{"title":"Teaching Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with Virtual Reality — Lesson Creation and Student Response","authors":"Heather A. Coan, Geoff R. Goehle, R. T. Youker","doi":"10.22329/jtl.v14i1.6234","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v14i1.6234","url":null,"abstract":"The commercialization of Virtual Reality (VR) hardware has enabled the use of VR as an educational tool. We describe how a VR platform was used to create molecular visualizations using standard PDB files with the purpose of delivering biochemistry and cellular biology lessons for undergraduates. Specifically, we describe two new software modules, one for rendering molecules generated from PDB files and one for creating interactive lectures. These modules were used to create two VR labs, one on DNA and collagen and the other on hemoglobin. We then describe how these labs were delivered, along with surveys and quizzes, to over 100 students in undergraduate biology courses. Student response to the labs are found to be extremely positive and the labs themselves are found to satisfy their educational objectives.","PeriodicalId":41980,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Teaching and Learning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2020-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45321020","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Integrating User-Centred Design Approaches for a Course Design Framework for Interdisciplinary Studies Teaching and Learning","authors":"Sharon Woodill, Yasushi Akiyama","doi":"10.22329/jtl.v14i1.6173","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v14i1.6173","url":null,"abstract":"This paper proposes the theoretical context for a course development framework to address the specific needs and challenges of teaching and learning in Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS). User-Centred design (UCD) principles are used for this development process. Traditional course development frameworks provide a helpful guide in terms of setting out the steps necessary for successful course development. While these steps will inform the course development framework being proposed here, several alterations will be made. The unique demands of teaching and learning in IDS require skill development necessary for doing advanced interdisciplinary work and eschews linearity. The key feature of this framework is the inclusion of intentional iterative phases throughout course delivery that will allow for adaptation based on the incorporation of feedback in a variety of forms: self, instructor, peer, stakeholder (e.g., from service-learning supervisors), and cognitive skills assessment tools. The adaptive nature of this framework should meet the demands of the growing area of IDS.","PeriodicalId":41980,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Teaching and Learning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2020-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47118707","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cross-cultural mentoring","authors":"Helen J. DeWaard, R. Chavhan","doi":"10.22329/jtl.v14i1.6255","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v14i1.6255","url":null,"abstract":"This paper offers insight from an informal cross-cultural mentoring experience of course development in higher education framed by the UNESCO Chair on Open Technologies for Open Educational Resources and Open Learning project. The Open Education for a Better World is a tuition-free international online mentoring program established to unlock the potential of open education in achieving the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals. Drawing from mentor/protégé conversations and reflections, and examining the experiences of mentoring in the development of an online course for Indian teacher education faculty development, the authors illuminate a pathway toward building professional relationships and professional learning beyond borders and boundaries. This paper describes how mentorship can develop digital competencies foundational for transferring tacit knowledge about planning, designing, recording, implementing, and evaluating teaching and learning in education. Explicit knowledge-building for professional learning within a supportive mentoring relationship is explored.","PeriodicalId":41980,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Teaching and Learning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2020-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45094651","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Digital Learning: Evolution to Revolution","authors":"G. Davies","doi":"10.22329/jtl.v14i1.6298","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v14i1.6298","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41980,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Teaching and Learning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2020-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49374548","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Development and Use of a Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ) Assessment to Foster Deeper Learning: An Exploratory Web-Based Qualitative Investigation","authors":"Gareth J. Davies, Hereward Proops, C. Carolan","doi":"10.22329/jtl.v14i1.6300","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v14i1.6300","url":null,"abstract":"This paper reports on the development and piloting of a new model of multiple-choice question (MCQ) assessment used in two undergraduate degree modules at a tertiary university. The new model was purposefully designed to promote deeper learning closely aligned with the SOLO taxonomy. Students were invited to participate in an exploratory qualitative study exploring their experience of learning using this new assessment. In total, 13 students completed an online open-ended qualitative questionnaire. Data was analyzed thematically. Four themes were generated: (a) empowered choice, (b) iterative reading, (c) forcing comparison, and (d) justified understandings. Findings suggest that the new model MCQ assessment promoted wider and more prolonged engagement with learning materials and fostered critical comparisons resulting in deeper learning. Limitations in study design mean that further research is merited to develop our model of MCQ assessment and enhance our understanding of students' learning experience.","PeriodicalId":41980,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Teaching and Learning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2020-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44560883","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Quarantined-at-Home Teaching Experience: My E-Learning Plan and Implementation","authors":"A. H. Qamar","doi":"10.22329/jtl.v14i1.6250","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v14i1.6250","url":null,"abstract":"Using my own teaching experience in quarantined-at-home settings, I describe and reflect on my e-learning plan and its implementation. I am teaching two groups of undergraduate students consisting of 80 students. I have taught half of the course content