Many academics become teachers without the help of formal professional learning. This study explores how a small group of academics have done this. The research aims to uncover the informal, experiential means whereby participants have constructed the knowledge about teaching and learning that underpins their pedagogies. The research begins with the assumption that three key elements play a major role in supporting academics’ informal learning about teaching. These are a person’s previous experiences of learning, their experience of being part of a particular academic environment and their personal or ‘private’ theories about teaching and learning, which are experientially based. Life narratives were collected from a small group of university teachers who participated in qualitative interviews and provided written evidence of their experiences, practices and philosophies of teaching. The research uses an ethnographic, interpretive approach to collect and analyse data in which participants’ voices are foregrounded. The researcher’s life narratives also form part of the final thesis, demonstrating an ‘engaged’ approach to research and providing explicit evidence of the researcher’s positioning in relation to the subject matter of the thesis. The research reveals the importance for participants of a ‘teaching self’ or consistent identity that develops in early life and continues through to the adult professional context. This identity forms a basis for participants’ teaching practices. The challenges experienced by participants when institutional practices do not support or help maintain this identity are discussed, as are the processes whereby participants seek out like-minded colleagues with whom to engage in ‘professional conversations’ about teaching. The research reveals strong connections between participants’ sense of ‘self’ and the principles underpinning their pedagogies, and the thesis concludes with some suggestions about how the concept of the ‘teaching self’ might be used to support all teachers engaged in professional learning. Finally, the research advocates ‘reflexivity’ on the part of teachers, whereby a critical awareness of biography helps locate practice in the cultural and social environment in which it develops.

Orientador: Sonia Maria Duarte Grego / Banca: Sueli Aparecida Itman Monteiro / Banca: José Roberto Rus Perez / Resumo: A presente Dissertação de Mestrado, sob o título: Representações Sociais - Rupturas e Protagonismos nas Práticas Docentes no Ensino Superior, teve por objetivo estudar as práticas docentes dos professores do Curso de Medicina Veterinária da FMVZ - UNESP de Botucatu. Esse estudo se insere no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Escolar sob a linha de pesquisa em Política e Gestão Educacional da Faculdade de Ciências e Letras -FCL - UNESP de Araraquara. O estudo buscou novas proposições sobre o ensino que é realizado no ensino superior, diante das mudanças paradigmáticas na qual se encontra a docência universitária. Sendo importante constatar quais as políticas e arranjos institucionais que devem ser direcionados diante da compreensão das representações sociais que revelaram esses professores. O objetivo foi investigar e identificar as representações sociais que alguns docentes da Faculdade de Medicina de Veterinária (FMVZ - Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia) da Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" - Unesp de Botucatu, têm sobre suas práticas pedagógicas. Para tal, foi feito um levantamento histórico do início da faculdade bem como um levantamento da estrutura física e acadêmica dessa unidade. Também foi realizado um estudo sobre o histórico da universidade no mundo, no Brasil e na docência universitária, dentro do atual contexto social, político, econômico e cultural para auxiliar o processo da identificação das representações sociais desses professores. A metodologia da pesquisa foi feita sob a abordagem qualitativa, utilizando-se entrevista, questionário semiprojetivo e questionário de evocações como meio para identificar o núcleo central e periférico das representações sociais dos docentes. A partir da identificação... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This dissertation under the title: Social Representations - Ruptures and Individualist Teacher practices in higher learning had intended to study the teaching practices of teachers of the course of Veterinary Medicine of FMVZ-UNESP, Botucatu. This study fits into graduate program in Education under the line of research in Educational policy and management at the Faculty of Letters and Sciences of FCL - UNESP, Araraquara . The study sought new propositions on teaching that is held in higher learning, the paradigmatic changes seen in which lies the University teaching. And it is important to note which policies and institutional arrangements that should be focused on understanding the social representations that revealed these teachers. The goal was to investigate and identify the social representations that some teachers of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (FMVZ - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechny) of "Universidade Estadual Paulista 'Júlio de Mesquita Filho'" UNESP, Botucatu, have about their pedagogical practices. To this end, a survey was done of the early history of the College, as well as a survey of academic and physical structure of this unit. It was also performed a study on the history of the University in the world, in Brazil and in university teaching, within the current context social, political, economic and cultural to assist the process of identification of the social representations of these teachers. The methodology of the research was done under the qualitative approach, using the questionnaire, interview and questionnaire of evocations semi-projectiv as a means to identify the central and peripheral nucleus of social representations of teachers. From the identification of teaching and the teaching-research linkage as social representation of teachers of FMVZ, it was realized... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Doctor of Philosophy(PhD) / This thesis argues that it is only through understanding the multiple facets of technology that we are able to determine whether any particular manifestation of technology is educational. The reconstruction of educational technology in this thesis begins by building an understanding of the concept of experiential technology from the work of Heidegger, Dewey and Popper. This provides the conceptual architecture required to research the influence of educational technology in universities, which is interpreted in light of the wider theory of modernisation of society developed by Jürgen Habermas. The critical theory of technology formulated by Feenberg provides the methodological basis for reconstructing an understanding of technology and its impact on student learning. A reconstructive analysis requires a number of situational critiques, which in this thesis review the advice given to academic staff about the use of educational technology. It is through a synthesis of these critiques that this thesis examines whether higher education is undergoing a process of colonisation that has reduced its potential to discuss the values of university teaching and learning. Online learning is taken as a case example that has been embraced by academics for dealing with increasing student numbers and the increasing importance of work-based learning. By shifting from the theory of technology to the practice of the Australian Technology University, this thesis demonstrates that one approach to coping with change in the higher education context is to incorporate business values, have increasingly flexible curricula and focus on workplace skills. This thesis concludes that universities could go a lot further to incorporate the values of higher education into educational technology. In the case of the online learner this would support those distinctive characteristics that encourage a deep approach to learning. Following arguments put forward by Feenberg, it is argued that it is through student participation in technical design that we have the greatest chance of influencing technology’s development to emphasize the values of higher education. As long as academics continue to control the technological decision-making, the delivery and management of information is likely to remain the most common use of online technology. The legitimacy of the academic’s decision to use technology in their teaching increases where there is only a narrow gap between the values of the participants and the reality of their practice. Thus, to be morally just and provide students with the developmental opportunities that will serve them in their later professional and citizenship roles, the online classroom needs to ensure that it provides an autonomy-supporting environment.

The title ‘Inclusive schooling: contexts, texts and politics’, names a thesis which critically analyses the development of inclusive schooling in the small Australian Island state of Tasmania between 1996 and 1998. The ‘Inclusion of Students with Disabilities’ policy, introduced in 1995 by the Tasmanian Department of Education, Community and Cultural Development, provides an opportunity to understand the cultural context and politics of change in schooling over this period. The qualitative methodology deployed here is informed by poststructuralism and captures the everyday experiences of university teaching as a research site. The teacher/researcher as the visible maker of the research use metaphors of fibre and textile practice, techniques of textual juxtaposition and her positioned subjectivity as a female academic to tell a 'big story'. The researcher develops a 'double method' as a possible model for Inclusive research practice and educational policy analysis. Using a critical ethnographic method, derived from the work of Carspecken (1996), 'data stories' (Lather & Smithies 1997, p.34) are produced from the narratives of five key informants – a parent, two teachers, a policy-maker and the researcher. Assembled as the data of the thesis the multi-voiced texts provide an account of the sociocultural, professional and systemic context of Inclusive schooling over a three-year period. In the analysis these data are interpreted from a feminist poststructural standpoint. A deconstructuive reading of the data stories interprets the discourse of inclusive schooling emphasising the dominant foundation of the special education knowledge tradition. The idea of author function (after Foucault 1975, 1984b and Grundy and Hatton 1995) is used to interpret the 'texts' of the key Informants as discursive constructions. The researcher theorises inclusive schooling as an entangled, multiple and contradictory discourse, embedded in the social, cultural and material contexts, rather than a singular unitary Idea of the progress within the special education knowledge tradition. The study contributes a fine-grained analysis of the constructed knowledge of inclusive schooling in one locality. The thesis advocates continuing engagement with questions of epistemology and social transformation in inclusive schooling, rather than persisting with technical rationality and the status quo. The researcher takes the position that the opportunities to theorise inclusive schooling lie within the multiple and disparate constructed texts of the micro world of everyday practice and the macro understanding of understandings of contemporary social justice. The poststructuralist writing/reading questions traditionalist theorising in the special education field. Central to the negotiations of power and truth inclusive schooling research and practice is a communicative theory that transforms populist conceptions of inclusion.