Supporting Chemistry Graduate Students’ Academic Writing Practice through a Professional Development Course

Breastfeeding knowledge among Polish healthcare practitioners supporting breastfeeding mothers

Aims: The development of knowledge-based economy in Hong Kong requires employees with higher education level and more up-to-date knowledge. Information and communication technology (ICT) industry has been growing rapidly which is important for building a knowledge-based economy by providing higher mobility of information, more efficient communication network and sharing of knowledge between business partners. In 2002 the HKSAR Government has set up a Continuing Education Fund to encourage employees in Hong Kong to improve their education and update their knowledge by enrolling into continuing professional development courses. This policy provides opportunities to courses providers to offer continuing professional development (CPD) courses. Since these CPD courses are provided after work so the courses are conducted by part-time faculty (PTF) and there is a need to recruit part-time staff in delivering these courses. Recruitment of PTF gives course providers the benefit of meeting their teaching needs economically and flexibly but educators have often expressed concern over whether Research Article British Journal of Education, Society & Behavioural Science, 4(1): 52-73, 2014 53 the performance of PTF is in anyway affected by the absence of career development opportunities. Study Design: This study was a quantitative study which used [1] five-component commitment model to examine the effects of the perception of value of career development (VCD) on the commitment components of PTF. Place and Duration of Study: The study was taken in Hong Kong between June 2011 and June 2012. Methodology: Sample data from a population of PTF working at the 450 registered CPD course providers in Hong Kong was collected from an online questionnaire. Finally 270 set of data collated together was analyzed by factor analysis, correlation tests and multiple regression respectively. Results: The results of this study suggest that perceived VCD was affirmed to have a significantly positive influence on employee commitment, while perception of the availability of career development opportunities was found to have a moderating effect on the association between perceived VCD and employee commitment. Conclusion: This study has both theoretical and managerial implications. The examination of the complicated relationship between career development and employee commitment of PTF in Hong Kong’s CPD industry can therefore serve as a useful reference point for both academic researchers and education managers. The findings can also help CPD institutes to formulate suitable human resource strategies for attracting and retaining well-qualified practitioners to become PTF.

While digital games hold promise for language learning, teachers often lack the knowledge and confidence to integrate them into their curriculum. Existing professional development opportunities are scarce and not always accessible. In this study, a mobile teacher professional development course on Digital Game-Enhanced Language Learning was designed, developed, and evaluated through three iterative cycles. The research employed a Type 1 design and development research methodology. Three groups of language instructors teaching English at the tertiary level participated in the iterative cycles. Data collection included course evaluation questionnaires, achievement tests, lesson plan development, and participant interviews. The findings indicated that the mobile teacher professional development course was effective in improving teacher perceptions of the course content, usability, and self-efficacy in integrating digital games into their teaching. The course also led to a significant increase in participants’ knowledge of Digital Game-Enhanced Language Learning concepts. Overall, the mobile teacher professional development course has the potential to be a valuable tool for equipping language teachers with the skills and confidence needed to leverage digital games in their classrooms. This is particularly relevant considering the growing need for accessible and flexible professional development opportunities, such as during a global crisis.

The purpose of this evaluation study was to determine whether career and technical education teachers were using the integration strategies that were presented to them in a professional development course. The integration strategies are strategies that teachers can use to integrate reading, writing and mathematics into their technical curricula. The ultimate goal of the professional development course is to help teachers improve academic achievement in career and technical education students; however, the first step in reaching this goal is to explore how teachers feel about integrating these basic academic skills into their technical subject matter and to determine whether they are using the strategies that were taught in the professional development course. A survey instrument was developed adapting Hall and Hord’s levels‐of‐use concept to show teachers’ behaviors associated with use of integration strategies in their practice. This survey was administered via the web to 100 course participants with a response of 44%. The results indicated that while teachers believed the integration strategies would increase student achievement, they were not routinely using them in their practice. The evaluators discuss potential reasons for this finding and make recommendations for improving the professional development program.