during the first half of the semester in a formal university setting. However, after the novel corona breakout, we are engaged in online teaching. In line with university guidelines and available support, I initiated my e-learning plan based on blended learning and led by the core objectives to maintain accessibility and quality. Using asynchronous and synchronous modes I used common and easily available options to enhance two-way teacher-student communication. The feedback that I received after three weeks of implementation of my e-learning plan proved my understanding of the study context as workable and realistic. My conceptual models about the objectives leading the e-learning plan and the implementation model presented in this article can be helpful for the teachers teaching social sciences for the first time in ‘quarantined’ settings. ","PeriodicalId":41980,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Teaching and Learning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2020-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42778920","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Fostering Emerging Online Learner Persistence:","authors":"Staci Gilpin","doi":"10.22329/jtl.v14i1.6253","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v14i1.6253","url":null,"abstract":"Undergraduate students living on-campus and taking online and face-to-face courses concurrently, are the predominant consumer of online classes (Seaman et al., 2018). However, they have lower rates of persistence for online courses as compared to face-to-face courses (Hart, 2012; Xu & Jaggars, 2011). Part of the reason could be due to the mismatch between the types of interactions they prefer and what is being provided in online courses. The purpose of this literature review is to investigate the use of asynchronous and synchronous discussions as a way to address the needs of emerging online learners. Using elements of previously developed frameworks, I propose the Framework for Emerging Online Learner Persistence (FEOLP). This framework addresses the values and needs of emerging online learners through course design that has the potential to enhance social presence using student values to determine the blend of asynchronous and synchronous interactions. Given the limited research to draw from on how to design online courses, this framework and the recommendations from this article provide a starting point for the responsive design of online courses for the emerging online learner with potential application to other groups of distinct online learners.","PeriodicalId":41980,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Teaching and Learning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2020-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41635753","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Teacher Candidates’ Expectations: Equity Education, Critical Literacy, and Indigenous Students’ Epistemologies","authors":"Lorenzo Cherubini","doi":"10.22329/JTL.V13I2.6091","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22329/JTL.V13I2.6091","url":null,"abstract":"Culturally responsive teachers respond positively to students’ cultural norms and traditions by creating inviting and meaningful learning opportunities that distinguish between Indigenous and western perspectives; however, in classrooms where teachers’ understanding of Indigenous epistemologies and worldviews are not necessarily sufficiently represented, Indigenous students not only often feel marginalized and isolated but disengaged from Eurocentric curriculum and texts that fail to incorporate their histories and traditions. This study focuses on the expectations and perceptions of teacher candidates (prior to their field practicum experiences in classrooms) related specifically to equity education, reflective practice, and critical literacy. The mixed-methods study examines prospective teachers’ perceptions of issues related to Indigenous students, and how public education policy and practice manifests in classrooms. The findings suggest that prospective teachers are doubtful of the fact that Indigenous voices are being presented competently to enhance student learning and foster Indigenous student identity. Moreover, prospective teachers anticipate a fundamental disconnect between the Ontario policy outcomes related to Indigenous education and the practice of teachers in school. ","PeriodicalId":41980,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Teaching and Learning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43860750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Joyful Number Talks in Kindergarten","authors":"Deanna Marie Pecaski McLennan","doi":"10.22329/jtl.v13i2.5684","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v13i2.5684","url":null,"abstract":"This article discusses the use of number talks to engage kindergarten children in regular joyful math opportunities in the classroom. As an educator of four- and five-year-old students in a full day kindergarten (FDK) program in Ontario, Canada, I embrace inquiry-based learning to guide children’s activities. Inspired by the childcare centres in Reggio Emilia, Italy, I continually support and scaffold the expressed interests of children in the form of projects. This means that children are engaged in and discover answers to self-directed questions on a regular basis. I have always compared kindergarten to a dance; sometimes I lead and other times I follow.","PeriodicalId":41980,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Teaching and Learning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42406087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reciprocal Learning: Academic Supports in Middle and Secondary Schools","authors":"Kaleb Stropkovics","doi":"10.22329/jtl.v13i1.5992","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v13i1.5992","url":null,"abstract":"This paper addresses the student support systems available in Chinese schools, with reference to those available in Canadian schools, in order to understand the most effective foundations for academic success and student motivation. The focus of educational support within Chinese and Ontario schools is rooted around times of high-stress exams, such as the Senior High School Entrance Exam (Zhongkao, 中考) and the National Higher Education Entrance Exam (Gaokao, 高考) in China, and the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) Literacy Exam and the Canadian Achievement Tests (CAT) in Ontario. I explore the available means through which schools provide guidance and additional support for students throughout the grades leading up to major examinations. This inquiry involves observation of various Chinese classrooms, research of literature examining stress levels and academic success, and observations of school programs and guidance facilities within the schools and communities. ","PeriodicalId":41980,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Teaching and Learning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2019-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44531700","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}