Flexibility has been increasingly valued in mathematics education to better prepare students for lives in the rapidly changing society of the future. Although there has been conjecture that teachers’ ...flexibility plays a substantial role in facilitating students’ mathematical flexibility, there has been little examination of how teachers can use a flexible curriculum to develop mathematical flexibility (MF) in authentic classroom environments. This paper elaborates the notion of flexible curriculum use, referred to as pedagogical flexibility (PF) in curriculum use, as the competence to expand pedagogical space and make alternative pedagogical decisions when planning and enacting a curriculum that differs from the routine practices provided in the intended and written curriculum. We develop a framework for PF in curriculum use to identify and characterize teachers’ curriculum use to promote MF. In an explorative case study with one middle school teacher, we analyzed what and how specific aspects of PF in curriculum use promote potential and actual MF in the learning of central tendency measures. Findings indicate that the teacher could expand his pedagogical space by carefully differentiating the pedagogical considerations of the curriculum and could find alternative approaches by making associative and reflective connections among them. This provides insight into how PF in curriculum use can promote students’ potential and actual MF.
In the twenty-first century, there has been significant discussion worldwide about students and their learning processes. This study, designing with a student-centred education (SCE) training for ...three school music teachers over the nine weeks, aims to fill a gap left by the inadequate number of empirical studies examining the implementation of music lessons in China in an SCE era; it also aims to support a global understanding of SCE's pedagogical adaptation to the Chinese context by using a multiple case study conducted in Province X. The findings illustrate that although SCE has been well promoted in China and its adaptation might seem to be characterised by teacher-centred education, there might be within music education an adjusted SCE adaptation with reasonable contextual challenges and difficulties. Thus, in lieu of descriptions of the Chinese adaptation of SCE as a 'failed implementation', this study reveals a more nuanced situation in which SCE is adapted to China's specific cultural and logistical contexts with large classes, in which instruction takes place.
This paper develops learning tools in the form of lesson implementation plans (RPP), modules, and assessment sheets. RPP has been developed with a model of guided inquiry as a means of learning ...activities. The modules are developed in the form of Multimedia Learning Modules (MLMs) which can attract the interest and motivation of students. The assessment sheet developed is an assessment of mathematical and verbal abilities. The results of the validation of the products developed show that the criteria are very feasible to be used in learning activities.
The growing number of cases with juveniles committing cybercrimes has led to an increase in the necessity of information ethics education to teach "information ethics" and an "appreciation of, and ...compliance with the law." However, it is difficult for juveniles to understand highly abstract concepts, such as copyrights, which they have little connection with in their everyday lives. This study analyzed effective and efficient teaching methodologies for teaching such abstract concepts. The teaching methodologies for information ethics education were defined and classified into three types: 1) teaching material focused on "material" based lessons; 2) personal experience focused on "experience" based lessons; and 3) lessons based on "both styles" that used both teaching materials as well as hands on experiences. Trial lessons were done with fifth and sixth grade students from K Elementary School in Saitama Prefecture to compare the effectiveness of these three teaching methodologies. The result indicated that lessons using "both" styles were the most effective in having the students understand abstract concepts because they were able to understand their experiences through the process of putting them into words using the provided teaching materials. Moreover, this study showed that when compared to other teaching methodologies, the method of using "both styles" nurtures a desire to take part in an information society.
Service learning can enhance prospective teachers' instructional practice through designing English lessons and tasks for real purposes based on the local context. This study analysed 31 Taiwanese ...EFL undergraduates' lesson designs and implementations of contextualized language instruction as service learning in a language teacher education programme in Taiwan. Based on the thematic analysis of lesson plans, self-evaluations, peer-evaluations, stakeholders' feedback, teaching videos, and interviews, this study reached the following major findings. First, through the investigation of the textbooks and local features, undergraduates designed topic-based lessons with contextualized dialogues as the features of contextualized language instruction. Secondly, the TESOL method course, instructor's modelling, and collaborative lesson planning purposefully prepared 31 English majors for the lesson designs and implementation as service learning. Thirdly, the undergraduates' knowledge was constructed, particularly knowledge of learners, teaching contexts, educational ends as well as content and curriculum knowledge of contextualized language instruction. Finally, participants, their peers, and stakeholders (learners and tourists) regarded these lessons relevant to their lives. Suggestions on effective integration of lesson designs and implementations of contextualized language instruction into service learning for prospective language teachers were provided.
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