Academic literature on the topic 'Alumni teachers'

This research purpose to explore the role of graduated of the Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Teacher Education in strengthening communication networks and improving the quality of learning through Parenting Class activities. The focus of the research article is how the approach, implementation and evaluation applied by the alumni in strengthening communication networks and improving the quality of learning through Parenting Class activities?. The method used in this research is a qualitative method whose data is carried out through field practice from 2012 to 2019 using Baumrind's theory, a theory that purpose to explore and attempt to find new theori so that in Islam many of the exemplary concepts in each Parenting Class activity mentioned. The results of the approach by utilizing IT, alumni association forums, alumi annual programs, and establishing a regeneration system. Implementation of activities is the establishment of good alumni, by exchanging idea on improving the quality of education through annual programs and IT media. Meanwhile, parenting class activities useful in achiev the vision and mission of education in which these activities open the fabric of cooperation and transparent systems in educating between teachers and guardians of students, guardians of students with the community, the community with teachers and impacting on the quality of education and certainly constituting strategic management in activities classroom learning.

Abstract: This study aims to describe: (1) the strategies of principals, teachers, and alumni in developing the entrepreneurial spirit of students; (2) strategies of principals, teachers, and alumni in developing student’s entrepreneurial abilities; (3) the role of principals and teachers in the implementation of a double track learning system; (4) alumni participation in the implementation of learning entrepreneurship practices for students; (5) constrains encountered in developing student’s entrepreneurial spirit and abilities; and (6) solutions to overcome the constraints to the development of entrepreneurial motivation and capacities. This research method used qualitative approach with a case study design data would collected through observation, interview, and documentation techniques. Based on the research data it can be concluded that principals, teachers, and alumni have several strategies in developing the spirit and entrepreneurial abilities of students. The strategy includes requiring students to go directly into school entrepreneurship activities, providing material related to entrepreneurship practices, implement literacy programs to develop, brainstorm, and create dream books. In addition, principals and teachers play a role as policy makers in the implementation of double track learning policies. Alumni also actively participate in the implementation of entrepreneurship practice learning. The constraints experienced by principals, teachers, and alumni in developing spirit and entrepreneurial abilities are the students have low awareness and confidence. These constraints can be overcome by providing motivation, assistance, and student insight.
 Abstrak: Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui: (1) strategi kepala sekolah, guru, dan alumni dalam pengembangan jiwa kewirausahaan siswa; (2) strategi kepala sekolah, guru, dan alumni dalam pengembangan kemampuan kewirausahaan siswa; (3) peran kepala sekolah dan guru dalam penerapan sistem pembelajaran double track; (4) partisipasi alumni dalam pembelajaran praktik kewirausahaan siswa; (5) hambatan kepala sekolah, guru, dan alumni dalam mengembangkan jiwa dan kemampuan kewirausahaan siswa; dan (6) solusi kepala sekolah, guru, dan alumni dalam mengatasi hambatan pengembangan jiwa dan kemampuan kewirausahaan siswa. Metode penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif jenis studi kasus dengan teknik observasi, wawancara, dan dokumentasi. Berdasarkan data penelitian dapat disimpulkan bahwa kepala sekolah, guru, dan alumni memiliki beberapa strategi dalam pengembangan jiwa dan kemampuan kewirausahaan siswa. Strategi tersebut diantaranya adalah mewajibkan siswa terjun langsung dalam kegiatan kewirausahaan sekolah, pemberian materi yang berkaitan dengan praktik kewirausahaan, penerapan program literasi buku pengembangan, curah pendapat, dan pembuatan dream book. Selain itu kepala sekolah dan guru berperan sebagai pembuat kebijakan dan pelaksanaan kebijakan pembelajaran dengan sistem double track. Alumni juga berpartisipasi aktif dalam pelaksanaan pembelajaran praktik kewirausahaan siswa. Hambatan yang dialami kepala sekolah, guru, dan alumni dalam pengembangan jiwa dan kemampuan kewirausahaan siswa adalah kesadaran siswa dan tingkat kepercayaan diri siswa. Hambatan tersebut dapat diatasi dengan pemberian motivasi, pendampingan berkelanjutan, serta membuka pemikiran para siswa.

The use of technology in UT instructional media allows students of the Open University of Indonesia (Universitas Terbuka, UT) to improve their knowledge and skills without being hampered by distance, space, and time. This study explored the perception of UT alumni and stakeholders about the benefit of using information and communication technology (ICT) and learning media obtained during their study period in UT. The information was gathered from a tracer study conducted in 2008, which was used to evaluate 5 study programs at the Faculty of Teacher Training and Educational Science in the use of ICT and instructional media. The data were collected from 37 UT regional offices through questionnaires to a sample of alumni teachers and their principals, as well as interviews with selected alumni and stakeholders. According to the surveys and interviews, both alumni and stakeholders perceived that alumni had improved in their knowledge and skills of ICT and learning media. However, according to alumni perceptions, the knowledge and skills they had learned from UT were relatively low. On the other hand, stakeholders perceived that the alumni had good knowledge and skills of ICT and learning media. We argue that differences in perception between alumni and stakeholders result from different experiences and expectations on the part of each group.

The objectives of this research were to measure the success rate achieved by the alumni of Open/Distance Learning (O/DL), the Bachelor Education In-service Teachers Program (BEITP), Staya Jacana Christian University(SWCU), Salatiga in their critical thinking habit that lead to their success, and to find factors which determined their critical thinking habit. The factors concerned were student factor (learning motivation, alumni’s readiness to enter ICT community, prerequisite) or teacher factor (teacher’s ability in creating and using a new instructional context). This quantitative research belongs to the causality ex-post facto research. The data source was one class of O/ DL, the BEITP, SWCUstudents, who were chosen out of four classes, as many as 32 alumni in the academic year 2015/2016. Data were screened using a self-rating scale, which consisted of 40 items tested valid and reliable, and then reduced to 5 variablas. The BEITP, SWCU Salatiga had graduated most of its alumni who owned critical thinking habit at a high rate. The critical thinking habit was affected by the instructional contexts which enabled a new situation (Model 1), alumni’s readiness to enter the ICT community (Model 2), pre-requisite, i.e., mastery of previous lecture materials (Model 3), and student’s learning motivation (Model 4) to reach 81%. The alumni’s critical thinking habit of 51.20% was determined by the teacher’s role in developing instructional contexts which made a new situation possible. This finding was useful for educational quality management for the effectiveness and productivity of higher education, which should have been focused on the teacher in developing an instructional strategy based on context, alumni readiness to enter the ICT community, prerequisite, and student’s learning motivation.