Over the past two decades, the pedagogical applications of corpus linguistics to language teaching have gained increased recognition. Consequently, there has been a growing interest in developing language teachers’ corpus literacy as a required knowledge base for the successful implementation of corpus-based pedagogy. Following this line of research, the current study reports on the impacts of a professional development (PD) course on six Iranian EFL teachers’ corpus literacy development. Data sources for the study included semi-structured interviews, reflective journals, and classroom observations. The findings revealed that despite some barriers for using corpora in the classroom, the PD was able to expand the teachers’ conceptual and pedagogical knowledge in relation to corpora and associated tools. Based on these findings, the study argues that for corpus-based pedagogy to become institutionalized, there is a need for embracing policies and practices that raise the awareness of teachers, teacher educators, and policymakers with respect to the affordances of corpora for informing language teaching.

Coach developers often design and deliver professional development (PD) courses for coaches that are research-based, personally tailored, and effectively taught in asynchronous online platforms. However, not all of these endeavours are successful in developing coaches. This is a confessional tale of what went wrong and why in an online PD course for adult fitness coaches, from our perspectives as the coach developers. What originally began as an action research project of a PD course on psychosocial aspects of coaching adult fitness athletes, our tale is crafted in five scenes with data from emails, reflexive diary entries, course content and analytics, and post-course interviews. We specifically examine (a) the startling consequences of content knowledge, (b) our misaligned expectations as trained and qualified CDs, (c) student-centred active learning strategies backfiring, (d) differing subjective experiences of the same online classroom, and (e) the unexplained lack of learner motivation.

Background: The Department of Correctional Services recognises the urgent need to improve access to rehabilitation programmes, to prepare for successful reintegration into society. Despite many correctional services policy documents stating that every child has a right to education, professional development courses have not been offered to educators of inmates. Objectives: Using Vygotsky’s and Bandura’s theories we explored the learning experiences of educators of inmates using innovative Reading-for-Meaning literacy pedagogical practices. Our objective was for the educators to challenge the inmates’ world views about solving problems, thereby attempting to reduce the recidivism rates in South Africa. Method: This study used an interpretive paradigm, a qualitative approach, and a case study design. Pre- and post-questionnaires were used to collect data from 58 educators of prisoners, of whom 44 educators completed the post-questionnaire. Results: The findings indicated that these educators learned from each other, were challenged to view problems from different perspectives, and developed critical thinking skills. These mind shifts motivated them to adapt the literacy strategies modelling the appropriate processes to suit the needs of the inmates. Conclusion: Professional development courses are imperative for all 21st-century educators working in prisons to improve their pedagogical content and knowledge abilities. These educators reflected on how their self-confidence and self-efficacy had developed after attending this short course. Contribution: If South African prison services are committed to reducing the recidivism rates in prisons, it is imperative to provide professional development courses to keep educators’ technical, pedagogical, and content knowledge current.

ABSTRACTDespite the abundance of research on motivation in ELT, teachers’ motivational behaviors have received scant attention in prior research. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the effect of a professional development course with a focus on training teachers how to use motivational strategies based on Kellers’ ARCS model on teachers’ use of motivational strategies and additionally to explore likely differences between experienced and inexperienced teachers in their use of motivational strategies. The study further aimed to probe the impact of teachers’ motivational behaviors on student motivation and their perceptions of their teachers’ teaching effectiveness. To this end, 10 teachers and 100 students were conveniently sampled. Data were collected through questionnaires and class observations. The results revealed a significant difference in teachers’ use of motivational strategies before and after the professional development course. Teaching experience, however, did not make any significant difference in teachers’ use of motivational strategies. Additionally, teachers’ use of motivational strategies had an insignificant effect on students’ judgments of their teachers’ teaching effectiveness but a significant positive effect on student motivation.

