Among the oft-mentioned challenges in education is the challenge
of preparing students for success in the twenty-first century
workforce. Technology is just as often cited as the solution.
The hope is that the use of technology in the classroom (for
example, the use of video or an interactive whiteboard) will
raise student performance, particularly in math and science. But
it turns out that unless the instruction itself is challenging
and engaging, the use of technology won’t make any difference.
“Technology is just a tool,” according to education professor
Cynthia Carter Ching. “Live streaming of a boring lecture is
still boring.”
Coming from a long line of teachers, Heidi Ballard was sure of
one thing when she entered college: she was not going to become a
teacher. Five years later, she found herself teaching high school
biology.
Chris Faltis, who holds the Dolly and David Fiddyment Chair in
Teacher Education and directs teacher education at UC Davis,
believes educators are primed to break away from the
teacher-centered format that has dominated classroom discourse
for several hundred years, if for no other reason than they must.
For Michal Kurlaender, conducting “research that matters” means
tackling some of the most vexing and controversial problems in
education: school desegregation and integration, access to
college, and race.
Paul Heckman knows firsthand the power of a community that takes
charge of its own destiny. In fact, he believes communities made
up of empowered parents have schools that function better.
Usually schools talk to parents: administrators and teachers tell
them what their children are doing in school and report on their
academic progress. It is a one-way conversation, according to
Heckman.
In 2007, Cary Trexler, an assistant professor and expert on
agriculture education, was awarded a prestigious Fulbright
fellowship to extend his research and outreach in Vietnam.
“Ultimately, all of this work has the potential to move the
School of Education beyond a focus on secondary schools to
opportunities for education policy and administration,” said
Trexler. “It is potentially an opportunity to understand and
participate in a restructuring of an entire educational system.”
Science is not boring, so why do so many middle and high school
students think it is?
According to Cindy Passmore, assistant professor and an expert on
science education, students most often experience science in
school as the memorization of facts and procedures with little
practical utility or intellectual interest.
“This results in an impoverished view of science as an
intellectual enterprise,” said Passmore.
Steven Athanases started his career as a high school English
teacher in the Chicago area, filling students’ minds with the
tales of John Steinbeck, Harper Lee and Langston Hughes for over
10 years.
“I loved teaching. I loved it every single day,” said Athanases.
But, after all those years in the classroom, he realized he
“wanted to understand more deeply why when things work in the
classroom they do work.” He decided to pursue a PhD. “A research
doctorate equipped me to do that.”
For Rebecca Ambrose, the key to teaching math to children lies in
an understanding of how they solve problems before anyone has
taught them.
“Kids use informal strategies and can figure things out in very
interesting and sophisticated ways. What we observe about how
they approach mathematical problem solving can inform the basis
for teachers’ instruction,” said Ambrose.