The isolation that has historically plagued the teaching profession has particularly harmful effects on novice teachers who need the guidance, wisdom, and encouragement of other educators. In recent years, however, social media tools have helped many teachers connect with colleagues and build robust professional learning networks (PLNs) beyond their schools and districts. In this article, the authors describe their experiences using Twitter with preservice teachers to jump-start their PLN development. Through Twitter, preservice teachers interact with program alumni and in-service educators, and the teacher education program is able to build a stronger connection with their partners in the field.

This study was conducted with regard to the phenomenon of Islamic religious education graduates who became class teachers in Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Pangkalan Susu distric. The purpose of this research is to know: 1) Problematic graduates of PAI as classroom teachers in planning instructional. 2) Problematic graduates of PAI as classroom teachers in implementing instructional. 3) Problematic graduates of PAI as classroom teachers in conducting instructional evaluation. The type of research is using qualitative research methods with phenomenology approach. The subject of research is the graduate of Islamic Religious Education who has become a class teacher. The result of the research that problematic of PAI graduates as teacher of Madrasah Ibtidaiyah class in planning instructional in Pangkalan Susu sub-district of Langkat district is still having difficulties to make instructional plan independently. Besides these three Madrasah Ibtidaiyah also do not have a library that can provide books that qualified to be used as a source of learning. While in implementing the instructional is the similarity of teachers in the method of learning and the lack of mastery of the material. This is due to their lack of knowledge about the variety of instructional methods and the lack of mastery of the material. On the other hand these teachers rarely attend training, seminars, workshops that can provide information for development for their profession. As for the evaluation of learning is not yet meet the assessment procedures. This is because the teacher has not understood the way the preparation of the implementation Plan of instructional.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between interactional justice, as a type of organizational justice that reflects the teachers' perceived fairness of supervisor treatment, and their non‐task behavior in terms of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and deviant workplace behavior (DWB).Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 270 teachers (by e‐mail) and 22,599 students (by personal distribution) at a Spanish public university. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used for testing mediation and multiple regression for analyzing the non‐task and teaching satisfaction association.FindingsResults show that justice is an antecedent of group commitment that fully mediates the relationship between justice and non‐task behavior except DWB‐Colleagues. Results also reveal an association between non‐task behavior, except DWB‐Organization and DWB‐Colleagues, and teaching satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsThe researched teachers' job conditions are inherent to the peculiarities of the public sector that may limit the ability to extrapolate the findings in the private sector. The findings provide a more understandable mechanism of the influence of the supervisor's justice on non‐task behavior and, in turn, on teaching satisfaction.Practical implicationsThese findings contribute to a better understanding of the ways in which universities can control non‐task behavior and provide lines to design a more efficient department management strategy. The emotional and fair proximity of the supervisor, eliciting the group teachers' sense of affective commitment, appears as an effective quality strategy for universities.Originality/valueThe study of the joint interaction of justice and group commitment variables against DWB and in favor of OCB, and its consequent effect on teaching quality, is unprecedented in higher education.

<p>Undang-Undang Sistem Pendidikan Indonesia No.20 tahun 2003 pasal 35 menyatakan bahwa kompetensi lulusan harus ditingkatkan secara berencana dan berkala. Dalam rangka peningkatan tersebut perlu diketahui kompetensi lulusan untuk program perbaikan secara menyeluruh. Para lulusan Fakultas Ilmu Pendidikan <em>Teachers College </em>Program Studi Pendidikan Matematika Universitas Pelita Harapan tersebar di seluruh wilayah Indonesia baik di sekolah-sekolah yang berada di dalam maupun di luar Yayasan Pendidikan Pelita Harapan. Semasa kuliah, mereka telah dibekali dengan berbagai kemampuan untuk mendukung profesionalisme mereka sebagai guru. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui dampak guru-guru lulusan FIP <em>Teachers College </em>Program Studi Pendidikan Matematika UPH bagi sekolah-sekolah tempat mereka mengajar, sebagai bahan masukan untuk perbaikan kedepan yang lebih baik. Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan metode survei. Subjek penelitian ini adalah para kepala sekolah, CC/TT dan peserta didik. Hasil penelitian ini diharapkan dapat memberikan evaluasi bagi usaha peningkatan kompetensi lulusan FIP <em>Teachers College </em>Program Studi Pendidikan Matematika UPH. Dari hasil penelitian diperoleh kesimpulan bahwa secara umum alumni pendidikan matematika <em>Teacher College</em> berdasarkan pengguna lulusan sudah mencapai ke empat kompetensi berdasarkan <em>graduate profile Teacher College</em>, antara lain: Guru bidang studi matematika Kristen, Guru bidang studi matematika dengan standar internasional, Seorang Kristen yang dewasa, Seorang anggota komunitas yang signifikan, namun ada beberapa aspek didalamnya yang perlu ditingkatkan dan diperbaiki. </p>

Since World War II international exchange and training programs for educators have increasingly played an important role in developing prospective consciousness and awareness of cultural diversity and global interdependence among teachers. However, international programs have always depended on extra educational factors such as political, ideological, cultural, or financial circumstances. As a result, program sustainability and proper institutionalization of program's results that are a testimony of achieved success, are both matters of concern for program developers and alumni. This paper identifies factors and contexts that facilitate sustainable development of international programs and institutionalization of their outcomes. Two cohorts of international teacher program alumni from Russia and the United States were interviewed about the impact of exchange programs on participants' status and pedagogies. The study demonstrated that respondents consider three factors, namely, motivational, administrative, and cooperative, most critical for the institutionalization of international program results.

Subject. In this article we analyze how machinery, science and technologies influence the sociocultural environment that engenders the teacher's paradigm of values and views of life. Objectives. We herein outline guidance to predict the way teachers' views of life might evolve in corresponding sociocultural periods more precisely. The article analyzes making more precise forecasts of oncoming economic crises, which will cause some changes in teachers' mindset. Methods. The study involves learning methodologies, methods of prediction and forecasting, including foresight. Results. We propose and analyze the theory holding that the human civilization passes cycles during its sociocultural development in terms of a new set of values in contemporary teachers' views of life. The article sets forth our recommendations on innovation-driven views of life, mindset and thinking and, consequently, the development of intellectual qualities, knowledge, skills, cognitive activity, positive motivation to the professional activity of a teacher and alumni during more elevated periods, which requires to more precisely predict the way teachers’ mindset may change in certain sociocultural periods. Conclusions and Relevance. As the human civilization enters the innovation-driven sociocultural period, teachers and social relationships should demonstrate more innovative and environmentally-friendly attitudes and views of life.

