Teaching & Learning LibGuide

The release of a report by the Modern Language Association, “Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World,” focused renewed attention on college foreign language instruction at the introductory level. Frequently, the report finds, these beginning courses are taught by part-time and untenured instructors, many of whom remain on the fringes of the department, with little access to faculty development. When students with sensory, cognitive or physical disabilities are introduced to this environment, the results can be frustrating for both the student (who may benefit from specific instructional strategies or accommodations) and the instructor (who may be ill-equipped to provide inclusive instruction). Soon after the MLA report was published, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages issued “Diversity and Inclusion in Language Programs,” a position statement highlighting the value of inclusive classrooms that support diverse perspectives and learning needs. Meanwhile, in the wake of these two publications, the number of college students with disabilities continues to increase, as has the number of world language courses taught by graduate teaching assistants and contingent faculty.

This open access book presents the proceedings of the first post COVID-19 conference on Education at the University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, on March 14-16, 2022. The book offers state-of-the-art approaches and methodologies in education post-COVID-19. It showcases emerging technology utilization in improving the quality of education, teaching and learning. It discusses the transformation of the curriculum, such as course design and delivery, assessment, and instructional methodologies that focus on employment readiness for the ever-evolving job market. Contributions include a wide range of topics such as online education, curriculum development, artificial intelligence, academic accreditation for hybrid & online learning. Given its scope, the book is essential reading for scholars, students, policy-makers, and education practitioners interested in a better understanding of technological innovations.

This open access international scientific study provides an analysis of how the educational strategy of Universal Design for Learning can stimulate the process of inclusive education in different educational-cultural contexts and different areas of the educational system. The findings of the research deepen the conception of inclusive education and present an analysis of factors that are significant for developing the educational system as well as providing evidence-based recommendations for educational practice. The research for this work was done in four European countries with various historical-cultural contexts. The analysis of the educational processes in the four countries has been performed using a qualitative action research method. The researchers, in cooperation with the teachers from the selected schools in their country, have implemented the strategy of Universal Design for Learning and assessed its transformation indicators in terms of the quality of inclusive education components.

In this volume, the authors focus on the importance of inclusive teaching and the role faculty can play in helping students achieve, though not necessarily in the same way. To teach with a focus on inclusion means to believe that every person has the ability to learn. It means that most individuals want to learn, to improve their ability to better understand the world in which they live, and to be able to navigate their pathways of life. This volume includes the following topics: * best practices for teaching students with social, economic, gender, or ethnic differences * adjustments to the teaching and learning process to focus on inclusion * strategies for teaching that help learners connect what they know with the information presented * environments that maximize learners' academic and social growth. The premise of inclusive teaching works to demonstrate that all people can and do learn. Educators and administrators can incorporate the techniques of inclusive learning and help learners retain more information.

Empower your students to become mindful, reflective, and proficient thinkers and problem solvers. In Metacognition, authors Robin J. Fogarty and Brian M. Pete provide a practical framework to nurture these essential skills in every learner. Research-based and classroom-approved, this resource is a must-read for educators committed to strengthening student self-awareness, self-assessment, and self-confidence for school and life. Use this resource to implement the critical but overlooked practice of enhancing deep, reflective learning among students in the classroom: Explore research that shows teaching metacognition--or reflective thinking--is one of the most high-impact strategies available to educators. Acquire practices designed to empower learners to cultivate awareness and control over their own thinking. Learn how to encourage students with positive feedback to go beyond the "right" answer by thinking deeply and critically. Study the three categorical labels for the strategies that will help students develop metacognitive behaviors: (1) planning, (2) monitoring, and (3) evaluating. Record and reflect on how you incorporate the teaching strategies into your classroom.

tress and anxiety run rampant through modern schools, with both teachers and students dealing with seemingly unmanageable volumes of both daily. A common solution many school districts have tried is to introduce social-emotional learning (SEL) as part of school curricula, which has proven to help with stress and anxiety levels. However, SEL is challenging for teachers to implement effectively, often adding more stress to overwhelmed students and teachers than it takes away. Teachers need a way to practice and teach SEL simultaneously with academic content in order to achieve balance. This text explains how teachers can learn and use with students a metacognitive approach the authors call structured SELf-questioning. With this strategy, students and teachers learn how to stop and think about their thinking (metacognition) and weave critical-thinking and problem-solving skills into everyday learning to increase self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and responsible decision making. Through a metacognitive approach utilizing SELf-questioning, stress and anxiety lose their hold on classrooms so that effective education can thrive

