necessary to achieve their aspirations. Understanding learners’ aspirations is important to develop a learning culture of learners in any system of education. This type of a culture helps the learners to be a self learner, they need to consider their aspirations and make clearer and connect their plan of action with their goals. The ultimate aim is to improve the overall learning environment and supports to the success of learners. Knowing and understanding more about learner’s aspirations; valuing and implementing on such important information is crucial for any educational institution to improve learner’s outcomes and the quality of the educational process

Remembrance in Action: Educating and Responding to the Holocaust in today’s world

A school librarian and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Teacher Fellow addresses the challenge of teaching 21st century learners about the Holocaust, demonstrating how to enrich collaborative instruction and library programing through innovative Museum resources. This paper highlights “History Unfolded,” the Museum’s growing database of WWII era newspapers promoting historical thinking and media literacy; “Experiencing History,” a primary source digital learning tool; the availability of Museum exhibitions and supplemental Holocaust projects that can be successfully implemented by school library practitioners worldwide. As we face a resurgence of neo-Nazism and increased Anti-Semitism, school librarians can be transformational leaders in Holocaust education initiatives, encouraging an equitable and inclusive environment in the greater community.

Understanding Student Perceptions of Class Participation

Located in the Philippines, this study explored the perceptions secondary English education majors at a public university in Metro Manila, Philippines, have of classroom participation. Through an open-ended questionnaire and a series of interviews, the researcher found participants defined class participation as “recitation,” such as student responses to teacher-generated questions with limited interaction with peers. Participants also reported a strong power distance relationship between student and teacher and suggested a fear of failure restricted their class participation. Despite these challenges, participants expected their participation to be assessed. When examined through the lens of Willingness to Communicate, student perceptions were contrary to the skills expected of 21st century learners. Understanding the student perception of class participation has the potential to mediate perceptual mismatches and create more effective learning environments.

Collaborate and Engage with Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Transforming Teaching for the 21st Century Learners

During the COVID-19 pandemic, attempts to nurture learners by educators to become more active and motivated learning experiences are getting more challenging. Since the past three months of the remote learning implementation, lecturers and students used various platforms to meet and teach the students virtually during the quarantine period and giving teaching materials. This study attempts to explain how online collaboration is integral in keeping learners engage and empower them which is becoming an important trend in the 21st century. A survey was conducted using questionnaire collected from 450 students studying in Universiti Utara Malaysia which looked on their knowledge of using Moodle and Microsoft Teams during the remote learning session and also explored the differences of the survey result from different student background based of gender, age and prior computer knowledge, on their behaviour and their perception on relationship building between their peers and lecturers in remote learning.This study found that by using remote learning platforms such as Moodle and Microsoft Teams effectively with focusing on collaborative elements, students gained better perception by studying them as a group rather than individual context which this study would show that online collaborative learning indeed plays an important elements for students achievement and their understanding of the knowledge they acquire. It is imperative for learners and educators to be mindful of these disruptive drivers and in becoming skillful talents to meet the changes spearheaded in the Industry Revolution 4.0 and the 21st Century Learning Design.

The Need Analysis of Student Worksheet for Writing Drama Script of Seventh Grade Student

This research aims to describe the results of the learners’ needs toward the drama script writing material development using a scientific approach. This research applied a qualitative approach. The data were collected with observation, questionnaire, and interview techniques. The applied instruments were observation, questionnaire, and interview. The sample consisted of learners. The findings showed that the learners needed communication and technology-based teaching materials to support their needs of drama script writing skill training. Based on the learners’ characteristics identification, they needed learning application to make the learning activities and to freely enrich the sources. They also needed interesting teaching materials that had many examples, provided writing exercises, the opportunity to interact, time to work the exercise, and space to perform. Therefore, this research proposed Moodle application as a learning material in the form of a Student Worksheet. This initial stage of research is expected to be the beginning of drama script writing material development with a scientific approach and based on Moodle. The results of the learners’ need analysis could be also used by other researchers to obtain the 21st-century learners’ characteristics.

Comparative study of 21st Century Skills of Science Teachers and Students of Formal and Non-Formal Educational Institutes

It is very essential for teachers to practice 21st century teaching and learning skills while teaching in order to foster these skills in 21st century learners. The focus of this study was to explore the skills of science teachers regarding 21st century skills. For this purpose, an online survey was conducted to assess the 21st century skills of science teachers. The survey questionnaire was comprised of different subscales regarding 21st century skills namely as critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity. The questionnaire consisted of 5-point Likert scale. The overall results of the study reflected that science students possess more 21st century skills than their teachers. It was recommended for science teachers of formal educational setup to practice 21st century teaching and learning skills more often as possible to inculcate 21st century skills among the students. It is also recommended that teachers of formal educational setup must enhance critical thinking and increase collaboration with students. This study is significant in the way that it reveals the current scenario of the skills of the teachers that will readily be imparted to the 21st century learners.