Those who enter into graduate study bring with them a diverse array of needs and interests. Graduate programmes are called upon to meet these needs and in endeavoring to do so,institutions providing training must look at the increasing diversity of the field. One way to do this is to determine what graduates of professional training do as practicing adult educators. This study was designed to answer some of the questions regarding the impact of a degree for men and women in adult education on their career paths, job mobility, income levels, and so on. In this study, current patterns in career development of adult educators and trends in the field of adult education were profiled by surveying 1960 through 1988 graduates of the Adult Education Programme at the University of British Columbia. The study examined occupational placement of graduates and the factors determining their mobility. As well, the relationship between training and work activities was explored. Further, graduates described their learning needs which were examined in terms of their work activities. The nature and degree of their participation in continuing professional education were examined. In addition, the reasons for initial enrollment in the programme were investigated. One of the major facets of the study was to discover the differences, if any, between men and women in many areas of career development. The following general research questions were pursued: 1) What reasons do graduates give for their participation in the adult education programme? 2) Do men and women share a similar education and occupation profile? 3) In what way has self-assessed occupational prestige changed over time? 4) Do graduates of the five Adult Education Programmes (Diploma, M.Ed., M.Sc., M.A., and Ed.D.) perform different occupational functions in their present work? 5) What factors influence occupational mobility? and 6) Are there relationships between present occupational activities, self-perceived quality of training in specified occupational activities and self-reported need to continue learning in these activities? Respondents (approximately half of all graduates) were typically female (59.2%), age 39 on graduation. She had worked four and a half years in adult education prior to entry in the programme and was motivated to participate in the programme to increase her chances of professional advancement. She took less than three years to complete her degree and has held three jobs since graduation. She works full-time in a position where administration or management is the primary function and considers her opportunities for occupational mobility as average or high. She earns $46,000 per year (1988). In general, respondents cited reasons related to professional advancement as their motivation for participation in the programme. Women and men tended to be similar in their educational and occupational profile, which was unanticipated in examining previous research. However, a significant discrepancy was found in the annual income earned by women and men working in adult education positions. This discrepancy was not evident between men and women working outside of the field. Generally, self-assessed occupational prestige increased over time, though the biggest jump was seen in the period since graduation. Graduates of the five departmental programmes weighed similarly, though not identically, the amount of time spent in fourteen specified occupational activities. Very few occupational, educational, or demographic factors seemed to influence occupational mobility, except age at graduation. There seemed to be a weak relationship between occupational functions performed by graduates at the time of the survey, their assessment of the programme in preparing them to perform these functions, and the self-reported need to continue their education in these specified functions.<br>Education, Faculty of<br>Educational Studies (EDST), Department of<br>Graduate

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the impact of a student teaching internship upon the classroom intercultural competence (CIC) of teacher education students and alumni. Phase I employed quantitative methodology to compare the intercultural competence as measured by Ross, Thornson, McDonald, and Arrastia’s (2009) Cross Cultural Competence Inventory (3CI) for three groups. The 3CI is a 63-item survey that uses corresponding questions to assess intercultural competence. Survey items are scored with a 6-point, strongly agree-to-strongly disagree Likert scale (Thornson, 2010). The three groups included teacher education students enrolled in a field observation course, students enrolled in their student teaching internship, and teacher education alumni currently teaching in the Jacksonville metropolitan area. Participants’ 3CI scores were used as a diagnostic tool to facilitate the recognition of factors relative to their overall intercultural competence. Three quantitative research questions were tested: Is there a statistically significant difference between matched pairs of intern’s CIC as measured by the scales and subscales of the 3CI (Ross et al., 2009) after students complete their field observation experience as compared to their pre-field observation scores? This question was not supported (t(116) = 1.07; p > .05). Do matched pairs of interns who experienced an IST enhanced internship (Ross et al., 2009) as compared to matched pairs of interns whose student teaching experience was exclusively in a domestic classroom? This question was supported (t(38) = 1.68; p < .001; d = .252). Do in-service teachers who experienced an IST enhanced internship demonstrate increased CIC as measured by the scales and subscales of the 3CI (Ross et al., 2009) as compared to in-service teachers whose student teaching experience was exclusively in a domestic classroom? This question was not supported (t(25) = .93; p > .05). Each of the 6 subfactors was charted to portray a graphic illustration of the areas of strengths and weakness concerning classroom intercultural competence. In the qualitative component of the present study, interview methodology facilitated gathering qualitative data from intern and in-service teachers. This provided a context for enhancing the quantitative data and for addressing the unique nature of how different individuals learn to adapt to diverse students in the classroom. One qualitative research question was tested: To what extent do qualitative data collected from interviews reflect similar areas of growth as indicated by the scales and subscales of the 3CI (Ross et al., 2009) quantitative measurement? Interviews with these teachers led to the identification of significant factors related to intercultural communicative success in the multicultural classroom. Hence, research question 4 was supported.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, 2009.<br>Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 7, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-10, Section: A, page: 3817. Adviser: Robert Toutkoushian.

While traditionally underrepresented groups are attaining degrees at a higher rate than ever before, these students still receive bachelor’s degrees at significantly lower rates than other groups of students (Avery & Kane, 2004; Wilds, 2000). As a result of the educational attainment gap in the United States, precollege outreach programs have been established to provide resources for underrepresented youth to aid them in completing a post-secondary degree. Current research focuses on these participants’ college enrollment and, as a result, minimal information is available to describe these programs and their outcomes concerning students’ first year experience and college success (Hooker & Brand, 2009; Orr et al., 2007; Swail & Perna, 2002; Yeung, 2010). Framed around resiliency theory, this phenomenological study exams college access program alumni’s acclimation process into a four-year, post-secondary institution. Through the data analysis, four essentials features emerged: 1) Program Connections as External Factors, 2) Connections as External Factors in the College Setting, 3) Determination, Self-Advocacy and Willingness to Try New Things as Internal Protective Factors, and 4) Nurturing College Knowledge. Recommendations are shared to further the program in being a degree attainment intervention, in addition to a college access strategy. These include: providing development to educators in behavior management and inclusion, integrating parent involvement throughout the curriculum, providing continual support to alumni and establishing stronger partnerships with surrounding colleges. As a result of this study, leaders in secondary and post-secondary education as well as policymakers are able to gain insight on how Upward Bound services in Louisiana can nurture external and internal protective factors of resiliency that assist participants in embracing constructive responses to stressors in the first year of college.

