Search results for "Teaching method"
showing 10 items of 407 documents
The Effects of Cognitive Strategy Instruction on Knowledge of Math Problem-Solving Processes of Middle School Students With Learning Disabilities
2012
This study investigated the effectiveness of Solve It! instruction on students’ knowledge of math problem-solving strategies. Solve It! is a cognitive strategy intervention designed to improve the math problem solving of middle school students with learning disabilities (LD). Participants included seventh- and eighth-grade students with LD ( n = 77) and average-achieving students ( n = 77). We examined treatment effects of the intervention, as well as differential effects of treatment across ability levels, on students’ knowledge of problem-solving strategies using the Math Problem-Solving Assessment. Results showed that students across ability levels who received Solve It! instruction rep…
Introducing Dialogic Teaching to Science Student Teachers
2011
It is commonly believed that science teachers rely on language that allows only minor flexibility when it comes to taking into account contrasting views and pupil thoughts. Too frequently science teachers either pose questions that target predefined answers or simply lecture through lessons, a major concern from a sociocultural perspective. This study reports the experiences of science student teachers when introduced to the Communicative Approach to science education drawing on dialogic teacher-talk in addition to authoritative teacher-talk. This approach was introduced to the students in an interventional teaching program running parallel to the student teachers’ field practice. The pract…
Voicing the challenges faced by an innovative teacher community
2011
This research draws on sociocultural theories of learning and activity theory to explore the challenges faced by an innovative community of teachers in Central Finland. The aim of the teacher community was to develop a stream of foreign‐language (FL)‐mediated teaching and learning in the locality from kindergarten to upper secondary level. To achieve this goal, the teachers needed to form coherent groups within the member schools, as well as between the schools. The aim of this research is to give voice to the challenges identified by the teachers and in so doing give voice to the teacher community itself. Recognising the voice of this community also contributes to a broader conceptualisati…
The school staff's perception of their ability to teach special educational needs pupils in inclusive settings in Finland
2015
Recent studies have suggested that the professional training received by general educators does not adequately prepare them to properly implement inclusion-based practices. The idea of inclusion in practice has not significantly changed the situation of teaching pupils with special educational needs (SENs) in mainstream classes. This study's primary intent is to examine the factors that identify the school staff's ability to meet the needs of SEN pupils in their daily teaching situations. A total of 187 elementary school teachers, principals and teaching assistants in a Finnish city completed a structured questionnaire that used a self-evaluation method. Two components were generalised acco…
A comparative study of Norwegian and Swedish special educators’ beliefs and practices
2019
The purpose of this study was to examine and compare Norwegian (n = 320) and Swedish (n = 425) special educators’ reported practices and beliefs about key aspects of their profession. Data was coll...
Documenting pedagogical support measures in Finnish IEPs for students with intellectual disability
2018
The individual education plan (IEP) is an essential part of special education and is used widely in Western countries for documenting both the learning goals and support measures for children with ...
Museum behind the scenes–an inquiry-based learning unit with biological collections in the classroom
2016
AbstractThe aim of this study was to design and evaluate an inquiry- and activity-based learning unit for the classroom that uses biological collections to teach key evolutionary concepts and to support the understanding and appreciation of the work of a museum. The unit consisted of three parts that focused on the most important tasks of museums: collecting and conserving, researching and exhibiting. The students created their own collection, performed research surrounding it and then designed an exhibition. Seventy-six secondary sixth- and seventh-grade students participated in the testing of the prototype unit. For evaluation, we carried out a pre-/post-test design using a questionnaire …
Outcomes of teacher education in Finland: subject teachers compared with primary teachers
2019
An exit survey performed for graduating students is an economical way to assess the outcomes of teacher education. In this study, exit survey data were collected from eight cohorts of Finnish student teachers who graduated between the years 2008 and 2015. A final sample consisted of 1102 preservice primary and subject teachers. A 10-item scale based on INTASC standards of teacher competency was used to measure graduates’ satisfaction regarding the knowledge and experience they had attained. This paper concentrates especially on the results of subject teachers and comparisons between the two teacher categories. The profile of the participants was uneven across domains. The highest means were…
Teachers’ Implicit Meaning Systems and Their Implications for Pedagogical Thinking and Practice: A Case Study from Finland
2016
ABSTRACTThis qualitative case study examines teachers’ implicit meaning systems built around their core beliefs on the malleability of human qualities. Previous research has demonstrated the influence of students’ implicit theories on motivation and achievement and has presented successful interventions for students. However, research on teachers’ implicit theories and, in particular, their actualization in natural environments is lacking. The data for this study include observations and stimulated recall interviews with two Finnish teachers whose opposing implicit theories were first indicated in 2000 by Carol Dweck . The results depict how these teachers’ implicit meaning systems influenc…
Reconceptualizing cultural literacy as a dialogic practice
2019
Culture and heritage are plural and fluid, continually co-created through interaction between people. However, traditional monologic models of cultural literacy reflect a one-way transmission of static cultural knowledge. Using the context of a large European project and augmenting the work of Buber with models of literacy as social practice, in this article cultural literacy is reconceptualized as fundamentally dialogic. We argue that cultural literacy empowers intercultural dialogue, opening a dialogic space with inherent democratic potential. Considering implications for the classroom, we outline how a dialogic pedagogy can provide a suitable context for the development of young people's…