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This research is about university teachers’ experiences of teaching in blended learning environments. In recent years, this type of environments has become increasingly common. Universities have realised the value of the incorporation of eLearning, making teaching more professional and offering higher quality learning experiences. At the same time, pressures from students, who use online resources for many of their everyday activities, and employers, who want future professionals to be skilled information technology users, have also promoted the up-take of eLearning. In this context, the present research took a relational approach to investigate what university teachers think eLearning is good for in their teaching, how they approach teaching when eLearning is involved, and how their perception of the teaching situation affects the use of eLearning. Associations between these elements were also explored. The research had a qualitative and a quantitative stage. In the qualitative stage, 18 university teachers, coming from two research-intensive Australian universities were interviewed. This stage focused on conceptions, approaches and perceptions of the teaching situation; both considering teaching in face-to-face settings and using eLearning. In the quantitative stage, 86 university teachers answered a web-based survey. Three questionnaires were used to explore associations between approaches and perceptions: the ‘approaches to teaching’ inventory, the ‘perception of the teaching situation’ questionnaire, and the ‘approaches to teaching using eLearning’ questionnaire. The last one was developed from the results of the qualitative stage of this research. Results showed that conceptions of teaching ranged from being focused on content and information to being focused on learning and the student. Conceptions of teaching using eLearning showed variation from being focused on information to being focused on communication and collaboration. Conceptions of blended teaching were proposed to emerge from associations between conceptions of teaching and conceptions of teaching using eLearning. In relation to approaches, results showed that approaches to teaching ranged from being focused on content and the teacher to being focused on learning and the student. Approaches to teaching using eLearning varied from being focused on transmission of information to being focused on communication and collaboration. As in the case of conceptions, approaches to blended teaching were also claimed to emerge from associations between approaches to teaching and approaches to teaching using eLearning. Regarding elements influencing teaching, seven factors emerged in relation to approaches to teaching using eLearning: ‘control of teaching’, ‘institutional strategy’, ‘technical support’, ‘pedagogical support’, ‘amount of time needed’, ‘teacher’s skills for eLearning’ and ‘students’ ability and willingness to using eLearning’. Factors influencing teachers’ general perception of their teaching situation were ‘control of teaching’, ‘institutional support’ and ‘students’ characteristics’. Associations between conceptions, approaches and perceptions were explored through ‘teaching profiles’ and ‘orchestrations’ Teaching profiles referred to systematic associations between conceptions and approaches to teaching in face-to-face and online teaching. Three blended teaching profiles emerged: ‘systematically information focused’, ‘dissonant’ (with 5 variations) and ‘systematically learning focused’. Blended teaching profiles associated with perceptions of the teaching situation and teachers’ characteristics led to ‘teaching orchestrations’. Three orchestrations emerged: ‘consonant (information focused) and coherent’, ‘dissonant and coherent’ and ‘consonant (learning focused) and coherent’. Results of the quantitative stage tended to support prior qualitative findings, and also identified ‘incoherent’ associations between approaches to teaching and perceptions of the teaching situation, which had not emerged in the qualitative study. Results of this research were claimed to have practical implications in terms of academic development, the management of teaching and eLearning, and the practice of teaching. In relation to academic development, it was proposed that programs focused on expanding university teachers’ awareness about ways of incorporating eLearning into on-campus education rather than only providing ‘technical’ skills are generated. In relation to management of teaching and eLearning, it was proposed that favourable conditions should be set up for the teachers to perceive they are supported for the incorporation of eLearning into their teaching. Finally, in relation to the practice of teaching, it was proposed that teachers incorporate learning tasks aligned with the communication-collaboration focused approaches to teaching using eLearning, such as blended discussions or knowledge building tasks.