Online teaching and learning for the professional development of workers in service is ever pervasive and continually growing. Yet, studies of teaching and learning with technology are mostly conducted in K-12, pre-service, or higher education contexts resulting in a lack of attention given to the in-service or professional development field. This study aims to alleviate the issue by investigating online courses in a professional development context, particularly in a government institution such as the Financial Education and Training Agency (FETA) under the Indonesian Ministry of Finance. By conducting a study in the institution providing online professional development courses, this study focuses on adult learners. There are also more studies investigating learners compared to instructors, even though the latter are reportedly struggling in conducting online courses. One of the struggles instructor faces includes choosing relevant technologically enhanced andragogy that are in line with the learning contents and intents. This happened amidst the growth of online professional development courses due to increasing demand accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Online learning needs to be improved not only in terms of quantity but also quality. By analysing 148 curriculum documents known as the course syllabi, followed by interviewing three gatekeepers and seven instructors conducting online courses at FETA, and informed by prevailing theories of education and educational technology adoption, the present study aimed to uncover practice-based considerations in crafting online course curricula for professional development. Frameworks used in this study include the adult learning principles of andragogy, the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy, and the Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition (SAMR) model. The study found the distinction between various types of online courses for professional development: distance learning, webinars, and web-based learning courses. Distance learning can be supplemented with prerequisite and/or action learning. Web-based learning can be limited to specific learners or opened to the general population of learners depending on the learning content. The study also found connections between learning objectives and the use of technology in online courses. The considerations in choosing internet-assisted course types and relevant technologies for online courses include learning content. Characteristics of learning content are considered, such as range, specificity, and confidentiality. These characters correspond to the specification of learners which are adult learners. Both content and audience are considered in crafting online course curricula. The findings gathered through this study may not only sharpen the crafting of online course curricula but also assist in providing effective support for online teaching and learning. It provides a better understanding of the connection between learning content and the use of technology for online courses in a professional development context meant for adult learners. Such a better understanding of instructors’ considerations helped explain why online course curricula are crafted with certain approaches. It is hoped that the considerations borne by this study can be useful in guiding the practice of designing the curricula for online courses in professional development contexts for adult learners while assisting in providing relevant support for instructors.

This article analyses the experiences of 55 secondary pre-service teachers (PSTs) in a mandated professional development course that used Halliday's systemic functional linguistics (SFL) and related pedagogical practices to support PSTs' development of disciplinary linguistic knowledge for working with linguistically diverse students in the United States. Of specific interest is how the course influenced the manner in which PSTs responded to a student's attempt at writing a mathematical explanation. We begin with a brief description of Halliday's theory of language and learning with particular reference to the semiotic demands of mathematics. Next, we provide a description of the professional development course and the mixed methods approach to analysing changes in PSTs' pre- and post-course responses to a student writing sample about linear equations. Third, we discuss findings that suggest PSTs' emerging understanding of the linguistic and multimodal demands of mathematical explanations supported them in providing more cogent and precise written feedback. We conclude by discussing the potential of SFL conceptual and pedagogical tools to support PSTs' professional development in the context of globalization.

Successful retention of STEM majors that then successfully transition into the U.S. STEM workforce is a major challenge for institutions of higher education. The present work represents a quality improvement study of a custom-designed professional development course for undergraduate students characterized by an innovative integration of workforce preparation activities into a STEM content knowledge course. The QI study investigated the student-perceived impact of participation in goal setting and skill assessment utilizing an individual development plan and whether participation in the custom-designed training course increased student proficiency in STEM workforce-relevant skills. Program evaluation data was used to address the professional development needs of undergraduate STEM students, who are members of underrepresented groups in biomedical science. Evaluation data was used to design the professional development course to target and customize structures to support student success planning and goal attainment. Analysis of reported outcomes indicates that most students benefited from participation in the course and experienced a positive impact on their proficiency in workforce relevant skills and goal setting. This integrated approach to workforce preparation in STEM may address some of the persistence and retention challenges that threaten the size and diversity of the future STEM workforce within the U.S.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the experiences of instrumental music teachers in Designing Arts Instruction, a 4-day professional development course in a large urban school district. Specifically, I was interested in which activities participants (a) found most relevant and applicable to their current teaching situation, (b) believed would most benefit student learning, and (c) believed would contribute most to their overall music teacher development. Multiple forms of data were collected including participants’ reflections, researcher-facilitator journal and field notes, and structured individual interviews. Curriculum development and rubric writing were relevant to participants’ teaching situations and also engaged teachers’ personal musicianship. Participants recognized creative activities as motivating for students. Collaboration emerged as the course feature that contributed most to participants’ overall development. Those who plan and facilitate professional development might consider including aspects that invite collaboration, deep thinking, engagement, and reflection, particularly within the context of teachers’ musicianship.

