Relationship between perceived and observed student-centred learning environments in Qatari elementary mathematics and science classrooms     

Stephanie L. Knight  Dawn Parker  Whitney Zimmerman  Atman Ikhlief 《Learning Environments Research》2014,17(1):29-47

Recently, Qatar established educational reform in charter (independent) schools focusing on curriculum standards, student-centred teaching, standards-based assessment, English as the language of instruction, and extensive professional development. A primary area of emphasis was the creation of student-centred mathematics and science classrooms characterised by inquiry and active student participation. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in the learning environments of Qatari mathematics and science classrooms at two levels: in higher- and lower-performing Qatari schools implementing the recent Education for a New Era reform elements; and in classes of teachers who experienced professional development focused on student-centred teaching strategies and those who did not. Participants included teachers and students in 47 grade 3 and 4 mathematics and science classrooms. Classroom observations were conducted and student learning environment surveys were administered at the beginning and end of the semester. Results indicated low levels of student-centred instruction, despite significant improvement over time. Few differences by level of school performance or professional development participation existed. However, Personalisation emerged as a key learning environment variable related to teachers’ implementation of student-centred instruction.  相似文献   

Effect of professional development on teaching behaviors and efficacy in Qatari educational reforms     

Whitney Alicia Zimmerman  Stephanie L. Knight  David E. Favre  Atman Ikhlef 《Teacher Development》2017,21(2):324-345

Qatar is undergoing major educational reform that is shifting its educational policy toward an instructional orientation grounded in constructivism and student-centered instruction. Differences in cultural conceptions of knowledge acquisition and the purpose of education are examined to highlight challenges to Qatar’s reform implementation efforts. Self-efficacy theory is reviewed to provide a theoretical framework for our examination of the adequacy of professional development to impact teacher efficacy for implementing reform-based teaching practices. Teaching behaviors in line with the reform and teacher efficacy were quantitatively measured before and after professional development for treatment and control groups. Regression methods were used to examine the impact of professional development on the relationship between teaching behaviors and teacher efficacy. Results indicate a significant interaction effect; for teachers who received the training, the relationship between behaviors and teacher efficacy was negative, while for teachers in the control group this relationship was positive. Implications of the findings for teacher efficacy and professional development are discussed.  相似文献   

A pedagogy of larger concerns used as a lens to reflect on the design of student learning experiences     

Jim Borgford-Parnell  Jennifer Turns  Cynthia J. Atman  Ken Yasuhara  Lauren Fryhle 《European Journal of Engineering Education》2019,44(1-2):19-34

ABSTRACT

Although engineering educational endeavours are often described with regard to how well they prepare students to meet national or global engineering concerns, the purpose of this paper is to show how those efforts can also serve the larger educational goals of the educators themselves as they develop learning experiences for their students. This paper describes the reflections of four engineering educators who used a research-based ‘Pedagogy of Larger Concerns’ (PLC) as a conceptual lens for examining important aspects of their courses. A PLC is a set of teaching conceptions that was identified in a study exploring the thinking of outstanding professors in order to improve our understanding of the basis of their effectiveness.  相似文献