Teacher professional development is often proposed as a means for improving students' achievement; however, few studies have been successful in empirically connecting teacher inservice interventions... Show More

Teacher professional development is often proposed as a means for improving students' achievement; however, few studies have been successful in empirically connecting teacher inservice interventions to their students' achievement gains, and especially in mathematics. The research presents results of a longitudinal study of an inservice teacher professional development that had as its primary purpose to improve middle school students' mathematics achievement. The study utilized a cross-school comparative research approach for the purpose of examining students' math achievement trajectories Hierarchical linear modeling was used for the study's data analyses. Results of the study revealed that the teacher professional development intervention had positive impacts on both the participating teachers and their middle school students. The participating students' achievement improved significantly for those whose teachers participated in the teacher professional development intervention.

The outcomes of a collaborative whole-school model of professional development on teachers' learning to enact an inclusive education initiative, in a mainstream post-primary school explores the... Show More

The outcomes of a collaborative whole-school model of professional development on teachers' learning to enact an inclusive education initiative, in a mainstream post-primary school explores the outcomes of whole school collaborative professional development on teachers' learning in terms of the degree and quality of teacher change in relation to inclusive practices, in this instance specific to level two learning programmes (L2LPs) and what factors facilitated or hindered teachers' learning for enacting inclusive practices. The findings of this paper highlight the potential of facilitated PD to empower teachers to develop greater levels of knowledge, skills, and experience of inclusive practice to enable collective decision-making and enhanced planning and teaching for all learners. Though aimed at a specific programme (L2LPs), the authors believe this research has wider implications for supporting mainstream teachers build capacity in their inclusive practices generally.

This study examines digital technology integration in Saudi Arabian schools from the viewpoints of teachers and administrators. The research employed a mixed-methods approach, involving surveys for... Show More

This study examines digital technology integration in Saudi Arabian schools from the viewpoints of teachers and administrators. The research employed a mixed-methods approach, involving surveys for 346 teachers and 155 administrators, as well as in-depth interviews with a subgroup of 12 teachers and 12 administrators. The findings reveal that both teachers and administrators acknowledge the significance of digital technology in education, with most indicating access to and utilization of digital tools. Challenges identified encompass technical issues, inadequate training, and bureaucratic obstacles. Qualitative insights delve into subjects like digital skills, infrastructure needs, integration's prospects and hurdles, and the influence of Vision 2030 on tech adoption. The study emphasizes advancements in digital integration while recognizing areas for enhancement, including more teacher training, addressing bureaucratic impediments, and harnessing digital technology to align with Vision 2030's educational objectives.

Architectural design studio modules are known to be difficult to teach and/or assess. To acquire design skills, typically, students have several design modules during their program and several... Show More

Architectural design studio modules are known to be difficult to teach and/or assess. To acquire design skills, typically, students have several design modules during their program and several projects for each module. However, traditional project assessment and evaluation lacks consistency, objectivity and fairness. Furthermore, monitoring student progress over the different projects and over the different modules and different semesters is very difficult and needs much time and effort. This work presents a web-based system developed to support fair rubrics-based assessment and evaluation of design projects and to provide in-depth analysis of students' results. It also links between the results over the different projects and the different modules and provides feedback about students' skills and weaknesses in a simple form thus allowing progressive learning. The system has been tested and evaluated and the results show its simplicity, reliability and effectiveness.

This study examined the relationships among Chinese pre-university teachers' foreign language anxiety, teaching anxiety and teacher self-efficacy. The participants were 210 Chinese primary and... Show More

This study examined the relationships among Chinese pre-university teachers' foreign language anxiety, teaching anxiety and teacher self-efficacy. The participants were 210 Chinese primary and secondary English teachers who completed a battery of questionnaires. The results showed that: (a) the participants reported low to moderate levels of foreign language anxiety and teaching anxiety, as well as a high level of self-efficacy; (b) foreign language anxiety directly and negatively predicted the participants' self-efficacy; (c) foreign language anxiety was a positive predictor of teaching anxiety; (d) teaching anxiety mediated the link between foreign language anxiety and self-efficacy. This study highlights the importance of addressing language teachers' foreign language anxiety and teaching anxiety, and provides insights into enhancing teachers' self-efficacy.