Search results for: Scotland

The purpose of this research was to examine students’ views on the value of their own and others’ prior experiences in the performance and completion of the tasks. They were also asked about how prior experiences might affect the dynamic of the groups they worked in and what improvements might make the tasks more effective. The findings revealed that prior experiences, particularly those related to practical skills, were valued by the students as contributory factors to the successful completion of collaborative tasks. Furthermore, some of the students’ prior experiences led them to take a less active role in the tasks, while others led students to appear highly opinionated. The students were in agreement that there was a need for mutual respect and acceptance of others’ ideas in order to make the groups work effectively.

The participants were experientially trained in cooperative learning approaches through modelling by their tutor for the Pedagogy and Curriculum module of the course. This study examines whether the participants felt confident implementing cooperative learning and if they thought this helped them deliver the new curriculum in Scotland, Curriculum for Excellence. The findings reveal that the capacity of student teachers to engage with cooperative learning was positive. Furthermore, the engagement of departments with any active learning practices had a positive effect on student teachers’ confidence in delivering cooperative learning in the classroom.

The current article provides an overview of the background and the processes at play in the current reshaping of teacher education in Scotland. The authors reviewed policy documents and reports regarding the teacher education system in Scotland. The article starts with the developments emanating in the past decade from the McCrone Report and finishes with the recent Donaldson Report. The article concludes that the teacher education system in Scotland has been strongly influenced by needing to connect with the two dominant existing policies relating, respectively, to teachers’ work and conditions and to curriculum reform.

This article examines how trainee teacher used Information and Communication Technology to enhance their students' learning. The article focuses on teaching history education in Scotland through a series of multimedia CD ROMs. The author concludes that Scottish multimedia resources helped students investigate the past through a process which began by asking questions and ended with presenting the conclusions. Furthermore, the programs also demonstrate to teacher trainees some of the ways in which ICT can enhance teaching and learning.