Moving toward a Hybrid Teacher Education Course: Supporting the Theory to Practice Challenge in Special Education

Abstract

The use of teacher education hybrid courses has become a growing and more visible phenomenon in the field of special education. This article describes a hybrid course development process that utilizes a seven-stage learning cycle model for course structure and design as a way to support the translation of evidence-based practices to the classroom and larger school community context. A case example is described where two cohorts of graduate special education students completed a hybrid course developed around this seven-stage model. This case presents a positive student perspective of the hybrid course structure and supports a reflection of application to practice.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anderson

Krathwohl

(2001). A Taxonomy for learning, teaching and assessing: A revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York: Longman.

Aust

Newberry

O'Brien

Thomas

(2005). Learning generation: Fostering innovation with tomorrow's teachers and technology. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 13, 167–195.

Billingsley

(2004). Special education teacher retention and attrition: A critical analysis of the research literature. The Journal of Special Education, 38, 39–55.

Bloom

B. S.

, ed. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives. The classification of educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York: McKay.

Boe

Bobbitt

Cook

Barkanic

Maislin

(1998). Teacher turnover in eight cognate areas: National trends and predictors. (Report No 1998 – DAR 3). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education. Center for Research and Evaluation in Social Policy.

Brownell

M. T.

Miller

D. M.

Smith

S. W.

(1999). Factors that predict teachers staying in, leaving, or transferring from the special education classroom. Exceptional Children, 65, 201–218.

Butner

B. K.

Murray

Smith

(1999). Distance technology: A national study of graduate higher education programs. Retrieved May 2, 2007, from www.westga.edu/-distance/ojdla/summer42/bower42.html.

Campoy

Radcliffe

(2002, April). Reflective Decision-Making and Cognitive Development: A Descriptive Study Comparing the Reflective Levels of Pre- Service and In- Service Teachers. Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 465753)

Clarke

Zimmerman

(1990). A Social cognitive view of self-regulated learning about health. Health Education Research, 5(3), 371–379.

10.

Clement

Vandenberghe

(2000). Teachers' professional development: A solitary or collegial (ad) venture. Teaching and Teacher Education, 16(1), 81–101.

11.

DVC Learning Style Survey for College. Retrieved May 2, 2007, from http://www.metamath.com/lsweb/dvclearn.htm.

12.

Eraut

(1995). Developing professional knowledge within a client-centered orientation. In Guskey

T. R.

Huberman

(Eds.), Professional development in education: New paradigms and practices (pp. 227–252). New York: Teachers College Press.

13.

Fink

L. D.

(2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

14.

Garrison

D. R.

Anderson

Archer

(2001). Critical thinking, cognitive presence, and computer conferencing in distance education. American Journal of Distance Education, 15(1), 7–23.

15.

Harada

(2001). Professional development as collaborative inquiry. Knowledge Quest, 29(5), 13–19.

16.

Harrington

Reasons

(2005, January). Online Student Evaluation of Teaching for Distance Education: A Perfect Match? The Journal of Educators Online, 2(1). Retrieved May 2, 2007, from http://www.thejeo.com/ReasonsFinal.pdf.

17.

Hunt

N. P.

(2003). Encouraging innovation: Planning and evaluating technology programs. In Chambers

J. A.

(2003) Selected papers from the 14th International Conference on College Teaching and Learning (103–116). Jacksonville, FL: Florida State College at Jacksonville.

18.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. Retrieved May 24, 2007, from http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c108:./temp/∼c108RpR8wB.

19.

Johnson

J. F.

Jr. Ginsberg

(1996) Building capacity through school support teams. Educational Leadership, 54(3), 80–82.

20.

Kaur

(2007) Innovating and sustaining wonder in online learning through support services. In Chambers

J. A.

(Ed.), Selected papers from the 18th International Conference on College Teaching and Learning (pp. 95–121). Jacksonville, FL: Florida State College at Jacksonville.

21.

Kellheller

(2003). A model for assessment-driven professional development. Phi Delta Kappan, 84, 751–756.

22.

Rossen

(2004). Teaching online: A practical guide. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

23.

Lee

(2010). Design of blended training for transfer into the workplace. British Journal of Educational Technology, 41, 181–198.

24.

Leh

A. S. C.

(2002). Action research in hybrid courses and their online communities. Educational Media International, 39, 31–38.

25.

Marzano

R. J.

Pickering

D. J.

Pollock

J. E.

(2001). Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

26.

McDonald

Gibson

(1998). Interpersonal dynamics and group dynamics in computer conferencing. American Journal of Distance Education, 12(1), 7–12.

27.

McLesky

Tyler

N. C.

Flippin

(2004). The supply of and demand for special education teachers: A review of research regarding the chronic shortage of special education teachers. The Journal of Special Education, 38, 5–21.

28.

Moreno

Mayer

(2003). Nine ways to reduce cognitive load in multimedia learning. Educational Psychologist, 38, 43–52.

29.

Mulligan

Geary

(1999). Requiring writing, ensuring distance learning outcomes. International Journal of Instructional Media, 26, 387–396.

30.

No Child Left Behind Act. Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Act, Pub. L. No. 107–110, 2102(4) (2001).

31.

Restak

(2003) The new brain: Modern age is rewiring your mind. New York: Rodale.

32.

Rockwell

Fergusan

Marx

(2000). Research and Evaluation Needs for Distance Education: A Delphi Study. Retrieved March 19, 2008, from http://www.westga.edu/∼distance/ojdla/fall33/rockwell33.html.

33.

Sandoz

(2007) Teaching in the 21st Century: Pedagogies for the evolving brain. In Chambers

J. A.

(Ed.), Selected papers from the 18th International Conference on College Teaching and Learning (pp. 167–187). Jacksonville, FL: Florida State College at Jacksonville.

34.

Shaw

Polovina

(1999) Practical experiences of, and lessons learnt from, Internet technologies in higher education. Educational Technology & Society, 2(3), 25–40.

35.

Smeaton

A. F.

Keogh

(1999). An analysis of the use of virtual delivery of undergraduate lectures. Computers & Education, 32, 83–94.

36.

Sousa

(2001). How the special needs brain learns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

37.

Stephen

Barford

(2005). A journey through cyberspace: Technology and course adaptation. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 71(4), 47–52.

38.

Stowitchek

Cheney

Schwartz

(2000). Instigating fundamental change through experiential in-service development. Teacher Education and Special Education, 25, 142–156.

39.

Swanson

(1995) Learning styles: A review of the literature. (ERIC Document Reproduction Series. No. Ed 387067)

40.

United States Department of Education. (1998). Twentieth Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Washington, DC: Author.

41.

Walker

Fraser

B. J.

(2005). Development and validation of an instrument for assessing distance education learning environments in higher education: The distance education learning environments survey (DELES). Learning Environments Research, 8, 289–308.

42.

West

Jones

Stevens

(2006). Teachers of students with low incidence disabilities talk about their own learning: An international insight. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 39(3), 121–142.