2007 Biennial Cross-Campus Conference in Education

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An Alternative Language Experience approach for selected Creole-influenced students
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Joseph, Barbara
This paper explores the notion that to assist problem/struggling readers in Trinidad and Tobago, it is necessary for teachers to have a knowledge of how language is used in the community and how communication events occur there. These can be the basis for patterns of interaction with texts written in English where both learners and teachers are speakers of Trinidadian or Tobagonian Creole English. The speech acts fall within the learners' "experience" of their language and can be used creatively by teachers for the better comprehension and production of (International) English texts
Anti-racist education and research: A vision for Caribbean education in the 21st century
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Kallon, Michael
This is a theoretical paper intended to discuss ideas on how anti-racist education and research can be approached in the Caribbean context. The paper seeks to examine the role of, and challenges, to anti-racist education and research in a contemporary new epoch, one that is remarkably different in its celebration of cultural fragmentation and pluralism as against the universalizing, homogenizing effects of rationality and scientism. I would not attempt to argue that there is a consensus out there on what constitutes anti-racist education and research. I only draw attention to certain basic challenges for those interested in the conduct of anti-racist work in the Caribbean
Attributes of internality: An alternative path to teacher effectiveness
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Cook, Loraine D.; Bastick, Tony
The literature reports that individuals with an internal locus of control (LOC) are more effective in the workplace than externals, and that it is possible to increase individuals' LOC internality through training. Hence, the researchers have proposed "Teachers' Internality Training," a new alternative type of training, to increase the effectiveness of teachers. This paper describes qualitative and quantitative research with 220 Jamaican teachers that expanded the traditional LOC construct to expose the attributes of LOC that can be targeted by teachers' internality training. The paper also shows how this new expanded LOC construct suggests possible mechanisms for accomplishing this training. The significance of this paper is that it opens the possibility of a new type of alternative training for teaching effectiveness
“The best thing created since sliced bread…” – Our journey toward blended learning
(Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, 2008) Wood-Jackson, Aisha; Mahabir, Cherisse; John, Lindsay
From 2001 to the fall of 2006, the lecturers and students of The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago, used WebCT, a commercial web-based learning management system (LMS), to prepare, manage and deliver learning content and resources to students. The low level of adoption and high cost of the license led university administrators to question the benefit-to-cost ratio. A committee was formed to compare open source LMSs (Moodle, Sakai, and Angel) to WebCT and, based on this data, recommend an LMS for the St. Augustine Campus. Based on their review of the pricing, hardware/software requirements, communication tools, productivity tools, opportunities for student involvement, administrative tools, course development, and curriculum design features, the committee chose to adopt Moodle. This paper describes the Moodle implementation strategy and reflects on the issues as well as successes arising over the last two years.
Bridging the science and mathematics divide: Issues, challenges, and promises
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Bell-Hutchinson, Camille
The learning of both science and mathematics represents alienating experiences for many students in the Caribbean. This must be cause for concern, since both these disciplines play pivotal roles in the growth and development of a nation. This paper puts forward the position that teachers should more closely link the two subjects in the classroom in order to bring meaning to both. We argue that since both mathematics and science teaching not only share some common learning goals-the development of a spirit of inquiry, the ability to draw conclusions based on evidence, and the ability to reason and solve problems-but also important concepts such as length, area, volume, mass, and time, that learning can be significantly enhanced through classroom practices that deliberately attempt to connect such knowledge, skills, and principles that have clear relevance to both disciplines. Issues and challenges in attempting to bridge the divide will be discussed with implications for teacher education and the associated challenges
Building creative capacity for the 21st century: Implications for Caribbean education of the UNESCO World Conference on Arts Education and the CCFA Conference on Societies in Crisis
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Sharma, Satanand
This presentation comments on emerging themes of the World Conference on Arts Education 2006
Classroom research: A defining feature of professional practice
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Singh, Vashti
Classroom research, teaching, and professional development are closely linked. Their interrelation and interconnectedness may be described as axiomatic. In addressing the question: Why classroom research by teachers?, a range of issues emerges from topics such as classroom practice, social context, curriculum knowledge, professional learning, and the usefulness of research. This paper urges that teachers who are committed to their own professional practice seek to expand their knowledge and adapt their teaching to educationally sound delivery, arising from authentic classroom research. In the Caribbean, the teacher's claim to professionalism sometimes falters in this regard. A significant issue is that teachers need to be increasingly effective in enabling culturally diverse groups of students to learn increasingly complex subjects. This includes aspects of pedagogical content knowledge that incorporate culture and community contexts for learning. Simultaneously, teachers ought to reflect on their practice to learn from and improve upon it continually. This paper focuses on three themes that explore the concept of classroom research by teachers. The first establishes the link between classroom research and the teacher professional. The second evaluates curriculum and the teaching/learning process as the focus of classroom research, and the third discusses problems in the traditional research paradigm for guiding teachers to improve their teaching. The paper concludes with a reflection on the nature of classroom research itself and its relevance for teachers' professional development within the Caribbean context
Collaborating to reform science education in context: Issues, challenges, and benefits
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Herbert, Susan M.; Rampersad, Joycelyn; George, June M.
