Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1935.

In recognition of this unprecedented challenge, does the curriculum of the teacher education program of secondary school teachers at the College of the Pacific meet the needs of its candidates? Does the secondary teacher education program adequately equip them to make their place in the secondary schools of today? Are they prepared academically and professionally? Are they prepared for community leadership? It is in an attempt to determine how completely the secondary teacher education program of College of the Pacific meets the needs of its graduates that the School of Education of the College of the Pacific has undertaken this study. Hence, this study will attempt to portray the effectiveness of the secondary teacher education program at the College of the Pacific in meeting the needs of its candidates academically, professionally, and in community leadership. In order to determine the effectiveness of this teacher education program, the study will analyze: (1) The education and professional status of the College of the Pacific secondary teacher education graduates.; (2) Guidance in the secondary teacher education program at the College of the Pacific.; (3) The academic education of the secondary teacher education program graduates of the College of the Pacific.; (4) The professional education of the secondary teacher education graduates of the College of the Pacific.; (5) The participation of the secondary teacher education graduates of the College of the Pacific in community activities in the community in which he teaches.

Why should a teacher who has not worked with senior high girls be concerned about these adolescents and their problems? There are two possible answers to this question. First, the teacher must have an understanding of the behavior patterns and characteristics of this specific age to have a reasonable amount of success for the year. And the second reason is that many adults have an inconsiderate attitude toward adolescents. These adolescents may be having difficulty in making an adjustment from the role of a child to that of the adult. Therefore, it is indeed necessary that the classroom teacher study adolescent psychology so that she will be less inept, less negligent, and inconsiderate in her relationship with the students she encourages or influences whether in the classroom or throughout the day's activities. / Typescript. / "August, 1956." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: Sarah Lou Hammond, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 52).

This is a study of teachers transition after a professional development (PD). The purpose was to document and characterize the teachers’ experiences as they transitioned toward use of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and more learner-centered teacher practices. The teachers participated in a PD workshop that provided information on the use of the NGSS (NGSS Lead States, 2013). Following the PD workshop, the teachers’ experiences as they transitioned in their classroom teaching practices were documented and analyzed. This study used a mixed-methods (qualitative and quantitative evidence) design and emphasized two of the eight science practices: Asking questions and Engaging in argument from evidence. To examine the teachers’ transition to learner-centeredness, Webb’s depth of knowledge chart and learner-centered rubric and the Survey of Science Instructional Practices were used. Four high school science teachers volunteered to participate in this study and were observed, audio-recorded, and interviewed over 9 weeks to document and analyze their transition toward a more learner-centered classroom. Classroom observations started after the teachers participated in a full-day PD workshop. Classroom observations, recordings, and interviews were used to note the frequency with which the participants and their students engaged in the target science practices over the 9 weeks of the study and to identify factors that facilitated or inhibited the teachers’ transition toward learner-centered instruction. The teachers demonstrated a mostly transitional approach over the 9-week observational period. The results showed that during the first through the final classroom observation, the teachers’ practices became more learner centered, but the pattern of progress varied. There was no linear progression from the first through the last observation. The teachers provided a rich and informative narrative about the factors that facilitated or inhibited their transition from a traditional- to a student-centered learning environment. For example, all of the participants stated that the PD was integral in helping them implement the target practices but that they did not receive enough support from colleagues and administrators to fully transition to learner-centered instruction. In addition, the New York State Regents Examinations in June 2019 seemed incompatible with the new science and engineering practices of the NGSS. This study provides insight into teachers’ challenges as they adopt the NGSS and implement the NGSS science and engineering practices in their classrooms. The research is particularly beneficial to teachers who have been textbook-oriented and seek a shift to a learner-centered classroom using the science practices of Asking questions and Engaging in argument from evidence.

