One way in which higher education is responding to technology advances, demographics changes, and economic pressures is through the development of distance learning. Distance learning represents one of the most prominent trends in higher education today. Understanding the impact of this technologically driven change on student outcomes is unmistakably important. One example of this trend in higher education is the distance learning internship in dietetic training programs. The purpose of this study was to compare student outcomes in distance learning dietetic internships to student outcomes in traditional dietetic internships. The pass rate of the registration exam for dietitians, levels of perceived preparation for practice, and evaluation of curricular experiences were compared. The study was divided into three phases. The first phase of the study was the recruitment of dietetic internship directors and program information, including registration exam pass rate. The second phase of the study consisted of surveys on preparedness for practice to the graduates and supervisors. The third phase of the study involved interviews of traditional and distance program graduates, their supervisors, and internship directors on curricular experience and preparation. No significant difference was found in pass rates for the registration exam. Significant differences were found in constructs of dietetic practice based on surveys with graduates and their supervisors. Common themes from interviews with graduates, their supervisors, and program directors confirmed survey results showing graduates of traditional dietetic internship were prepared at a higher level of practice, competence and clinical judgment. The results of this research do not support equivalency in preparation for practice between distance and traditional dietetic internships.

Quality professional development is essential to enhance and sustain teacher efficacy. In a Southeastern school district, content-based, job-embedded professional development was not practiced or available for secondary school choral teachers. The purpose of this research was to discover the perceptions that choral teachers possess about what constitutes quality professional development. Guided by Bruner's constructivist approach, Knowles' concept of andragogy, and DuFour's professional development practices, this study examined the connection between these 3 ideas and supplied the foundation for the development of a professional development program. Using a case study design, data were collected through interviews and lesson plan documents from 9 secondary school choral teachers. The data were coded by hand and analyzed using an inductive approach. The key results were that the secondary school choral teachers desire quality professional development, characterized by content-based subject matter and collaborative delivery methods. A project of customized content-based choral music was constructed using teacher collaboration and mentoring as critical components of the delivery system. This study has implications for positive social change by providing professional development that addresses the needs and desires of the educators and increases their knowledge and skills. The project can perform as a prototype for professional development in other academic disciplines.

The purpose of this research was to evaluate a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme for football coaches working in Planning, Preparation and Assessment (PPA) time in schools. PPA time was introduced for all teachers in 2005 as part of a seven stage response to the 2003 workload remodelling act and aimed to support the dual aims of addressing teacher workload and raising educational standards (DfES, 2003). To do this coaches’ were required to work against the definition of specified work. Specified work is defined as specified by Baalpe (2005: 4) as: “Planning and preparing lessons and courses for pupils. Delivering lessons to pupils – including distance learning or computer-aided techniques. Assessing the development, progress and attainment of pupils. Reporting on the development, progress and attainment of pupils.” The evaluation adopts a realist case study methodology which aims to understand the relationship between the initial context, mechanism for change and the initial outcomes of the CPD programme (Pawson and Tiley, 1997; Pawson, 2003; Pawson, 2006). The delivery of the CPD programme was underpinned by constructed and situated theories of learning (Lave and Wenger, 1991; Kirk and Macdonald; 1998, Wenger, 1998) that emphasised the synergy of new and old knowledge encouraging the coaches to develop both practical and ontological knowledge, skill and understanding. These intended outcomes were supported by the CPD programme being delivered through a critical pedagogical perspective (Kirk, 2000) that challenged the coaches to consider knowledge, either accepting or rejecting the knowledge being presented by the programme. The initial context findings showed that the coaches did not have the necessary knowledge, skill and understanding to work against the definition of specified work in PPA time. The initial mechanism for change highlighted that there were positive relationships between initial context and the mechanisms used in the CPD programme, which included practical coaching sessions, DVD analysis and working with other coaches. The initial outcomes further supported the mechanism of change and showed that for some of the coaches knowledge, skill and understanding had developed but also identified some mechanistic blocks that prevented the coaches from developing their knowledge, skill and understanding in relation to working in PPA time and operating against the definition of specified work; these included the coaches’ relationship with schools and the support the Community Sports Trust managers provided the coaches. The study concludes that future CPD should concentrate on how schools and Community Sports Trusts can raise the standards of Physical Education lessons covered by external coaches and how this can be developed, as opposed to focussing more narrowly on what knowledge sports coaches require to deliver specified work and how can this best be developed. The thesis proposes that the CPD should be multi-agency and multi-structure and include schools, teachers, Community Sports Trust managers and coaches and aim to develop an ontological perspective which develops and refines the practical skills that will allow coaches to work against the definition of specified work.