This article reports on a qualitative study that explored the experiences of eight Hong Kong teachers of academic subjects who undertook a full-time, short-term professional development course (PDC) designed to provide them with specialized knowledge and classroom skills required to teach content subjects through the English medium. Using a theoretical framework for understanding teacher identity, the study examined how these eight teachers believed the experiences of a short-term PDC shaped their ongoing identity construction, particularly upon completion of the course and subsequent return to their respective schools. Based upon in-depth interviews with participants and using methods of discourse analysis, the results suggest that while participants believed the impact of the PDC in terms of their own classroom teaching was positive, they faced significant challenges in realizing their preferred identity positions within the context of their whole school communities. The response of some participants to these difficulties indicated that their PDC experiences may have contributed to the establishment of a rigid division between different types of teachers within schools and that relations of antagonism appeared to exist between these different teacher identities. Implications for overcoming such divisions for the design of PDCs and for future research are discussed.

This research study determined the extent of Teachers Participation in Online Professional Development Course, 21st century teaching skills and performance. The researcher utilized the descriptive and correlational design. The respondents of the study were 100 regular teachers of different elementary schools regardless of teaching experience. The researcher utilized the complete enumeration sampling. Mean and Pearson r moment correlation was used to analyze the data. The teachers Participation in online professional development course was rated high. The 21st century Skills and teaching performance were rated high. The instructional competence of the teachers online professional development described as High. Self-management obtained was described as high. Teachers joined the learning course in order to address their needs in relation to the technological advances and changing educational trends of the 21st century teaching. Most of the teachers have manifested the different 21st century skills needed to address the 21st century teaching. They have great performance such as enhancement of self-worth, maintaining their set goals and targets, engaging in a continuous learning process and improve the delivery of basic education

This study aims to examine the relationship between three teachers’ factors that’s teaching experiences, type ofschool performing and attendance of professional development course towards effective teaching amongsecondary school teachers in Johor, Malaysia. A total of 322 secondary school teachers from Malaysia involvedin this study. The instrument used in this study was a set of questionnaire which combined Charlotte Danielson(2007) and James H Stronge (2007) models. This quantitative study utilized survey method with stratifiedrandom sampling. Teachers’ factors were tested through correlation and multiple regression analysis. Thefinding indicate that there are significant positive correlation between three teachers factors (teachingexperiences, type of school performing and attendance of professional development course) towards secondaryschool teachers’ effective teaching. Highest relationship towards effective teaching is attendance of professionaldevelopment course (r=.676, p< .05), following by teaching experience (r=.621, p< .05) and type of schoolperforming shows least relationship (r=.193, p< .05). Besides, the regression model indicates a predictivesignificance by teachers’ factors towards effective teaching. Hence, the findings support the conclusion that theselected factors are predictors of secondary school teachers’ effective teaching. This study revealed theimportances of professional development course and teaching experience compare with type of schoolperforming. Teacher needs to always continue upgrade ourselves for practising teaching effectively. Thesefindings also have implications for secondary school teachers and administrators to reflect and broaden the viewstowards effective teaching.