Abstract. This qualitative master’s thesis aims at finding out the conceptions the Intercultural Teacher Education (ITE) alumni have on the ITE programme but also on the qualification demands posed by the world of work. The empirical data are collected from the ITE alumni through an online questionnaire, consisting of open-ended questions. Based on the work experiences, the alumni were divided into three categories: teachers, teacher-generalists, and generalists. The theoretical background of the study first describes the transition from higher education to the world of work from the perspective of teachers and generalists. In the second part, the nature of work in the 21st century is discussed by defining the role and relationship between expert knowledge, competences, and qualifications. Väärälä’s (1995) qualification model and Stewart and Knowles’ (1999) categorisation of skills are theories chosen to guide the data analysis. The 46 responses of the ITE alumni were analysed using phenomenographical approach. According to the findings, the alumni groups had needed all the qualification categories of Väärälä (1995) in their working life, especially the sociocultural qualifications. The generalists’ and teachers’ conceptions differed as teachers valued productive and technical qualifications, whereas generalists had needed abundance of innovative qualifications. All the groups reported hoping to have more education on both vocational, teaching related skills and in key skills. Generalists and teacher-generalists sometimes viewed the ITE programme to lack support for other than teaching related posts. Several alumni reported being satisfied with the programme due to high quality and chances to shape own studies. The results are in line with previous studies conducted on other programmes, which all suggest the strong need for higher education graduates and teachers to have sociocultural qualifications. However, the ITE programme slightly differs from other programmes because less graduates are working as teachers. The results may be useful for the students of the programme and for giving ideas on curriculum development, although not being conclusive on the topic.Tiivistelmä. Tämä laadullinen pro gradu -tutkielma pyrkii selvittämään Intercultural Teacher Education (ITE) alumnien käsityksiä ITE -koulutusohjelmasta sekä työelämän asettamista kvalifikaatiovaatimuksista. Empiirinen aineisto kerättiin alumneilta käyttäen avoimista kysymyksistä koostuvaa sähköistä kyselylomaketta. Vastausten perusteella ITE alumnit jaettiin kolmeen ryhmään heidän työkokemuksensa perusteella: opettajiin, opettajageneralisteihin ja generalisteihin. Teoreettinen viitekehys käsittelee siirtymiä korkeakoulusta työelämään opettajien sekä generalistien näkökulmasta. Viitekehyksen toisessa osassa käsitellään työn luonnetta 2000- luvulla määrittelemällä asiantuntijataito, kompetenssi ja kvalifikaatio sekä pohtimalla näiden keskinäistä suhdetta ja rooleja. Väärälän (1995) kvalifikaatioiden luokitusjärjestelmä ja Stewartin ja Knowlesin (1999) taitojen luokittelu valikoituivat aineiston analyysiä ohjaaviksi teorioiksi. 46:n alumnin vastaukset analysoitiin teoriaohjaavasti käyttäen fenomenografista tutkimusotetta. Tulosten perusteella alumniryhmät olivat työssään tarvinneet kaikkia Väärälän (1995) kvalifikaation tyyppejä, erityisesti sosiokulttuurisia kvalifikaatioita. Generalistien ja opettajien käsitykset kuitenkin erosivat siten, että opettajat kokivat tuotannollis-tekniset kvalifikaatiot erityisen tärkeiksi, kun taas generalistien käsitysten mukaan innovatiivisten kvalifikaatioiden rooli korostui. Kaikki ryhmät vastasivat toivovansa lisää tukea opettajan ammattiin liittyviin teemoihin sekä avaintaitoihin. Generalistit ja opettaja-generalistit kokivat toisinaan, että koulutusohjelma ei tukenut heidän uravalintaansa. Usea alumni kuitenkin kertoi, että ei jäänyt kaipaamaan mitään erityistä koulutusohjelmalta, sillä se oli laadukas ja tarjosi esimerkiksi mahdollisuuksia muokata tutkintoa omien kiinnostusten mukaisesti. Tulokset ovat linjassa aikaisempien tutkimusten kanssa, vaikkakin ITE koulutusohjelmana poikkeaa muista, sillä verrattain yleistä pienempi osuus valmistuneista työskentelee opettajan ammatissa. Tutkielman tuloksista voisi olla hyötyä tuleville ja nykyisille opiskelijoille sekä mahdollisesti koulutuksen opetussuunnitelmatyötä tehdessä.

