Browsing by Author "Becker, Sandra"

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    The cross-cultural reflective model for post-sojourn debriefing
    (Taylor & Francis : Reflective Practice: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 2018-01) Dressler, Roswita; Becker, Sandra; Kawalilak, Colleen; Arthur, Nancy
    Reflective writing is a practice often encouraged in study abroad programs. Reflection can be facilitated through experiential learning, but little research is available on how to guide or structure related learning activities. In this article, we discuss the Cross-cultural Reflection model (CCR), which emerged through our own process of researching three commonly-used models for reflective writing (Gibbs, 1988; Johns, 2010; Rolfe, Freshwater & Jasper, 2001). We document our procedure for researching, creating, testing, and modifying the CCR model, before and after using it with students in a post-sojourn debriefing workshop. In the discussion, we examine which aspects of the models examined informed the CCR model and which elements we introduced as a result of working with the models in two research retreats. The sharing of the process is intended to inform practices of reflective writing in post-sojourn debriefing to enhance international experiences, programmes and practices.
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    Exploring design discourses and liminality as features of professional learning in an elementary makerspace
    (Emerald Publishing Limited, 2022-03-03) Becker, Sandra; Jacobsen, Michele
    Purpose – Using Johansson-Sköldberg et al.’s (2013) descriptions of design discourses, this study aims to analyze teacher interviews, research notes and teacher and student artifacts to determine if engagement in design practices led to changes in the teacher’s thinking. Design/methodology/approach – This article presents results from a year-long study that explored how a teacher enacted design discourses to engage in curriculum learning within an elementary school makerspace. The design-based study involved a collaborative partnership where a teacher and researcher co-designed, co-enacted and co-reflected on three cycles of making featuring curriculum studies in science, mathematics and social studies. Findings – The authors determined that engagement in all four design discourses led to transformative changes in the teacher’s thinking about herself as a teacher and her students as learners. The evidence suggests the school makerspace can serve as a liminal design space for professional learning, given that implicit in the makerspace is the embodiment of design practices such as problem finding, iteration and reflection. Research limitations/implications – Engaging in design discourses in the makerspace can lead teachers to question the frames they hold about teaching and learning. However, teachers need ongoing support in developing discipline knowledge and prioritizing the time required for designing, iterating and reflecting on learning in the makerspace. Practical implications – The makerspace provides a liminal space for teachers’ professional learning in that implicit in the makerspace is the embodiment of design practices such as problem finding, iteration and reflection. Originality/value – This study is unique, in that it places the importance of teacher learning in the elementary school makerspace on equal footing with student learning, thereby creating a culture of inquiry for all.
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    It’s More Than Just Making: Insights into Facilitating Learning Through Making
    (Alberta Teachers’ Association, 2018-04) Lock, Jennifer; da Rosa dos Santos, Luciano; Hollohan, Paula; Becker, Sandra
    Makerspaces are a rapidly growing trend in education. Schools are incorporating makerspaces to provide students with experiential learning opportunities to be designers, innovators and makers. Attention must be given not only to the creation of such spaces but also, and more important, how to incorporate such activities in an environment that fosters deep learning. In this article, a team of researchers share their lived experience of implementing makerspace activities with students in a school of education. From reflecting on our experience designing and facilitating learning through making, we have identified three lessons learned: designing challenging learning tasks is not easy; facilitating learning through making is a delicate dance; and changing our dispositions through making changes our practice. Learning in makerspace environments is as challenging for teachers as it is for their students because it connects the development of iterative design provocations and a mindset that embraces failure.
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    Online Bachelor of Education Programs Offered in Colleges and Universities Throughout Canada, the United States, and Australia
    (2015-08) Becker, Sandra; Gereluk, Dianne; Dressler, Roswita; Eaton, Sarah
    Beginning in Fall 2015, the University of Calgary will be offering a blended Bachelor of Education program to address issues of equity and access for rural and remote students who wish to become teachers, yet remain in their home communities. To this end, a research team from the university is exploring best practices in online and blended education. Part of the search includes determining online Bachelor of Education programs that exist currently. A review of universities in Canada, the U. S., and Australia determined that at this time, there are few offering fully online or blended Bachelor of Education programs, suggesting opportunities exist for programs to be created to address the needs of rural and remote students.
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    Online doctoral student-supervisory relationships: Exploring relational trust
    (Canadian Association for Teacher Education, 2022-12-04) Friesen, Sharon; Becker, Sandra; Jacobsen, Michele
    Case study research was used to examine online graduate supervision from the perspectives of supervisors and students who engaged in a Doctor of Education (EdD) program intentionally designed and offered online before the pandemic. The theory of relational trust framed analysis of online doctoral supervisory relationships. Individual interviews with five doctoral supervisors and five EdD graduates were coded through cycles of analysis. Four findings were discerned: (a) A strong interrelationship between the four discerning elements of relational trust indicated the need to cultivate all four within student-supervisor relationships; (b) Respect and personal regard for others were two of four elements of relational trust that surfaced most strongly for supervisors and students; (c) Establishing relationships and developing shared expectations needed to begin early in the relationship to build relational trust; and (d) Trust was maintained throughout the doctoral student’s education through frequent, flexible, and responsive online communication and collaboration. Findings demonstrate the importance of supervisors taking the lead in establishing and maintaining relational trust in online supervisory relationships, with implications for institutions to create the human and technological conditions for meaningful, authentic, and respectful online supervision. Institutions have an important role to play by providing online faculty development to expand capacity in high-calibre online supervision. Recommendations are provided to supervisors and institutions to inform and improve the quality of online graduate supervision practice more broadly, especially in the context of the pandemic pivot to online teaching and learning.