Within recent times, the call for collaboration among stakeholders in education is made with increasing frequency. In current thinking, community building and collaboration are posited as critical elements in school reform. The literature reveals various models for initiating collaboration. There is the model that describes the initiative for collaboration as undertaken by "researchers"/university personnel. A second model describes the perspective in which schools as organizations invite researchers to collaborate on a project. The Reforming Science Education in Context (ReSEC) project is an example of the first model. This paper reports the issues that emerged in forging collaborative relationships among two lower secondary science teachers at a selected New Sector High School in Trinidad and three members of staff from the School of Education, St. Augustine, during the period September 2005 to July 2006. It also presents the benefits and challenges associated with the process of collaboration, which aims to achieve a school-based agenda for education
Constructivism and the enabling of mathematical thinking
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Bell-Hutchinson, Camille
The way mathematics is taught in many Caribbean classrooms often hinders the development of mathematical thinking skills and the attainment of mathematical understanding. This paper puts forward the view that the essential task of mathematics teachers is to enable the construction of meaning in order to facilitate their students' mathematical thinking and mathematical understanding. The paper argues the view that mathematics is not something that exists "out there" but, rather, is an activity that is socially constructed and validated. Findings of research conducted in Jamaica in two Grade 8 mathematics classrooms, where two teachers implemented thinking-focused pedagogy grounded in social constructivist ideology, are discussed, in an attempt to demonstrate how they used strategies that were aimed at the construction of meaning through access to mathematical ideas and the attainment of mathematical understanding. The paper argues that the use of such teaching approaches can fundamentally change the face of mathematics education in Caribbean schools
Creating a constructivist learning environment: The challenge of Jamaica's Revised Primary Curriculum
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Jennings, Zellynne
For two decades, Jamaican primary school children were exposed to a curriculum which, though conceived as integrated in its approach to teaching, in actuality was more discipline-based, accentuated by the use of didactic pedagogical strategies in its delivery. In re-engineering this curriculum, a child-centred, integrated holistic curriculum was adopted at the lower primary level, with a more subject-based approach at the upper levels. A constructivist pedagogical approach was adopted. The changes expected in the learning environment included a change in the role of the teacher, the use of questioning techniques that stimulated higher-order thinking in the children, a more activity-oriented environment in which children were frequently engaged in collaborative learning, and changes in the mode of assessment. The revised curriculum was implemented in schools in 2001. This paper explores the extent to which such changes are evident in the classrooms of Grades 1-3 in selected primary schools. It pinpoints challenges such as resources, contextual factors, and examinations, which some teachers can overcome to ignite a passion for learning in their pupils
Curbing students' disruptive behaviours in Jamaican secondary schools
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Ezenne, Austin
In recent years, the media have been reporting an increase in students' disruptive behaviours in secondary schools in Jamaica. These disruptive behaviours are many and varied and are causing serious concerns to all stakeholders in education. Sometimes, teachers show an inability to control students entrusted to their care and, at times, teachers and school administrators contribute to students' disruptions through their own behaviours. Teachers may contribute to students' disruptions by inconsistent rule enforcement, teacher insensitivity, non-compliance with school disciplinary policies, and lack of classroom management skills. School administrators may also contribute to students' disruptions through poor communication and decision-making patterns, poor school-community relationships, and poor curriculum and instructional supervision. Students' disruptive behaviours cannot be totally eliminated in our schools, but since school discipline and safety are linked to students' achievement and security, schools must deal effectively with students' disruptions. Schooling will not be successful unless effective discipline is maintained in the school
Defining the role of the course coordinator in UWIDEC's blended learning/asynchronous delivery mode
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Kuboni, Olabisi