Doctor of Philosophy(PhD) / This thesis argues that it is only through understanding the multiple facets of technology that we are able to determine whether any particular manifestation of technology is educational. The reconstruction of educational technology in this thesis begins by building an understanding of the concept of experiential technology from the work of Heidegger, Dewey and Popper. This provides the conceptual architecture required to research the influence of educational technology in universities, which is interpreted in light of the wider theory of modernisation of society developed by Jürgen Habermas. The critical theory of technology formulated by Feenberg provides the methodological basis for reconstructing an understanding of technology and its impact on student learning. A reconstructive analysis requires a number of situational critiques, which in this thesis review the advice given to academic staff about the use of educational technology. It is through a synthesis of these critiques that this thesis examines whether higher education is undergoing a process of colonisation that has reduced its potential to discuss the values of university teaching and learning. Online learning is taken as a case example that has been embraced by academics for dealing with increasing student numbers and the increasing importance of work-based learning. By shifting from the theory of technology to the practice of the Australian Technology University, this thesis demonstrates that one approach to coping with change in the higher education context is to incorporate business values, have increasingly flexible curricula and focus on workplace skills. This thesis concludes that universities could go a lot further to incorporate the values of higher education into educational technology. In the case of the online learner this would support those distinctive characteristics that encourage a deep approach to learning. Following arguments put forward by Feenberg, it is argued that it is through student participation in technical design that we have the greatest chance of influencing technology’s development to emphasize the values of higher education. As long as academics continue to control the technological decision-making, the delivery and management of information is likely to remain the most common use of online technology. The legitimacy of the academic’s decision to use technology in their teaching increases where there is only a narrow gap between the values of the participants and the reality of their practice. Thus, to be morally just and provide students with the developmental opportunities that will serve them in their later professional and citizenship roles, the online classroom needs to ensure that it provides an autonomy-supporting environment.

In diesem Beitrag wird "fallbasierte Lernberatung" als ein zentrales Moment der Weiterentwicklung der Studierfähigkeit der Studierenden vor- und dargestellt. Fallbasierte Lernberatung wird darin als reflexive Praktik verstanden, die in Lehrveranstaltungen oder begleitend zu Lehrveranstaltungen angeboten werden kann. Mit der Bereitstellung eines solchen Lernberatungsangebots wird zweierlei erreicht. Studierende erhalten die professionell begleitete Gelegenheit, ihre Lernfähigkeiten weiter zu entwickeln und Lehrende Aufschluss über die konkreten Lernprobleme der Studierenden. Dieser kann wiederum auf das Lehrangebot rückwirken und so die Qualität der Lehre verbessern helfen. / The article describes the context and perspective of learning guidance in higher education. It illustrates a working model of learning guidance as a case-based procedure. The very centre of counselling learning-processes within this working model are real cases of the participating learners. The aim of the case-based learning guidance is to develop extended options for learning actions.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Douglas Sloan. Dissertation Committee: Harold Noah, Ellis Katz. Bibliography: leaves 417-429.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-11-29Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:52:16Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 rodrigues_ec_me_arafcl.pdf: 1954948 bytes, checksum: 9603a8d5540327a8f4bf2e0c00cd0e5a (MD5) / A presente Dissertação de Mestrado, sob o título: Representações Sociais – Rupturas e Protagonismos nas Práticas Docentes no Ensino Superior, teve por objetivo estudar as práticas docentes dos professores do Curso de Medicina Veterinária da FMVZ - UNESP de Botucatu. Esse estudo se insere no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Escolar sob a linha de pesquisa em Política e Gestão Educacional da Faculdade de Ciências e Letras -FCL – UNESP de Araraquara. O estudo buscou novas proposições sobre o ensino que é realizado no ensino