The Supportive Learning Environment

The Supportive Learning Environment
Author: Jennifer Hindman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 142
Release: 2013-10-02
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1317923391

This entry in the James H. Stronge Research-to-Practice Series focuses on the characteristics of teachers who create supportive learning environments for their students. By conveying a sense of immediacy, credibility, and caring, they communicate to students in both verbal and nonverbal ways that are essential to cultivating a positive and productive learning community. In this book, Stronge, Grant, and Hindman provide a comprehensive overview of the qualities of a supportive teacher. They offer a bridge between research-based theories and practical classroom applications, with templates, planning forms, and other reproducibles. The authors help teachers move toward establishing a learning environment that contributes to effective instructional practices. Topics include: engaging students and their families, effective communication, student ownership of the learning environment, and much more.

Promising Practices in Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education

Promising Practices in Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 96
Release: 2011-04-19
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0309212944

Numerous teaching, learning, assessment, and institutional innovations in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education have emerged in the past decade. Because virtually all of these innovations have been developed independently of one another, their goals and purposes vary widely. Some focus on making science accessible and meaningful to the vast majority of students who will not pursue STEM majors or careers; others aim to increase the diversity of students who enroll and succeed in STEM courses and programs; still other efforts focus on reforming the overall curriculum in specific disciplines. In addition to this variation in focus, these innovations have been implemented at scales that range from individual classrooms to entire departments or institutions. By 2008, partly because of this wide variability, it was apparent that little was known about the feasibility of replicating individual innovations or about their potential for broader impact beyond the specific contexts in which they were created. The research base on innovations in undergraduate STEM education was expanding rapidly, but the process of synthesizing that knowledge base had not yet begun. If future investments were to be informed by the past, then the field clearly needed a retrospective look at the ways in which earlier innovations had influenced undergraduate STEM education. To address this need, the National Research Council (NRC) convened two public workshops to examine the impact and effectiveness of selected STEM undergraduate education innovations. This volume summarizes the workshops, which addressed such topics as the link between learning goals and evidence; promising practices at the individual faculty and institutional levels; classroom-based promising practices; and professional development for graduate students, new faculty, and veteran faculty. The workshops concluded with a broader examination of the barriers and opportunities associated with systemic change.

Studies in Educational Learning Environments

Studies in Educational Learning Environments
Author: Swee Chiew Goh
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2002
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9789812380562

The study of classroom and school learning environments and their effects on students' learning has been going on for more than a century. Past efforts in the study of the learning environment and its determinants have indicated that it plays a major role in improving teaching and learning in primary, secondary and higher education.This book covers various dimensions of the learning environment, its underlying theory, the impact on learning, the curriculum and classroom management. It is organized in such a way as to provide a cross-national and multi-cultural forum for presenting and discussing research findings, as well as development and applications of various techniques and instruments in learning environment research.

Symbiosis: The Curriculum and the Classroom

Symbiosis: The Curriculum and the Classroom
Author: Claire Hill
Publisher: John Catt
Total Pages: 124
Release: 2020-09-19
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1913808246

Has our system of accountability and quick fixes meant we've lost perspective of what can really improve the quality of education? With a multitude of issues at the heart of some of our more toxic schools, including micro-management, over-complicated policy and the intricate measurement of the wrong foci, it appears that teachers are experiencing a disconnect from the very reason they joined teaching in the first place. With little autonomy over what's important, fewer teachers enter the profession than the monumental amount of teachers that are leaving, and those that do, do so with reluctance and regret. With an astute examination of practice in schools, Claire Hill and Kat Howard take a thoughtful and strategic view of how to ensure a sense of connection and cohesion within schools, to ensure that all feel part of the collective curricular journey towards a gold standard. With a consideration of research-informed practice, this book will provide a series of strategies for curriculum designers at every level, keeping the high quality teachers that we very much need in schools, and providing a better palette to students in the process. At a time where teaching is somewhat politicised, monetised and overcomplicated, Symbiosis: Curriculum and the Classroom sets about the task of refining the way in which we run our schools to improve the quality of our everyday lives in schools.