High novice teacher turnover rate and shortage of skilled novice teachers continue to be an unsolved issue in the U.S. educational system. Novice teachers often suffer low teaching efficacy which may reduce their teacher resiliency and lead to teacher turnover. Past studies suggested that novice teachers’ low teaching efficacy results from their scant teaching experience and their inability to assess impacts of their teaching on students. The failure for novice teachers to utilize effective pedagogies and improve student learning often results in elevated professional anxiety, frustration, and motivation to quit teaching. Recent studies pointed out that learning analytics could help novice teachers to teach more effectively by tapping into student data and data analytics. But how to structure a professional development for novice teachers to learn to utilize learning analytics in teaching remains a question. To address these issues, a survey study and a case study are conducted in this research. The survey study analyzed 72 teachers’ perceptions and experience of using learning analytics in teaching. The results indicated common barriers for teachers to use learning analytics such as lack of awareness of learning analytics, insufficient computer skills and math/statistics knowledge. Also, when teachers considered learning analytics useful their usage of learning analytics correlated positively with teaching efficacy and teacher resiliency. Built upon insights from the survey study, the case study recruited five novice teachers and investigated the effects of a learning analytics professional development. The results suggested that after the learning analytics professional development, all participants have generally improved their learning analytics knowledge, teaching efficacy, teacher resiliency, and developed higher confidence and intention to use learning analytics in future teaching. One implication of these results is that using teaching scenario could be an effective format to structure learning analytics professional development to improve novice teachers’ competence in assessing teaching practices and their teaching efficacy. Another implication is that learning analytics professional development could be implemented as intervention in teacher education programs to reduce the likelihood of teacher turnover before novice teachers start teaching formally.

Critical thinking has received much attention among educators, yet remains largely undeveloped in traditional teacher-centred classrooms. Critical thinking is used in at least three major contexts: (1) the media and general public, (2) teacher pedagogy, and (3) academic discourse. Critical thinking must be better understood by individuals within all three levels. The purposes of this study were (1) to obtain an overall sense of what secondary school teachers believed critical thinking to entail; (2) to compare and contrast B.C. and Japanese secondary teachers' conceptions of critical thinking; (3) to investigate the nature of B.C. and Japanese secondary teachers' conceptions of critical thinking with respect to gender, age, teaching experience and subject taught; and (4) to determine whether critical thinking is a significant part of B.C. and Japanese teaching and the curriculum at the secondary level. Over 150 secondary teachers from B.C. and Japan were asked to (1) sort through 50 potential definers denoting possible attributes of critical thinking; (2) rank the 10 most significant to critical thinking; and (3) answer a questionnaire about the nature of critical thinking. The quantitative data, effectively reduced through factor analysis, yielded a five factor solution: Scientific Reasoning, Cognitive Strategizing, Conscientious Judgements, Relevance, and Intellectual Engagement. B.C. teachers conceptualized critical thinking through Cognitive Strategizing and Relevance, while Japanese teachers favoured Conscientious Judgements and Intellectual Engagement. From a synthesis of quantitative and qualitative data from teachers surveyed as well as expert opinion, critical thinking was found to be a process in which an individual is actively engaged in analyzing, reasoning, questioning, and creatively searching for alternatives in an effort to solve a problem or to make a decision or judgement. Teachers indicated that critical thinking was not rote memorization, demonstrating factual knowledge, comprehension or application. It was more than following a given algorithm or set of procedures. While over half the teachers surveyed indicated critical thinking was part of the curriculum and their teaching, many were unable to articulate how to teach it effectively. There were significant differences in teachers' conceptions of critical thinking. Culture accounted for more differences than gender, age, teaching experience, subject area, or the teaching of critical thinking. Using discriminant analysis, 27 definers distinguished between B.C. and Japanese teachers. While B.C. teachers tended to choose "Decision making," "Problem solving," "Divergent thinking," "Metacognitive skills," "Higher order thinking," "Deductive reasoning," and "Identifying/removing bias," Japanese teachers tended to chose "Fairness," "Adequacy," "Objective," "Consistency," "Completeness," Precision," and "Specificity." Over 96 percent of the teachers were correctly classified by culture. Further research is necessary on how to teach critical thinking across the curriculum and successfully integrate it with B.C. and Japanese educational reforms in areas such as curriculum development and teacher training. Critical thinking is a Western expression, yet the concept is not confined to the West. The author proposes the use of a new term for critical thinking with less emphasis on "critical" and more emphasis on "thinking"—kangaeru chikara or "powerful thinking" better encompasses the nature of critical thinking as it is conceived by B.C. and Japan's teachers. Teacher training must incorporate powerful thinking and teachers must model critical thinking, for any effort to reform the structure or organization of education ultimately depends on the effectiveness of the teacher.

