Sharon Tindall-Ford

Adaptive diagrams: A research agenda to explore how learners can manipulate online diagrams to self-manage cognitive load

This chapter presents an emerging research agenda focused on empowering learners to apply well-known instructional design principles, reserved mainly for application by instructional designers, to the design of diagrams to support their learning. Significant advances have been made in terms of developing design principles that can be applied to the design of diagrams to facilitate the efficient learning of diagrammatic information. However, little is known about how these design principles can be applied by learners themselves. In a technologically rich environment where learners can access a range of online diagrammatic information, we argue that it is imperative that learners’ are equipped with strategies on how to physically manipulate digital diagrams in ways that optimise their learning. This can be considered an example of human-centric visualisation. The chapter explains the theoretical basis for our research, presents two empirical studies and concludes with a discussion of our ideas to build on our current work as a future research agenda.

Exploring the Australian teacher education ‘partnership’ policy landscape: Four case studies

Schools have long been integrally involved in initial teacher education particularly through the professional experience component. In recent decades however, there have been specific policy calls for greater involvement of schools in teacher preparation. These calls have come in two distinct waves of partnership policy reforms in Australia. The first began in earnest with the Australian Government announcement through the National Partnership Agreement on Improving Teacher Quality (Council of Australian Governments (COAG) National partnership agreement on improving teacher quality, 2008), which identified two priorities. Firstly, it championed a systemic response to strengthening linkages between schools and universities, and secondly, it recognised the professional learning opportunities of preservice teachers and in-service teachers working together as co-producers of knowledge. The second wave, influenced by the Melbourne Declaration (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs MCEETYA. Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young Australians, 2008), resulted in the government response to the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group (TEMAG) report (Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group (TEMAG). Action now: classroom ready teachers. Australian Government, Canberra, 2015) and the accompanying move to mandate school-university partnerships for the purpose of teacher education program accreditation. These national partnership priorities have been taken up in different ways across the various states and territories and by universities and schools. This chapter maps the policy reforms both nationally and at the various jurisdictional levels and uses four illustrative cases to analyse the opportunities and challenges for future partnerships and recommendations for teacher educators working to sustain such partnerships.

“Fitting into the Teaching Profession”: Supervising Teachers’ Judgements During the Practicum

This study explores supervising teachers’ judgements about pre-service teachers during a practicum experience. Making judgements is a complex, subjective process with judgements being conscious and intuitive, influenced by individual beliefs, contextual expectations and personal learning biographies. This research draws on Social Judgement Theory to guide the analysis of data collected from interviews with experienced supervising teachers. Analysis indicated that the supervisors placed most emphasis on ‘personal qualities’ of pre-service teachers. This has implications for the selection of candidates for teaching, the importance of non-academic capabilities in teaching and the development of pre-service teachers’ personal qualities within initial teacher education programs.

Immersion Programs in Australia: Exploring Four Models for Developing ‘Classroom-Ready’ Teachers

‘Classroom-ready’ graduate teachers require a sound understanding of the complex context that constitutes the ‘classroom’ in which they are expected to teach. The preservice teachers’ experiences within schools provide critical insights into these complexities and provide ongoing professional development towards their classroom readiness. It is in the school setting where theory learnt at university can inform and support preservice teachers to make sense of their observations of students’ learning, teachers’ teaching and their own teaching practice. We contend that within a traditional professional experience, the opportunities to link educational theory to teaching practice are usually incidental rather than purposeful, with preservice teachers often having limited opportunity to observe and experience the multifaceted nature of being a teacher. At both the state and national levels, governments are advocating for the improvement of preservice teachers’ school experiences and for universities to ensure the graduation of ‘classroom-ready’ teachers. This chapter examines how initial teacher education providers are enhancing preservice teachers’ teaching and learning experiences through innovative in-school immersion programs with the goal of producing more professionally prepared, ‘classroom-ready’ graduates. The chapter showcases four different models of school immersion programs from across Australia, outlining the purpose, structure and intended outcomes of each. A critique of these models highlighting tensions and vulnerabilities to implementation of immersion programs results in recommendations for initial teacher education providers who are seeking to support the immersion of preservice teachers as they transition into the teaching profession.