Research conducted by Henk van den Hurk shows that teachers’ knowledge of effective instructional behaviour is of limited influence on their actual performance in daily teaching. Observing teachers within their own educational practice and the subsequent feedback in teacher training college, however, has shown to be effective in improving teacher instructional practice. Van den Hurk studied the effects of the application of a cyclic model for data-feedback in initial teacher training as well as in a master course for teachers. In the applied model, teachers are observed with standardised observational instruments, while teaching their own classes. Back in teacher training college they are supported in formulating specific points of improvement for their own instructional behaviour. Subsequently, in their own classroom, the students practice the skills they further have to develop. After a short while another classroom observation is scheduled. The use of this model has proven to lead to a substantial improvement of teacher instructional behaviour. It is remarkable that advances in the quality of teacher instructional behaviour are reached in a limited time-span of only several weeks.
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Little is known about the effects of different instructional approaches on learner affect in oral interaction in the foreign language classroom. In a randomized experiment with Dutch pre-vocational learners (N = 147), we evaluated the effects of 3 newly developed instructional programs for English as a foreign language (EFL). These programs differed in instructional focus (form-focused vs. interaction strategies- oriented) and type of task (pre-scripted language tasks vs. information gap tasks). Multilevel analyses revealed that learners’ enjoyment of EFL oral interaction was not affected by instruction, that willingness to communicate (WTC) decreased over time, and that self-confidence was positively affected by combining information gap tasks with interactional strategies instruction. In addition, regression analyses revealed that development in learners’ WTC and enjoyment did not have predictive value for achievement in EFL oral interaction, but that development in self-confidence did explain achievement in EFL oral interaction in trained interactional contexts.
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This paper discusses two studies - the one in a business context, the other in a university context - carried out with expert educational designers. The studies aimed to determine the priorities experts claim to employ when designing competence-based learning environments. Designers in both contexts agree almost completely on principles they feel are important. Both groups emphasized that one should start a design enterprise from the needs of the learners, instead of the content structure of the learning domain. However, unlike business designers, university designers find it extremely important to consider alternative solutions during the whole design process. University designers also say that they focus more on project plan and desired characteristics of the instructional blueprint whereas business designers report being more client-oriented, stressing the importance of "buying in" the client early in the process.
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mechanism for fostering innovation competenceThis dissertation focuses on fostering students’ innovation competence in higher education. The research is aimed at developing instructional strategies based on theoretical design principles to aid teachers in higher education foster innovation competence in their classrooms and assess students’ innovation competence. The research was implemented within the existing curriculum of three Netherlands universities of applied sciences in which developing students’ innovation competence was the target learning goal. To aid innovation competence learning, an innovation competence teaching mechanism was developed following education design research steps. The research includes four independents sub-studies which used different research methods. This thesis shows that students’ innovation competence can be positively influenced by instruction. The findings of this study suggested that development of students’ innovation competence takes place through explicitly coordinated teaching and learning activities, design, assessment, and reflection. It was found that this innovation-supportive learning environment influenced the actual innovation competence of students and that the way of teaching (especially a better structured, balanced and more student-centred constructivist approach to teaching) had a positive influence on students’ development of innovation competence. This dissertation has shown that every student has the potential to be innovative, and that teachers can fulfil their role in recognizing the innovation potential of students by creating a teaching and learning environment that promotes and encourages innovation competence.