Critical thinking has received much attention among educators, yet remains largely undeveloped in traditional teacher-centred classrooms. Critical thinking is used in at least three major contexts: (1) the media and general public, (2) teacher pedagogy, and (3) academic discourse. Critical thinking must be better understood by individuals within all three levels. The purposes of this study were (1) to obtain an overall sense of what secondary school teachers believed critical thinking to entail; (2) to compare and contrast B.C. and Japanese secondary teachers' conceptions of critical thinking; (3) to investigate the nature of B.C. and Japanese secondary teachers' conceptions of critical thinking with respect to gender, age, teaching experience and subject taught; and (4) to determine whether critical thinking is a significant part of B.C. and Japanese teaching and the curriculum at the secondary level. Over 150 secondary teachers from B.C. and Japan were asked to (1) sort through 50 potential definers denoting possible attributes of critical thinking; (2) rank the 10 most significant to critical thinking; and (3) answer a questionnaire about the nature of critical thinking. The quantitative data, effectively reduced through factor analysis, yielded a five factor solution: Scientific Reasoning, Cognitive Strategizing, Conscientious Judgements, Relevance, and Intellectual Engagement. B.C. teachers conceptualized critical thinking through Cognitive Strategizing and Relevance, while Japanese teachers favoured Conscientious Judgements and Intellectual Engagement. From a synthesis of quantitative and qualitative data from teachers surveyed as well as expert opinion, critical thinking was found to be a process in which an individual is actively engaged in analyzing, reasoning, questioning, and creatively searching for alternatives in an effort to solve a problem or to make a decision or judgement. Teachers indicated that critical thinking was not rote memorization, demonstrating factual knowledge, comprehension or application. It was more than following a given algorithm or set of procedures. While over half the teachers surveyed indicated critical thinking was part of the curriculum and their teaching, many were unable to articulate how to teach it effectively. There were significant differences in teachers' conceptions of critical thinking. Culture accounted for more differences than gender, age, teaching experience, subject area, or the teaching of critical thinking. Using discriminant analysis, 27 definers distinguished between B.C. and Japanese teachers. While B.C. teachers tended to choose "Decision making," "Problem solving," "Divergent thinking," "Metacognitive skills," "Higher order thinking," "Deductive reasoning," and "Identifying/removing bias," Japanese teachers tended to chose "Fairness," "Adequacy," "Objective," "Consistency," "Completeness," Precision," and "Specificity." Over 96 percent of the teachers were correctly classified by culture. Further research is necessary on how to teach critical thinking across the curriculum and successfully integrate it with B.C. and Japanese educational reforms in areas such as curriculum development and teacher training. Critical thinking is a Western expression, yet the concept is not confined to the West. The author proposes the use of a new term for critical thinking with less emphasis on "critical" and more emphasis on "thinking"—kangaeru chikara or "powerful thinking" better encompasses the nature of critical thinking as it is conceived by B.C. and Japan's teachers. Teacher training must incorporate powerful thinking and teachers must model critical thinking, for any effort to reform the structure or organization of education ultimately depends on the effectiveness of the teacher. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

The concluding chapter explores implications of the research findings for the accessibility of teachers' craft knowledge, wider issues about the conditions necessary for the potential of school-based initial teacher education to be realised, and future research in the field.

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This thesis develops a discipline-based ceramic instruction using art history, art criticism, aesthetics and art production, which will be used to train Nigerian junior secondary school ceramic teachers. Concepts of discipline-based art education, materials, and techniques of ceramics production will be used to make a systematic, sequential, written curriculum of activities that will be used in the class.