There is wide consensus that the online teaching/learning environment works best when participants conceive of themselves as belonging to and functioning within a community. This paper holds that community members must be clear about their respective roles and about the interrelationship among those roles. In the 2005-2006 academic year, the UWI Distance Education Centre made the shift from face-to-face to online tutoring as part of a movement to a blended learning/asynchronous delivery mode. In that context, emphasis was placed on articulating procedures for the functioning of three key stakeholders, namely course coordinator, tutors, and students. This paper describes some aspects of the course coordinator's role. It then locates the role within a theoretical framework built, in part, on the conception of the online environment as a community of inquiry, with special emphasis on its teaching presence dimension. The concepts of transactional distance and transactional control are also highlighted. The paper concludes by noting the implications of this new outlook for the overall role of the higher education practitioner
Developing an agenda for online education in the Caribbean: The importance of student perceptions of quality
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Thurab-Nkhosi, Dianne
With globalization, there has been increasing pressure on tertiary education institutions in the region to move towards the use of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) to widen access to their programmes. In 2004, the University of the West Indies Distance Education Centre (UWIDEC) began using a blended approach to course delivery, which involved online courses as part of the course delivery mix. Between 2004 and 2006, UWIDEC, St. Augustine, developed 12 online courses facing various challenges and achieving some successes. To date, however, while various measures have been adopted to ensure the quality of these courses, no formal quality assurance evaluation has been conducted. This paper presents the findings of student evaluations conducted by UWIDEC, St Augustine. This descriptive study, seeks to highlight the indicators of quality identified by students, and the importance of these indicators in setting an agenda for the expansion of online education in the region
Education for development: The case for a skills-based approach
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Foote, Russell J.
This article articulates possibilities for education to promote development. Development, conceptualized as capability expansion, can be facilitated once we use education to develop and expand the skills, academic and non-academic, not only within the expanded secondary education system but also on a wider scale, utilizing other training institutions nationwide
Education in crisis: Re-visiting the "Carnival mentality"
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Fournillier, Janice B.
This paper draws on an ethnographic case study of learning/teaching practices in Trinidad Carnival mas'camps. Over the Carnival 2005 season, selected members of the mas' making community shared their perspectives on learning/teaching practices at work in the Carnival mas' camp. I constructed the learning narratives in this article from the field notes, photographs, and biographical interviews. I used these learning narratives to make meaning of the various socio-historical-cultural theories of learning that situate learners in spaces that are sometimes explained using constructs like non-school and non-formal. These learning narratives demonstrate the practices that inform learning, the kind of person the learner becomes, and his/her philosophy of lifelong learning and continuing education. Further, they provide evidence of the value of these spaces, and the kinds of imagined possibilities that exist for Caribbean policy makers whose discourse suggest that they recognize the importance of encouraging non-formal, informal, and indigenous learning systems
Educational administration as a micropolitical exercise
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Yamin-Ali, Jennifer
The administration of a school is usually perceived of as occurring within the confines of the school facility itself. This research seeks to highlight the reality of administrative procedure within the context of promotion to senior management positions in some denominational secondary schools in Trinidad. The data were gathered through interviews and questionnaires from practitioners in the field and from other key players in the promotion scenario. Key players in this research are teachers, aspiring school administrators, Church Board members, and members of the Teaching Service Commission. The qualitative analysis of the data brings to the fore pertinent voices that spell out for us those practices that manifest how micropolitics is manifested in the promotion process. The findings point to some consequences of micropolitical activity in the promotion process, and suggest a way forward for this selection process
Enhancing learning through technology innovations: Lessons learned from online and face-to-face learning in postgraduate education at UWI, Mona
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Ezenne, Austin
This paper is a case study of the academic performance of two groups of postgraduate students. Group A was taught by online mode and Group B by face-to-face method, by the same lecturer, in a master's degree programme in educational administration, at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona. The course "Theories of Organizations" is a one-semester course usually offered in the first semester every academic session. The performances of the two groups of postgraduate students were compared in the mid-semester, end-of-semester, and the overall assessments. It was found that the online students performed better than face-to-face students in the mid-semester assessment, while face-to-face students performed better than online students in the final assessment. The final overall results for the course indicated a significant difference in the performance of both groups of students, with the face-to-face group having a better overall performance than the online group. This paper also discussed the problems encountered by both groups of students, other problems identified by the course lecturer, and the implications of all the findings for postgraduate education at UWI and in the Caribbean region
