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Article
Publication date: 10 April 2017

Keith Wood, Halida Jaidin, Rosmawijah Jawawi, J.S.H.Q. Perera, Sallimah Salleh, Masitah Shahrill and Saratha Sithamparam

The purpose of this paper is to report on a study of teacher learning through participation in sustained collaborative subject-based professional development groups supported by a…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report on a study of teacher learning through participation in sustained collaborative subject-based professional development groups supported by a facilitator, using a model of teachers’ conceptions of teaching developed from phenomenography to identify what are the critical features of teaching that must be present if teachers are to learn, and using a variation theory of learning to explain how they learn.

Design/methodology/approach

The groups engaged in cycles of lesson study action research to improve the learning outcomes of their students. The authors intended to engage the teachers in an exploration of their own and their students’ experiences to understand the relationship between the enactment of the research lesson(s) and the educational outcome. The authors collected over 157 hours of video recorded teachers’ meetings involving 15 groups, 47 hours of follow-up interviews and 97 hours of lessons. In this paper the authors report on the progress of one of those groups. The authors analysed the transcripts to see what, if any, dimensions of variation were opened in discussion, affording the opportunity for learning. The authors sought the simultaneous juxtaposition, the bringing together, of threads that have entered the discussion that have the potential to open dimensions of variation – to add critical features to the “what” and “how” dimensions of teaching.

Findings

The authors identified necessary conditions for teacher learning through collaborative subject-based professional development groups. Any member of the group might bring this about. The facilitator or coach might be expected to perform this role in the group, and to sustain the group’s attention on the critical features of the object of learning.

Practical implications

The paper provides valuable insights into strategies to change teacher perspectives from a transmission oriented to a construction oriented view of teaching in the face of new and challenging curriculum demands.

Originality/value

In the work reported here the authors have used variation theory to design lesson study. This is rather different from a learning study where the teachers engaged in the study use variation theory to design their research lesson(s). It is a learning study of teachers’ professional development.

Details

International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-8253

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Article
Publication date: 1 August 2016

Siti Fatimah Petra, Jainatul Halida Jaidin, JSH Quintus Perera and Marcia Linn

The purpose of this paper is to explore how web-based science curriculum materials designed to develop autonomous learners can succeed in Brunei. In this instruction, designed to…

1389

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how web-based science curriculum materials designed to develop autonomous learners can succeed in Brunei. In this instruction, designed to prepare students to independently explore new topics, students and teachers take new roles. Students collaborate with a peer to engage in inquiry and teachers monitor progress and guide students rather than leading the class.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors studied two Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE) units (photosynthesis and cellular respiration) developed using the knowledge integration framework. The framework promotes autonomous learning by building on the diverse ideas that students bring to science lessons and encouraging them to distinguish among their own ideas and those they encounter when using scientific visualizations. In a study on “How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School”, Bransford et al. (1999) suggest that the students’ preconceptions of how the world works must be engaged, as failing to do so may hinder them from grasping new concepts and information that are taught. Two intact classes of students from two secondary schools in Brunei each studied one of the WISE units. Observations revealed that students could work in pairs to jointly engage in inquiry with encouragement from teachers. Embedded assessments and interviews were analyzed to show how students linked observable events and scientific ideas when explaining the conversion of solar energy to chemical energy in photosynthesis.

Findings

Significant gains in knowledge integration show that Brunei students who collaboratively study WISE inquiry units can autonomously succeed. Specifically, students using WISE were able to construct complex ideas about photosynthesis and cellular respiration by linking observable events and scientific ideas while working autonomously with infrequent teacher monitoring.

Originality/value

The paper provides invaluable insights into ways in which web-based learning supports students to become autonomous learners.

Details

The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, vol. 33 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4880

Keywords

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