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    Pre-service teachers and study abroad experiences: Don’t forget about them when they come home
    (Elsevier, 2020-01) Arthur, Nancy; Becker, Sandra; Dressler, Roswita; Crossman, Katherine; Kawalilak, Colleen
    Study abroad programs for pre-service teachers aim to contribute to the cultural readiness needed for teaching in schools of today and tomorrow. Yet, the re-entry transition is an oft-neglected aspect of study abroad programs. We developed a model for reflective writing and examined the depth of post-sojourn reflection in pre-service teacher writing, two months after returning from a 10-week study abroad program. Although the majority of the writing illustrated descriptive writing or descriptive reflection, some students demonstrated dialogic or critical reflection, revealing the usefulness of reflective writing in capturing students’ experiences in ways that deepen their learning for teaching.
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    Professional Learning in the Makerspace: Embodiment of the Teaching Effectiveness Framework
    (University of Calgary, 2016-05) Becker, Sandra; O'Connell, Liz; Wuitschik, Liz; Werklund School of Education
    Makerspaces have recently entered educational discussions as a way to develop the problem solving, collaboration, creativity, and digital skills needed for the 21st century. But there is an added affordance – makerspaces as powerful learning environments for teachers, as delineated in the Teacher Effectiveness Framework (TEF), (2009). Inherent in the design of makerspaces are opportunities for teacher collaboration and valuable feedback through multiple iterative learning designs, as well as long-term reflection and application of learning. This article describes a primary school’s makerspace journey 1.0, and the opportunities it provided for teachers to apply what they were learning from the TEF.
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    A Review of the Literature on Rural and Remote Pre-Service Teacher Preparation With a Focus on Blended and E-Learning Models
    (2015-06-22) Eaton, Sarah E.; Dressler, Roswita; Gereluk, Dianne; Becker, Sandra
    This meta-analysis of the literature covers seven (7) key areas: (1) Preparing Pre-service Teachers to Integrate Technology into their Professional Practice; (2) Pre-service Teacher Preparation Programs Delivered Online; (3) Pre-service Teacher Preparation Programs Delivered in a Blended Format; (4) Technology-focused Pre-service Teacher Preparation in Rural and Remote Communities; (5) Critical Perspectives of Technology for Learning; (6) Monitoring, Evaluating and Assuring the Quality of e-Learning and Blended Learning Programs for Teacher Education; and (7) Building Engagement and Community in Online Courses.
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    A rural education teacher preparation program: course design, student support and engagement
    (2017-04-27) Eaton, Sarah E.; Gereluk, Dianne; Dressler, Roswita; Becker, Sandra
    Attracting and retaining teachers for rural and remote areas is a pervasive global problem. Currently, teacher education in Canada is primarily delivered in face-to-face formats located in urban centres or satellite campuses. There is a need for relevant and responsive teacher education programs for rural pre-service teachers. Recognizing this need, one university has responded by creating a Community-based Bachelor of Education program targeting rural students who reside beyond the reach of these campuses. This paper explores the inaugural year of this innovative program, the only one of its kind in Canada. Paper presented at AERA 2017, San Antonio, Texas
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    Supporting Teachers’ Understanding of Innovative Maker Pedagogies During a Pandemic Through the Design of Ethical and Relational Online Professional Learning
    (Canadian Association for Teacher Education, 2022-12-04) Morrison, Laura; Becker, Sandra; Hughes, Janette; Jacobsen, Michele; Schira-Hagerman, Michelle
    This qualitative research explores the challenges involved in designing online professional learning (OPL) for teachers with a focus on innovative pedagogies, specifically maker-centred practices. This OPL was designed in response to teachers’ expressed need for support to the government mandated pivot to emergency remote teaching (ERT) during the 2020 pandemic. The research question addressed is: What are the many ways in which we create the conditions for meaningful, authentic, and respectful professional learning focused on innovative practices, such as making, in an online environment? In this study, the conceptual model considers human-centred design and Nodding’s (2013) relational practice in the context of the Ontario College of Teachers’ (OCT) four-part conception of professional ethics. Implications include that designers: (a) can enhance teacher learning by highlighting the connection between empathy, perspective-taking, and techno-pedagogical competence with making; (b) should focus the sessions on common tools, as well as transferable activities and curriculum, to support early success; and (c) design with teachers, which requires the intentional design of conditions for teacher learning, targeted supports and scaffolds for learning, awareness of resources needed, and provision of appropriate instructional guidance and expertise.