An error analysis of written Spanish language in secondary school students in Trinidad
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Cooper, Mariette
With the new thrust towards learning the Spanish language in Trinidad and Tobago, the need for well-equipped Spanish teachers who are aware and capable of dealing with the problems faced by the student becomes evident. This paper attempts to make some headway in this under-investigated area. It analyses the grammatical errors in agreement of 35 students from two secondary schools in Trinidad. It uses, principally, the work of Fernández for its grammatical classification and explanations, and interprets the data both quantitatively and qualitatively. The investigation shows that errors in agreement form almost 50 percent of all errors produced by the language learner. The paper reveals that despite the different levels of academic performance associated with the schools, difficulties in the aforementioned area are common to both. Finally, it attempts to sensitize educators to these areas so that Spanish language education in the secondary school can be more effective
Evaluations of quality teaching for university quality assurance
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Bastick, Tony
Analysis of degree results for The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Jamaica, evidences exponential grade inflation since the introduction, publication, and administrative uses of Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs) (Bastick, 2004). This paper explains how SETs contribute to grade inflation and why, despite their recognized disastrous effects on education, they continue to be used for quality assurance in English-speaking universities. An alternative method of assessing Quality Teaching is introduced that, by integrating teaching, learning, and assessment, can identify and offer detailed reports to advise at-risk students and suggest detailed modifications to teaching that optimize attainment. The method measures individuals' teaching/learning experiences. It uses a five-minute feedback form to assess the alignment of students' and lecturer's expectations. Results show that these in-course alignments predict enjoyment of teaching and students' academic attainment on course assessments. Hence, mismatched alignment and assessment results identify, for second marking, individual examination and coursework scripts that might have been wrongly marked. Analyses of alignments result in measures of quality teaching provided by lecturers, and experienced by groups of students, which can be rigorously compared between courses, subjects, and departments across the university for inclusion in quality assurance reports. The significance of this paper is that it presents an original, alternative, cost-effective assessment of quality teaching for tertiary institutions that can be demonstrated to improve education
A factor analytic study of subject choice among a sixth form sample of Jamaican students, with particular reference to the natural sciences
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Severin, Francis O.
This study aims to explore the underlying factor structure among the variables associated with subject choice-sciences or non-sciences-in a selected group of sixth form students in traditional high schools in Jamaica. Participants were 517 sixth form students (females = 308; males = 209) enrolled in the natural sciences (n = 261); humanities/arts and mixed (n = 134); and social sciences/business (n = 122) studies in 10 secondary high schools in Kingston, Jamaica. Participants completed questionnaires comprising mainly closed-ended questions and a number of Likert and bipolar rating scales. Principal components R factor analysis, adopting the VARIMAX orthogonal factor rotation method, was conducted on the total sample as well as subsamples disaggregated by sex, school type, and subject areas. Several variations were revealed by factor analytic methods. For instance, the first two factors for the female participants were socioeconomic influence and verbal orientation, whereas for the male participants it was teacher interest and socioeconomic influence. A number of factors were unique only to the girls vis-à-vis boys. Regarding single-sex versus co-educational participants, motivation/aspiration and sociocultural/economic influence accounted for the largest percentages of the variation in the data of the former; for the co-educational participants, it was socioeconomic influence followed by teacher interest. With respect to the natural science and non-sciences participants, socioeconomic influence and sociocultural/economic influence were the first factors for the respective subsamples, and mathematical orientation, verbal orientation, and teacher interest were critical emerging factors whether one took the natural sciences or the non-sciences

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