Este estudo pesquisou como o processo de desenvolvimento moral de um professor pode influenciar o estabelecimento e o modo como se equilibram as trocas sociais, intelectuais e afetivas no campo moral com seus alunos adolescentes. O principal referencial teórico utilizado foi a Epistemologia Genética, em especial o desenvolvimento moral na obra de Piaget e em seus estudos sociológicos. O tema norteador da pesquisa é a questão da construção da escala de valores nas relações entre professor e alunos. A metodologia adotada define-se como uma pesquisa qualitativa, realizada através do método de estudo de caso múltiplo, em uma escola da rede estadual de Porto Alegre, elegendo como sujeitos professores indicados como significativos em termos de desenvolvimento moral por seus alunos adolescentes na pesquisa anterior. A coleta de dados ocorreu através de duas entrevistas clínicas com cada um dos sujeitos. Os dados foram organizados em casos, buscando investigar características do desenvolvimento dos sujeitos, de suas escalas de valores e das relações com seus alunos. Os resultados obtidos indicam que o processo de desenvolvimento moral do professor influencia seu modo de relacionar-se com os alunos, tornando-o mais ou menos relevante em termos de desenvolvimento moral dos jovens. Esse processo de desenvolvimento inclui relações familiares, formação continuada, reflexões e relações significativas ao longo de sua vida, inclusive com seus alunos. Professores que viveram em seu desenvolvimento relações de autonomia e tiveram a oportunidade de refletir sobre elas e ter um contato mais amplo com o conhecimento tendem a ser mais descentrados e ter o desenvolvimento do aluno como um valor importante, apresentando mais indicadores de que estabelecem relações significativas em termos de desenvolvimento moral com seus alunos. A escala de valores dos professores estudados segue se desenvolvendo através da reflexão sobre sua prática, da relação com os alunos e da formação continuada. Tais dados confirmam os achados da pesquisa anterior, que demonstrou que tais fatores são necessários para que tenhamos professores significativos para o desenvolvimento moral dos adolescentes e os ampliam, possibilitando a compreensão da maneira como estes fatores interferem no modo como se estabelece esta relação.<br>This study investigated how the process of moral development of a teacher can influence the establishment of social, intellectual and affective exchanges with adolescent students in the moral field and how these exchanges are balanced. The main theoretical background used was Genetic Epistemology, especially the topic of moral development in Piaget's work and in his sociological studies. The guiding theme of the research is the issue of the construction of a scale of values in relationships between teacher and students. The methodology adopted was defined as a qualitative research, which was conducted at a public state school in Porto Alegre using the method of multiple case study, selecting as subjects teachers who were pointed out as significant in terms of moral development by their adolescent students in the previous research. Data were collected by means of two clinical interviews with each of the subjects and organized in cases, in order to investigate characteristics of the development of the subjects, their scales of values, and the relationships with their students. The results obtained indicate that the process of moral development of teachers influences their way of relating with students, making teachers more or less relevant in terms of moral development of the adolescents. This process of development includes family relationships, continuous qualification, reflection, and significant relationships throughout life, even with students. Teachers who experience, in their development, relationships of autonomy and who had the opportunity of reflecting about these relationships and having a broader contact with knowledge tend to be more decentered and consider student's development as an important value, showing more indicators that they establish significant relationships in terms of moral development with their students. The scale of values of the analyzed teachers is still under development through reflection on their practice, the relationship with the students, and continuous qualification. Such data confirm and the results of the previous research, which demonstrated that such factors are necessary in order to have significative teachers for the moral development of adolescents, and also expand them, enabling us to understand how these factors interfere with the way the relationship is established.<br>Este estudio investigó cómo el proceso de desarrollo moral de un profesor puede influenciar el establecimiento y el modo como se equilibran los intercambios sociales, intelectuales y afectivos en el campo moral con sus alumnos adolescentes. El principal referencial teórico utilizado fué la Epistemología Genética, especialmente el desarrollo moral en la obra de Piaget y en sus estudios sociológicos. El tema orientador de la investigación es la cuestión de la construcción de la escala de valores en las relaciones entre profesor y alumnos. La metodología adoptada se define como una pesquisa cualitativa, realizada a través del método de estudio de caso múltiple. Fue realizada en una escuela de la red provincial en Porto Alegre, habiéndose elegido como sujetos profesores indicados como significativos en términos de desarrollo moral por sus alumnos adolescentes en la investigación anterior. La recolección de datos se hizo a través de dos entrevistas clínicas con cada uno de los sujetos. Los datos fueron organizados en casos, buscando investigar características del desarrollo de los sujetos, de sus escalas de valores y de las relaciones con sus alumnos. Los resultados obtenidos indican que el proceso de desarrollo moral del profesor influye en su modo de relacionarse con los alumnos, lo que lo torna a ese profesor más o menos relevante en términos de desarrollo moral de los jóvenes. Ese proceso de desarrollo incluye relaciones familiares, formación continuada, reflexiones y relaciones significativas a lo largo de su vida, incluso con sus alumnos. Profesores que vivieron, en su desarrollo, relaciones de autonomía y tuvieron la oportunidad de reflexionar sobre ellas y tener un contacto más amplio con su conocimiento, tienden a ser más descentrados y tener el desarrollo del alumno como un valor importante, presentando más indicadores de que establecen relaciones significativas en términos de desarrollo moral con sus alumnos. La escala de valores de los profesores estudiados sigue desarrollándose a través de la reflexión sobre su práctica, de la relación con los alumnos y de la formación continuada. Tales datos confirman y amplían los hallazgos de la investigación anterior, que demostró que tales factores son necesarios para que tengamos profesores significativos para el desarrollo moral de los adolescentes y los amplían, posibilitando la comprensión de la manera como estos factores interfieren en el modo como se establece esta relación.