This book addresses the point of intersection between cognition, metacognition, and culture in learning and teaching Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). We explore theoretical background and cutting-edge research about how various forms of cognitive and metacognitive instruction may enhance learning and thinking in STEM classrooms from K-12 to university and in different cultures and countries. Over the past several years, STEM education research has witnessed rapid growth, attracting considerable interest among scholars and educators. The book provides an updated collection of studies about cognition, metacognition and culture in the four STEM domains. The field of research, cognition and metacognition in STEM education still suffers from ambiguity in meanings of key concepts that various researchers use. This book is organized according to a unique manner: Each chapter features one of the four STEM domains and one of the three themes--cognition, metacognition, and culture--and defines key concepts. This matrix-type organization opens a new path to knowledge in STEM education and facilitates its understanding.

There are many reasons to be curious about the way people learn, and the past several decades have seen an explosion of research that has important implications for individual learning, schooling, workforce training, and policy. In 2000, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition was published and its influence has been wide and deep. The report summarized insights on the nature of learning in school-aged children; described principles for the design of effective learning environments; and provided examples of how that could be implemented in the classroom. Since then, researchers have continued to investigate the nature of learning and have generated new findings related to the neurological processes involved in learning, individual and cultural variability related to learning, and educational technologies. In addition to expanding scientific understanding of the mechanisms of learning and how the brain adapts throughout the lifespan, there have been important discoveries about influences on learning, particularly sociocultural factors and the structure of learning environments. How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures provides a much-needed update incorporating insights gained from this research over the past decade.

Education in today's technologically advanced environments makes complex cognitive demands on students pre-learning, during, and post-learning. Not surprisingly, these analytical learning processes--metacognitive processes--have become an important focus of study as new learning technologies are assessed for effectiveness in this area. Rich in theoretical models and empirical data, the International Handbook of Metacognition and Learning Technologies synthesizes current research on this critical topic. This interdisciplinary reference delves deeply into component processes of self-regulated learning (SRL), examining theories and models of metacognition, empirical issues in the study of SRL, and the expanding role of educational technologies in helping students learn. Innovations in multimedia, hypermedia, microworlds, and other platforms are detailed across the domains, so that readers in diverse fields can evaluate the theories, data collection methods, and conclusions. And for the frontline instructor, contributors offer proven strategies for using technologies to benefit students at all levels.

Teachers are increasingly challenged by dilemmas of practice as they negotiate their commitments to equity for students from historically marginalized communities, including students with disabilities, against the demands of their school settings. This book seeks to understand the ways in which teachers' engagements with their schooling contexts evoke varied forms of inclusive practice. It narrates the experiences of seven novice teachers who entered the field deeply committed to inclusive practice. It documents their conflicts, joys and struggles within the collectivities in which they were embedded. In doing thus, the book discloses the many unpredictable trajectories of practice that encompass the complex work of teaching for inclusion.

Although academic freedom in teaching and learning methods is crucial to a nation's growth, the concept comes with numerous misnomers and is subjected to much academic debate and doubt. This volume maps out how truth and intellectual integrity remain the fundamental principle on which the foundation of a university should be laid. Seeking to widen the frontiers of academic freedom, the authors serve up a diverse range of case studies and examples of real-life practice to encourage readers to recognize the importance of the academic freedom of faculty and students, and acknowledge this freedom as one of the main goals to be achieved by any university. Ultimately, the authors demonstrate that the autonomy to work freely remains the foremost criterion of success, that it is a pre-requisite to facilitating the advancement of knowledge and quality of research in any institution of higher education, and is to be encouraged and supported by the leadership teams within those institutions.

For over a decade Saundra McGuire has been acclaimed for her presentations and workshops on metacognition and student learning because the tools and strategies she shares have enabled faculty to facilitate dramatic improvements in student learning and success. This book encapsulates the model and ideas she has developed in the past fifteen years, ideas that are being adopted by an increasing number of faculty with considerable effect.The methods she proposes do not require restructuring courses or an inordinate amount of time to teach. They can often be accomplished in a single session, transforming students from memorizers and regurgitators to students who begin to think critically and take responsibility for their own learning. Saundra McGuire takes the reader sequentially through the ideas and strategies that students need to understand and implement. While stressing that there are many ways to teach effectively, and that readers can be flexible in picking and choosing among the strategies she presents, Saundra McGuire offers the reader a step-by-step process for delivering the key messages of the book to students in as little as 50 minutes. Free online supplements provide three slide sets and a sample video lecture. For readers with no background in education or cognitive psychology, the book avoids jargon and esoteric theory.