superior, diante das mudanças paradigmáticas na qual se encontra a docência universitária. Sendo importante constatar quais as políticas e arranjos institucionais que devem ser direcionados diante da compreensão das representações sociais que revelaram esses professores. O objetivo foi investigar e identificar as representações sociais que alguns docentes da Faculdade de Medicina de Veterinária (FMVZ – Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia) da Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” - Unesp de Botucatu, têm sobre suas práticas pedagógicas. Para tal, foi feito um levantamento histórico do início da faculdade bem como um levantamento da estrutura física e acadêmica dessa unidade. Também foi realizado um estudo sobre o histórico da universidade no mundo, no Brasil e na docência universitária, dentro do atual contexto social, político, econômico e cultural para auxiliar o processo da identificação das representações sociais desses professores. A metodologia da pesquisa foi feita sob a abordagem qualitativa, utilizando-se entrevista, questionário semiprojetivo e questionário de evocações como meio para identificar o núcleo central e periférico das representações sociais dos docentes. A partir da identificação... / This dissertation under the title: Social Representations – Ruptures and Individualist Teacher practices in higher learning had intended to study the teaching practices of teachers of the course of Veterinary Medicine of FMVZ-UNESP, Botucatu. This study fits into graduate program in Education under the line of research in Educational policy and management at the Faculty of Letters and Sciences of FCL - UNESP, Araraquara . The study sought new propositions on teaching that is held in higher learning, the paradigmatic changes seen in which lies the University teaching. And it is important to note which policies and institutional arrangements that should be focused on understanding the social representations that revealed these teachers. The goal was to investigate and identify the social representations that some teachers of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (FMVZ - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechny) of “Universidade Estadual Paulista ‘Júlio de Mesquita Filho’ UNESP, Botucatu, have about their pedagogical practices. To this end, a survey was done of the early history of the College, as well as a survey of academic and physical structure of this unit. It was also performed a study on the history of the University in the world, in Brazil and in university teaching, within the current context social, political, economic and cultural to assist the process of identification of the social representations of these teachers. The methodology of the research was done under the qualitative approach, using the questionnaire, interview and questionnaire of evocations semi-projectiv as a means to identify the central and peripheral nucleus of social representations of teachers. From the identification of teaching and the teaching-research linkage as social representation of teachers of FMVZ, it was realized... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

University science and mathematics education today is no longer solely focused on training the small fraction of students who will become tomorrow's science and mathematics researchers, but is required to engage and create scientifically/mathematically literate American citizens (Ball, 2000; Dean, 2009; Kind, 2009a; Mooney & Kirshenbaum, 2009; Olsen, 2009). University professors are typically content experts not trained in pedagogy. This creates unique teaching issues in transforming complex content material. Expert content mastery of a subject can blind faculty to potential student difficulties (Ben-Peretz, 2011; Nathan, Koedinger, & Alibali, 2001). This, combined with limited pedagogical training and curricular constraints, can create teaching difficulties, contributing to high levels of student attrition (Bhattacharya, 2012; Feldon, Timmerman, Stowe, & Showman, 2010). Considerable research has been conducted on best teaching practices and the central role that content knowledge plays in teaching, yet little evidence is found to illuminate the processes by which subject matter content experts (faculty) unpack their expertise for use in teaching (Ball, 2000; Bouwma-Gearhart, 2012; French, 2005; Weiman, Perkins, & Gilbert, 2010). Much of the research literature defines deconstructing and unpacking content knowledge as the complex processes by which experts transform content knowledge into knowledge used for teaching (Abell, 2008; Ball & Bass, 2000; Hashweh, 2005; Shulman, 1986, 1987). According to the well accepted educational construct known as pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), teachers possess unique and distinct