Les contínues reformes legislatives imposades han tingut l’objectiu d’adaptar l’ensenyament a un context social i cultural postmodern. Tanmateix, aquests canvis aparentment no han reeixit i la comunitat educativa té una impressió general negativa. Aquesta tesi doctoral ha reflexionat globalment entorn de la situació a l’àmbit educatiu, també m’he centrat en els diversos elements imbricats i especialment en la figura del docent. Als mitjans de comunicació apareixen constantment informacions explicant situacions conflictives i difícils que el docent ha de tractar dia a dia dins les aules. Públicament, s’interroga si el professor ha perdut l’autoritat que tenia anteriorment davant la societat, les famílies i els alumnes. Molts responen d’una forma contundent i radical afirmativament. Aquesta recerca doctoral pretén investigar el concepte d’autoritat en el professorat durant el Franquisme a Catalunya i contraposar-lo al context postmodern actual; també s’han fet aportacions d’altres contrades per tal d’ampliar la perspectiva. Per abordar la complexitat d’aquest objecte d’estudi s’han utilitzat eines de diverses disciplines, principalment la sociologia, també l’antropologia, la pedagogia, la filosofia i la psicologia. La metodologia utilitzada ha estat principalment qualitativa, mitjançant entrevistes en profunditat, grups triangulars..., i també s’han introduït dades quantitatives. L’anàlisi del concepte autoritat exigeix tenir en compte el marc social i cultural. Aquest determina els tipus de relacions socials en un espai concret entre els diversos actors socials. A més a més, s’ha de tenir en compte la definició del terme auctoritas i diferenciar-lo d’un altre que històricament ha portat equívocs, la potestas. Aquesta investigació ha situat la figura del docent en dos contextos socials i culturals específics. Primer el marc franquista, el qual tenia una estructura on dominaven unes interaccions socials caracteritzades per l’obediència, la disciplina, la jerarquia, les relacions unidireccionals i verticals. Aquestes poden definir-se a partir de la potestas. Aquest tipus de relacions socials no estaven reduïdes a l’espai educatiu, sinó que tota l’estructura social tenia aquestes característiques. Tanmateix, en un context social i cultural postmodern, hi ha més equilibri i equitat entre els diversos actors socials, també a l’àmbit educatiu. No existeix una estructura social sòlida que consolidi a priori unes determinades formes de fer i d’actuar, sinó que el docent, amb la seva habilitat, intel·ligència, esforç, empatia i implicació ha de guanyar-se l’auctoritas dia a dia. Aquest tipus d’interaccions socials no s’han de situar únicament a l’espai educatiu, sinó que van més enllà, són qüestions socials i culturals d’aquest període. Les conclusions d’aquesta recerca són les següents: s’ha relacionat el context social i cultural franquista amb l’escola d’aquell període. Aquest marc comportava unes determinades metodologies a l’interior dels centres i unes interaccions socials específiques entre docents i alumnes. Les relacions entre els agents socials a l’aula eren fonamentalment verticals, rígides, disciplinàries i sense dret a rèplica. Això comportava interaccions dominades fonamentalment per la potestas. A l’actualitat, s’ha relacionat el context social i cultural postmodern a l’escola. Aquest marc comporta unes determinades metodologies als centres i unes interaccions socials específiques entre docents i alumnes. Les relacions entre els actors socials a l’aula són més igualitàries, horitzontals, dialogants i democràtiques. Per tal que pugui aparèixer l’auctoritas hi ha d’haver lliure acceptació de l’educat. Això comporta que en aquest model pugui aparèixer l’autoritat del docent, per la seva vàlua i carisma, i que aquest sigui considerat especial.<br>Las continuas reformas legislativas impuestas han tenido el objetivo de adaptar la enseñanza a un contexto social y educativo posmoderno. Aparentemente, estos cambios no han tenido éxito y la comunidad educativa tiene una impresión general negativa de los mismos. Esta tesis doctoral ha abordado globalmente la situación de la educación, también se ha centrado en los diversos elementos implicados y especialmente en la figura del docente. En los medios de comunicación aparecen informaciones explicando situaciones conflictivas y difíciles que el profesor tiene que gestionar día a día en las aulas. Existe un debate público en el que se interroga si el docente ha perdido la autoridad que tenía en la sociedad, en las familias y en los alumnos. Muchos responden afirmativamente de forma contundente y radical. Esta tesis doctoral quiere investigar el concepto de autoridad del profesor durante el Franquismo en Cataluña y compararlo con el contexto posmoderno actual; también se han hecho aportaciones de otros lugares para ampliar la perspectiva. Para abordar la complejidad de este objeto de estudio se han utilizado recursos de diversas disciplinas, principalmente la sociología, también la antropología, la pedagogía, la filosofía y la psicología. La metodología utilizada ha sido principalmente cualitativa, a partir de entrevistas en profundidad, grupos triangulares…, y también con datos cuantitativos. El análisis del concepto autoridad exige tener en cuenta el marco social y cultural. Este determina el tipo de relaciones sociales en un espacio concreto entre los diversos actores sociales. También he tenido en cuenta la definición del concepto auctoritas y lo he diferenciado de otro que históricamente ha llevado a equívocos, la potestas. Esta investigación ha situado la figura del docente en dos contextos sociales y culturales específicos. Primero el marco franquista, el cual tenía una estructura social en la que dominaban unas interacciones sociales caracterizadas por la obediencia, la disciplina, la jerarquía, las relaciones unidireccionales y verticales. Estas pueden definirse a partir de la potestas. Este tipo de relaciones sociales no aparecían solamente en el ámbito educativo, sino que toda la estructura social estaba integrada por estas características. En un contexto social y cultural posmoderno hay más equilibro y equidad entre los diversos actores sociales, también en los centros escolares. No existe una estructura social sólida que consolide a priori unas determinadas formas de hacer y actuar; el docente, con su habilidad, inteligencia, esfuerzo, empatía e implicación tiene que ganarse la auctoritas día a día. Estas interacciones sociales no tienen que situarse únicamente en el ámbito educativo, van más allá, son cuestiones sociales y culturales de este período. Las conclusiones de esta investigación son las siguientes: se ha relacionado el contexto social y cultural franquista con la escuela de aquel tiempo. El marco determinaba metodologías específicas a los centros educativos y unas interacciones sociales concretas entre docentes y alumnos. Las relaciones entre los agentes sociales en las aulas eran principalmente verticales, rígidas, disciplinarias y sin posible réplica. Estas interacciones pueden definirse a partir de la potestas. En la actualidad, se ha relacionado el contexto social y cultural posmoderno en la escuela. Este marco conlleva unas determinadas metodologías en los centros y unas interacciones sociales específicas entre profesores y alumnos. Las relaciones entre los actores sociales en las aulas son más igualitarias, horizontales, dialogantes y democráticas. Para que aparezca la auctoritas tiene que haber libre aceptación del educado. En este modelo puede aparecer la autoridad del docente, por su valía y carisma, y que este sea considerado especial.<br>Ongoing legal reforms that have been introduced have sought to adapt the educational system to a postmodern social and cultural context. However, it appears that these changes have not been particularly successful and have generally been regarded as rather negative by the educational community. This doctoral thesis offers a global reflection on the present situation in the world of education and also focuses on several of the key elements involved in it and, in particular, on the figure of the teacher. The mass media constantly present reports on the difficult and conflictive situations that teaching staff must confront in the classroom on a day-to-day basis. It is publically asked whether the teacher has lost the authority that he/she used to have before society, families and students. Many people respond both forcefully and radically that this is indeed the case. This doctoral research seeks to investigate the concept of the teacher’s authority in Catalonia during the Francoist and to compare this with the current post-modern context; contributions relating to other areas have also been included in order to offer a rather wider perspective. Tools from various different disciplines have been used in order to address the complexity of the subject studied. These have mainly been borrowed from sociology, but also from anthropology, pedagogy, philosophy and psychology. The methodology used has mainly been qualitative and derived from in-depth interviews and triangular groups, though some quantitative data have also been included. An analysis of the concept of authority requires us to consider both the social and cultural context. This determines the types of social relations that take place within a specific area between the different social actors. It is also important to consider the definition of the term auctoritas and to distinguish it from another concept that has historically been responsible for numerous misunderstandings, potestas. This research has placed the figure of the teacher in two specific social and cultural contexts. First, within the Francoist framework, which had a structure dominated by social interactions which were characterized by obedience, discipline, hierarchy, and vertical, unidirectional relationships. These can be defined on the basis of potestas. This type of social relationships were not just limited to the educational area; the whole social structure had these characteristics. However, in a postmodern social and cultural context, there is also more balance and equity between the different social agents in the world of education. There is no solid social structure to consolidate a priori certain ways of being and acting; instead, the teacher, through his/her ability, intelligence, effort, empathy and involvement, must earn auctoritas on a day-to-day basis. This type of social interaction should not only be located in the world of educational, but goes much further, and involves the social and cultural issues of this period. The conclusions drawn from this research are the following: the Francoist social and cultural context has been associated with the school of the same period. This framework entailed the use of certain specific approaches within the educational centres and some of the specific social interactions between teachers and students. The relationships between social agents in the classroom were essentially vertical, rigid and disciplinary, with no right of reply. This resulted in interactions that were essentially dominated by the potestas. Nowadays, the postmodern cultural and social context is associated with the school. This framework entails certain specific methodologies in schools and a certain specific social interactions between teachers and students. The relationships between social actors in the classroom are more egalitarian, horizontal, dialogue-orientated and democratic. For the auctoritas to appear, it is necessary for the educated to be freely accepted. This means that in this model the authority of the teacher can appear based on his/her value, charisma and consideration as a special type of person.