The purpose of this study was to explore (1) how teachers build knowledge, (2) the influence of prior beliefs on the ways in which teachers internalize this knowledge, and (3) the degree to which teachers use this new knowledge to facilitate changes in their practice. The use of landscape as a metaphorical representation for this study satisfied two needs. First, this study took place on two fundamentally different landscapes—a summer writing institute where the teachers took the role of learner, and in three teachers’ classrooms where they were to enact what they learned. However, in a more abstract sense, these landscapes, considered “exterior” (Lopez, 1995) were also places in which people lived, sharing their thoughts about families, teaching, learning, schools, and children. Thought of as “interior landscapes,” (Lopez, 1995) these conversations revealed the dialogic nature of the relationship between the two and made it possible to engage in a Bahktinian analysis of the interplay between internally persuasive and authoritative discourses voiced in the narratives. Utilizing a narrative inquiry approach (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) as a methodological base, the study focused on the relationship between professional development and the possibilities for change in each of the teacher’s classrooms. The representation of the data consisted of the many stories that took place on the two landscapes of the institute and the classrooms—stories of the teacher, school, district, community, and the state. The findings suggest that strategies alone will not improve the instruction in writing classrooms and that researchers, teacher educators, and those who provide professional development need to rethink the cultural narrative of “change.” Consideration must be given to the dialogic interplay among the various discourses, both authoritative and internally persuasive, that live on the interior landscapes of the teachers and the role each plays in the change process. Therefore, professional development settings need to become places where teachers are guided through a process to examine their deeply held assumptions of students, writing curriculum, and what constitutes knowledge. / text

While school districts across the nation are pressed to make better and more frequent use of a range of educational data, they have few resources that help guide the process of improving educator capacity for data use. To date, there have been few efforts to examine the intersection of professional learning and data use to better guide efforts at improving educator data use capacity. In order to learn more about how school districts attempt to meet educator needs in terms of data-related learning, and how they use policies to approach this issue, I examined the intersection of data use and professional learning in three school districts. I used a qualitative case study methodology to examine these issues, and relied on interview data from n=110 individuals across the three districts, as well as document analysis in each district, to better understand the existing structures in each context and how those structures came to be. I also utilized random sampling for some focus groups, and used a peer nomination process for other focus groups, which allowed me to identify educators thought by their colleagues to be “exemplar” data users. I found that across the districts, educators at all levels articulated with remarkable consistency a range of skills and knowledge they said were essential to good data use. Also, educators were consistent in describing the kinds of professional learning structures they thought best supported their needs as learners. However, in most cases, district structures fell short of these ideals. The districts rarely codified expectations related to the structure of professional learning or to data-related skills and knowledge in formal policy, and planning related to data use tended to be fragmented among many departments and leaders. As a result, there were many assumptions that “someone else” or another department was providing support in terms of data-related professional learning, while many times data use-related learning simply fell between the cracks. Informed by existing research and the results of this study, I posited a model aimed at supporting policymakers as they engage in planning for data-related professional learning. / text