sets of knowledge domains that enable them to transform their content into teachable knowledge (Shulman, 1986, 1987). Much of the literature agrees that strong foundational content knowledge is required in order to develop PCK (Hill, Rowen, & Ball, 2005; Lowenberg-Ball, Hoover-Thames, & Phelps, 2008; Padilla, Ponce-de-Leon, Rembado, & Garritz, 2008). If limited content is a major restriction in the development of PCK, how does this process proceed when content is strong, as in the case of university faculty? This study looked at the processes that occur as content experts (faculty) focus on the deconstruction process in order to develop lessons and teach. The study focused on the components or paths of the transformation process in an attempt to identify the development of the knowledge base that content experts use in order to teach. This study developed a survey from the existing literature in an attempt to illuminate the processes, tools, insights, and events that allow university science and mathematics content experts (Ph.D.'s) unpack their expertise in order to teach develop and teach undergraduate students. A pilot study was conducted at an urban university in order to refine the survey. The study consisted of 72 science or mathematics Ph.D. faculty members that teach at a research-based urban university. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 21 volunteer faculty to further explore their methods and tools for developing and implementing teaching within their discipline. Statistical analysis of the data revealed: faculty that taught while obtaining their Ph.D. were less confident in their ability to teach successful and faculty that received training in teaching believed that students have difficult to change misconceptions and do not commit enough time to their course. Student centered textbooks ranked the highest among tools used to gain teaching strategies followed by grading of exams and assignments for gaining insights into student knowledge and difficulties. Science and mathematics education literature and university provided education session ranked the lowest in rating scale for providing strategies for teaching. The open-ended survey questions were sub-divided and analyzed by the number of years of experience to identify the development of teaching knowledge over time and revealed that teaching became more interactive, less lecture based, and more engaging. As faculty matured and gained experience they became more aware of student misconceptions and difficulties often changing their teaching to eliminate such issues. As confidence levels increase their teaching included more technology-based tools, became more interactive, incorporated problem based activities, and became more flexible. This change occurred when and if faculty members altered their thinking about their knowledge from an expert centered perspective to a student centric view. Follow-up interviews of twenty faculty yielded a wide variety of insights into the complicated method of deconstructing expert science and mathematics content. The interviews revealed a major disconnect between education research and researchers and the science and mathematics content experts who teach. There is a pervasive disregard for science and mathematics education and training. Faculty members find little to no support for teaching. Though 81% obtained their Ph.D. with the intent to enter an academic setting, pedagogical training was non-existent or limited, both prior to and after obtaining faculty positions. Experience alone did not account for confidence or ability to successfully teach. Faculty that were able to `think like a student' and view their material from a student's perspective' seemed to be the most confident and flexible in their teaching methods. Grading and having an open and interactive teaching style, being on the `side of the students' also seemed to allow faculty to connect more deeply with the students and learn about common misconceptions and difficulties. Though most faculty claimed to not teach as they were taught and not recall having specific content difficulties, this essential interaction with many students facilitated a shift in thinking about their content. This shift allowed for a reversal from teacher centered classrooms to student centered. Multiple issues arise when teaching at a traditional larger lecture style found in the majority of universities science and mathematics courses that constrain and provide unique teaching challenges. Many faculty have developed unique tools to incorporate successful teaching strategies, such as daily pre-quizzes and smart-phone questioning as well as small group work, computer posted guides, strategic class breaks, and limiting lecture style in favor of a more active engaged classroom. / Educational Psychology