El trabajo pretende avanzar en la comprensión teórica y empírica de algunos de los mecanismos de influencia educativa que actúan en las situaciones de aula; es decir, de algunos de los procesos psicológicos subyacentes a los dispositivos mediante los cuales los profesores tratan de ofrecer a sus alumnos una ayuda educativa ajustada al proceso de construcción de conocimiento que estos realizan en tales situaciones. Se propone que los mecanismos de influencia educativa son (al menos en buena parte) de carácter esencialmente interpsicológico y que operan en el ámbito de la "interactividad", es decir, de la articulación de las actuaciones de profesor y alumnos en torno a las tareas y/o contenidos que les ocupan en la situación. Se hipotetiza que entre estos mecanismos ocupan un lugar privilegiado dos procesos: la cesión y el traspaso progresivos de la responsabilidad y el control en el aprendizaje del profesor a los alumnos, y la construcción progresiva de sistemas de significados compartidos entre profesor y alumnos cada vez más cercanos a las intenciones que presiden la acción educativa. El análisis de dos secuencias completas (dos secuencias didácticas -SD-) de enseñanza y aprendizaje de un programa informático de tratamiento de textos, de 8 horas de duración cada una, con alumnos universitarios es la base empírica del trabajo. Las dos SD se analizan de acuerdo con un modelo que contempla dos niveles de análisis diferenciados aunque interrelacionados, un conjunto de unidades de análisis vinculadas a esos niveles, y un procedimiento analítico especifico. Los resultados ofrecen evidencia empírica de la presencia, en las SD consideradas, de los dos mecanismos de influencia educativa hipotetizados. El análisis muestra algunas características comunes a ambos mecanismos, vinculadas a su actuación en el ámbito de la interactividad, así como indicadores e informaciones específicas en relación a cada uno de ellos.

AbstractIn this chapter, we identify the need for a curriculum that is intended to not only enable educators to teach about climate change, but to also foster leaders who can engage in policy analysis and civic action related to the issue of climate change. Unlike Chap. 10.1007/978-3-030-57927-2_3, which details a whole-school approach, we have specifically focused our attention on developing a curriculum with an associated implementation plan since the ability of teachers to build transferable leadership skills in younger generations are integral to any larger reform initiative. Ultimately, the efficacy of the curriculum is enhanced by a more holistic approach to the prioritization of climate change action in the context of schools and broader education systems, so a synthesis of approaches is recommended.The Climate Change Leadership Curriculum was designed in collaboration with the Arava Institute (AI), an organization in Israel that brings together Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians and international students from outside the region to engage in environmental and peace-building education. The work of AI is specific to tertiary education, so our initiative to build a climate change leadership curriculum constitutes an attempt to expand the reach of the mission and pedagogy of AI to encompass secondary education. The implementation plan also involves leveraging the network of AI to find partners for implementing the curriculum. The fact that there are AI alumni who work in secondary education opened possibilities for dissemination of the curriculum in collaboration with teachers who have a deep understanding of the pedagogy. As teachers integrate the curriculum into their particular contexts, our plan was to not only support them in the implementation, but to also solicit feedback to continually improve the resources and identify the most effective ways to provide support. This will enable us to make the curriculum accessible to teachers from diverse backgrounds in a wide variety of contexts, inside and outside of the target region.

A deep and innovative partnership is being co-created between the Ohio University Scripps Schools of Journalism and its alumni in the Cincinnati area with the Community Learning Center Institute, and the teachers, partners, and students at the Oyler Community Learning Center. This chapter will provide insight and practical lessons for the engagement process and infrastructure that is necessary for the development and sustainability of genuine, lasting, and transformative university–school partnerships.

Chapter six, ‘Seeing Britain and the World’ explores the remarkably widespread practice of travelling to the far corners of Britain, its empire, and the wider world during the summer holiday. Teachers tended to go alone or with just a couple friends and preferred to venture ‘off the beaten path’. When they got back, they wrote up short accounts of their trips for their training college alumni magazines. Teachers drew on bourgeois and elite conventions, but ultimately forged their own culture of travel and social and cultural observation. They put a premium on intimate knowledge about the everyday life of the peoples among whom they travelled and frequently confronted their own assumptions about important concepts like class and state welfare, race and the nature of imperial rule. Most of all, a sense of urgency pervaded teachers’ travel narratives. Engaging with the wider world was an ethical imperative and a key facet of teachers’ personal and professional identity.

This chapter traces how academies came to be seen as training grounds for political leaders. During the Seven Years’ War, academy teachers and trustees claimed their schools benefitted the British Empire. But when the Imperial Crisis hit, the political ambitions of academy students, which the British had stoked in the 1750s and early 1760s, became a liability. The academy generation became the revolutionary generation, and students and faculty streamed into the ranks of the Continental Army and state and national political offices. The American Revolution solidified the civic purposes of education, and academies in particular. But the war was also destructive to American education. As peace arrived in 1783, Americans, and especially academy alumni, began to think about how to rebuild American education.

For the past five decades, OU has been the nerve centre for every agitation, strike, meeting, or debate for separate Telangana. The widespread notion that ‘movement is the business of Osmania’ is explained in the chapter by highlighting Osmania’s role throughout the various phases of the movement. The university has produced a number of activists who later became part of mainstream politics and other arenas of society. This chapter illustrates how a culture of resistance was created by intellectuals (students, alumni, and teachers) and how their activism made the campus the epicentre of a mass movement. Focusing primarily on out-of-the-classroom ethnographic material, this chapter discusses the influence of campus education and (un)learning, how its spaces and interpersonal relations make individuals more cognizant of their regional identity, and how this identity assertion translated into a mass movement.