Technology has become an integral part of the educational experience for many students and teachers, and institutions of higher education have invested heavily in its acquisition. Instructors tend to adopt new technologies when they perceive the benefits and usefulness of this implementation for their teaching. To facilitate the adoption process and following use, institutions offer professional development opportunities for their faculty. These opportunities provide the tools, guidance, support, and direction to help instructors understand the technologies and to promote effective learning and instruction with them. The main goal of this study is to explore the learning processes and procedures in which higher education instructors engage to be able to use the technology available to them effectively at their institutions. Two overall questions lead this investigation: 1. How do instructors learn how to use the technology available at their institutions? 2. How do instructors use the available technology in their courses? To address these questions, this dissertation examines important aspects of faculty professional development. Effective technology use should be based on sound educational theory. Chapter 2 explores a specific theoretical framework, cognitivism, examining how it can inform instructional practices when using digital technology in higher education. Chapter 3 elaborates further on andragogical and self-directed learning models as a way to provide the foundation knowledge for the understanding of the adult learner and to inform professional development design and implementation. Support, time, and recognition are important factors that contribute to one's use of technology and they are reflected in the availability of helpful training. Chapter 4 examines instructors' perceptions of the available technical and pedagogical training on the learning management system at a Southwestern university. If further training is required to use the technology, instructors usually need to learn more on their own. Chapter 5 investigates the role of instructor self-direction by analyzing what instructors do to learn more about the technologies after they have attended professional development sessions at a Southwestern community college. In chapter 6, the findings from these studies are discussed and they intend to inform the design, implementation, and delivery of effective faculty professional development programs.

The connection between teacher practices and efficacy beliefs and the connection between teacher practices and professional development has been explored empirically (Allinder, 1994; Boardman & Woodruff, 2004; Cohen & Hill, 2001). However, there is a need to examine how mentoring and professional development opportunities for novice teachers function in relation to their efficacy beliefs and teaching practices. This study contributes to the novice teacher literature by examining the interrelations among these constructs. Data for this study were collected from 81 first-year teachers across seven school districts. Data were collected during the fall, winter, and spring using a classroom observation rubric, interviews, and a survey measure. Data were analyzed to look for relationships among teachers' perceptions of their mentoring and professional development experiences, actual classroom practices, and their efficacy beliefs. Results indicated considerable differences in mentoring for teachers in K-2, 3-5, and 6-8; they also indicated grade-level trends on the focus of professional development activities. Findings suggest the stability of teacher efficacy beliefs across the school year. For some districts, there appeared to be a relationship between efficacy scores and the frequency with which teachers reported meeting with their mentors. Lastly, findings suggest that mentors and professional development play important roles at the beginning of the school year. Results also suggest a relationship between teaching practices at the beginning of the school year and efficacy beliefs at the end of the school year for some teachers and districts.

Learning emotional responsibility, including emotionally letting go, is an important part of the development of every teacher. When letting go is difficult, it can be helpful to have examples of people who have already matured. This study focuses on the emotional stance, or awareness, of eight effective student-oriented teachers. Sixteen different teachers, from six different middle schools were recommended by their principals as excellent classroom managers. From these, eight were chosen who demonstrated clear authority and a student-centered approach. These eight teachers were interviewed according to the Hilda Taba method for the Interpretation of Data (Maker and Schiever 2005). The questions were structured to help teachers consider their feelings and attitudes as causes of events. When the interviews had been transcribed, they were examined for common emotional dispositions. The dispositions found included those that orient teachers toward perspective taking, considering students to be their own authority, desiring relationships with students, having a positive attitude and being emotionally present. Implications for education include allowing students to determine a portion of their final evaluation.

This article provides an overview of the Tools for Outreach and Teaching Series (TOTS) at UBC Library. The series was created by three UBC Librarians to enable library staff to learn from each other about social software and other emerging technologies that might be useful in their work.

Changes in contemporary world raised new challenges for Lithuanian education, required new attitudes towards many fields of education. New role of the teacher, need and necessity for the teachers to acquire new competencies demand also qualitatively new attitude towards teacher education, including organizing teachers‘ in-service training. Significant role falls on the lector, as the provider of in-service training services. Problems of professional development, reforms in this area are investigated both by foreign as well as Lithuanian scientists. Though, lectors, who participate in the process of teacher‘s in-service education, was not properly explored. In this master thesis peculiarities of the lectors‘ work at regional and universities‘ Educational Centres is tackled. The object of the investigation: Work of lectors, who take part in teacher in-service at regional and universities‘ Educational Centres. The aims of the investigation: Describe and analyse work peculiarities of lectors, as in-service training service providers, at regional and universities‘ Educational Centres. The goals of the investigation: 1. Analyze scientific literature dealing with problems of in-service; documents, defining the strategies for in-service in the contemporary stage of the Education Reform. 2. Analyse requirements for lector‘s competence and data on evaluation of lectors‘ work in research on the state of education in the period of 2000-2004. 3. Single out peculiarities of lectors‘ work... [to full text]