How People Learn

How People Learn
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2000-08-11
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0309131979

First released in the Spring of 1999, How People Learn has been expanded to show how the theories and insights from the original book can translate into actions and practice, now making a real connection between classroom activities and learning behavior. This edition includes far-reaching suggestions for research that could increase the impact that classroom teaching has on actual learning. Like the original edition, this book offers exciting new research about the mind and the brain that provides answers to a number of compelling questions. When do infants begin to learn? How do experts learn and how is this different from non-experts? What can teachers and schools do-with curricula, classroom settings, and teaching methodsâ€"to help children learn most effectively? New evidence from many branches of science has significantly added to our understanding of what it means to know, from the neural processes that occur during learning to the influence of culture on what people see and absorb. How People Learn examines these findings and their implications for what we teach, how we teach it, and how we assess what our children learn. The book uses exemplary teaching to illustrate how approaches based on what we now know result in in-depth learning. This new knowledge calls into question concepts and practices firmly entrenched in our current education system. Topics include: How learning actually changes the physical structure of the brain. How existing knowledge affects what people notice and how they learn. What the thought processes of experts tell us about how to teach. The amazing learning potential of infants. The relationship of classroom learning and everyday settings of community and workplace. Learning needs and opportunities for teachers. A realistic look at the role of technology in education.

Teaching in Blended Learning Environments

Teaching in Blended Learning Environments
Author: Norman D. Vaughan
Publisher: Athabasca University Press
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2013-12-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1927356474

Teaching in Blended Leaning Environments provides a coherent framework in which to explore the transformative concept of blended learning. Blended learning can be defined as the organic integration of thoughtfully selected and complementary face-to-face and online approaches and technologies. A direct result of the transformative innovation of virtual communication and online learning communities, blended learning environments have created new ways for teachers and students to engage, interact, and collaborate. The authors argue that this new learning environment necessitates significant role adjustments for instructors and generates a need to understand the aspects of teaching presence required of deep and meaningful learning outcomes. Built upon the theoretical framework of the Community of Inquiry – the premise that higher education is both a collaborative and individually constructivist learning experience – the authors present seven principles that provide a valuable set of tools for harnessing the opportunities for teaching and learning available through technology. Focusing on teaching practices related to the design, facilitation, direction and assessment of blended learning experiences, Teaching in Blended Learning Environments addresses the growing demand for improved teaching in higher education.

Instruction and the Learning Environment

Instruction and the Learning Environment
Author: James Keefe
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2013-11-20
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1317921070

For leaders of elementary, middle, or high schools, this book shows how your school can excel in reaching students with diverse learning styles; providing "authentic" instruction and performance assessment; applying constructivist learning methodologies; and enhancing learning through alternative scheduling.

The Impact of School Infrastructure on Learning

The Impact of School Infrastructure on Learning
Author: Peter Barrett
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 71
Release: 2019-02-04
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1464813787

'The Impact of School Infrastructure on Learning: A Synthesis of the Evidence provides an excellent literature review of the resources that explore the areas of focus for improved student learning, particularly the aspiration for “accessible, well-built, child-centered, synergetic and fully realized learning environments.†? Written in a style which is both clear and accessible, it is a practical reference for senior government officials and professionals involved in the planning and design of educational facilities, as well as for educators and school leaders. --Yuri Belfali, Head of Division, Early Childhood and Schools, OECD Directorate for Education and Skills This is an important and welcome addition to the surprisingly small, evidence base on the impacts of school infrastructure given the capital investment involved. It will provide policy makers, practitioners, and those who are about to commission a new build with an important and comprehensive point of reference. The emphasis on safe and healthy spaces for teaching and learning is particularly welcome. --Harry Daniels, Professor of Education, Department of Education, Oxford University, UK This report offers a useful library of recent research to support the, connection between facility quality and student outcomes. At the same time, it also points to the unmet need for research to provide verifiable and reliable information on this connection. With such evidence, decisionmakers will be better positioned to accurately balance the allocation of limited resources among the multiple competing dimensions of school policy, including the construction and maintenance of the school facility. --David Lever, K-12 Facility Planner, Former Executive Director of the Interagency Committee on School Construction, Maryland Many planners and designers are seeking a succinct body of research defining both the issues surrounding the global planning of facilities as well as the educational outcomes based on the quality of the space provided. The authors have finally brought that body of evidence together in this well-structured report. The case for better educational facilities is clearly defined and resources are succinctly identified to stimulate the dialogue to come. We should all join this conversation to further the process of globally enhancing learning-environment quality! --David Schrader, AIA, Educational Facility Planner and Designer, Former Chairman of the Board of Directors, Association for Learning Environments (A4LE)