I want to begin with what some might cite as a characteristic move of the socialist intellectual in capitalist society: namely, biting the hand that feeds you. In the course of explaining to me the rejection by the National Endowment for the Humanities board of a highly-rated proposal for a Seminar for College Teachers, the NEH program officer wrote that “some reviewers were concerned that the focus on the canon, while doubtless an important issue for teachers of American literature, lacked the kind of scholarly significance generally expected of Summer Seminars. . . .” Pursuing this theme, he later wrote that my “application was rather more thesis-driven than most of our seminar proposals.” I discover everywhere signs of this division. On the one side, we find the supposedly pedagogical or professional problems raised by the question of the canon, and on the other side, what is lauded as “of scholarly significance” or, more simply, criticism or theory. In a recent “Newsletter for Graduate Alumnae and Alumni" issued by the Yale English Department, for example, Cyrus Hamlin ruminates “precisely how this procedure of hermeneutical recuperation” he is proposing “should affect the canon and the curriculum of our institution is difficult to say. . . .” and he proceeds to ignore the question (p. 2). In the same document, Margaret Homans suggests why he does so. “At Yale,” she writes . . . while post-structuralism has proven to be intellectually more unsettling than liberal humanism, the feminist versions of post-structuralism are institutionally more easily accommodated than some of the projects of liberal feminism, such as challenging the content of the canon we teach, with its vast preponderance of white, male authors (p. 4). . . . Interestingly, Homans here appropriates the project of canon revision solely to the domain of “liberal feminism,” a common enough way of trying to limit the scope of this intellectual movement to a supposed clique of uppity, middleclass women.

This chapter documents the first years of school desegregation at Westminster. By 1967, Westminster was a nationally known school whose alumni attended colleges and universities across the nation, but black students like Michael McBay and Dawn Clark endured overt racial harassment. Following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in April 1968, the pivotal and tumultuous decade concluded with increased protest in the nation at the same time that NAIS further advanced its recruitment efforts of black students. At Westminster, Malcolm Ryder, Ron McBay (Michael’s younger brother), Joia Johnson, and others enrolled also experienced racial harassment. The first black students, however, began to find their niches inside and outside the classroom. The school culture included increased volunteer efforts in black neighborhoods, celebrations of black workers in the yearbooks and newspapers, and visits by notable black individuals. Nevertheless, some school traditions reflecting racial subordination continued. The fearless firsts found their way by largely relying on their skills and talents, the support of their families, and the dedication of black workers and select white administrators and teachers.

Since its establishment on the eve of the inauguration of the Suez Canal (1869) opening up the route for a privileged sea passage towards the Orient – as it was then called – the Royal Superior School of Commerce of Venice adopted the ambitious and farsighted policy of making it ‘unique in its genre’ by promoting the teaching of foreign languages, particularly the teaching of Oriental languages. The launching of a Japanese language course taught by a native speaker five years after the School’s creation inaugurated a season of relations between Ca’ Foscari and Japan. The year of the Venetian School’s foundation coincides with the beginning of the Meiji period in Japan (1868-1912), which saw its transformation into a modern and industrialised country. The Regia Scuola also entertained direct and indirect relations with similar schools in Japan, exchanging alumni bulletins and scientific publications with them. Many students of Japanese in Venice would spend periods of time in Japan, while native Japanese instructors in Venice, once back in Japan, would transmit knowledge acquired in Venice, sometimes even becoming teachers of Italian in Japan. Scholarships for commercial practice allowed some Venetian alumni to reach Japan, while others were hired by new Japanese educational institutions or attached to the Italian diplomatic and consular missions in Japan. Most of them maintained close ties with Ca’ Foscari by sending postcards, photographs, letters and often detailed reports on Japan to their alma mater, thus helping to increase knowledge of a far and still little-known country, in Venice as well as in the rest of Italy. Young Japanese scholars and prominent professors visited the Regia Scuola, often documenting memories of their Venetian experience in their writings. Following the traces left by some of these characters, the essay aims at reconstructing the many threads of the relationships between the Regia Scuola and Japan in the first six decades of its foundation.

This introductory essay provides an outline of the history of the international relations of Ca’ Foscari through its 150 years’ history. It describes how one of the original purposes behind its creation in 1868 was to give an international flavour to the Regia Scuola of Venice, instituted in the most important city on the Adriatic as the oldest of the Italian higher commercial institutes, based on the French-Belgian model, and with foreign languages being an important part of the curriculum. As the contributions to this volume illustrate, the history of Ca’ Foscari is characterised by intense cultural, educational and scientific exchanges with people and institutions outside the national context, and its internationalisation was – and still is – promoted through the presence of foreign teachers and students and native language instructors, the exchange of bulletins and scientific publications with foreign institutions, the international contacts and networks developed by the alumni both individually and collectively, a growing number of scholarships of different kinds for study abroad as well as a growing number of foreign visiting scholars and professors. This volume reconstructs only a part of the history of the intense international relations of Ca’ Foscari, but eloquently testifies to the eminently international vocation that has characterised it since its foundation.

Microsoft Excel is a ubiquitous tool used frequently by practicing engineers. A recent survey of alumni from The University of Alabama’s Department of Mechanical Engineering regarding software tools revealed that 100% of the respondents used Microsoft Excel regularly on their jobs, while a low percentage used standard packages such as ANSYS or MATLAB, and that none used software tools which had been bundled with textbooks. The spreadsheet environment offers a great platform for computation and organization of engineering work, and the Visual Basic engine allows for great extensibility of Excel through the development of special functions and add-in modules. This paper reports on a proof-of-concept project to implement sustained emphasis on Microsoft Excel in the thermal mechanical curriculum at The University of Alabama. Specific add-in modules for use in thermodynamic analysis and heat transfer analysis have been developed and are continually being refined. These add-in modules have been utilized in a sequence of courses Thermo I, Heat Transfer, Thermo II, and Energy Systems Design. Features of the add-in modules are detailed in this report and feedback from students and teachers are given.

The search for improvements in the quality of education leads to interest in technological tools that support the teaching and learning activities in a student-centered design approach. The goal of this study is to explore AVAs activities and resources focusing on how they can improve technological appropriation and student-centered design. The subject is explored starting from studies on the literature, AVAs analysis, and teachers' researches highlighting the relationships between the semiotic affordance levels and technological appropriation ones as well as insights about the gap that exists between what is projected for an AVA and how it is really used.