Browsing by Author "McGarvey, Lynn"
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- ItemOpen AccessThe University Associates' Continuum of Practice(2016) Andrews Stobart, Christine; Brandon, James; McGarvey, Lynn; Jardine, Patricia Gail; Calvert, AnnThis case study explored the work of university associates (UAs) within the Faculty of Education at a Canadian university from an interpretivist perspective. Data collected from semi-structured interviews with twelve UAs, artifacts, and documents generated insights about university associates’ roles and responsibilities with the intention to inform future field experience practice. In order to do this a conceptual framework based on a continuum of practice put forth by LeCornu and Ewing (2008) was utilized, which conceptualized a spectrum of pre-service teacher supervision spanning traditional to communal orientations. Five findings emerged from the data analysis: (a) University Associates, who were most frequently recruited from the ranks of retired teachers and school administrators, endeavoured to establish cooperative, managerial relationships with practicum hosting schools. (b) University Associates expressed a deep-seated commitment to fulfilling their roles. (c) University Associates reflectively determined best practice. (d) Collaboration within the practicum was evident although minimal due to hindrances. (e) University Associates with administrative experience expressed having an advantage working collaboratively. In light of these findings, collaborative practice should become a focused professional development initiative by the university for UAs within the practicum. Likewise, ongoing UA selection must consider the collaborative backgrounds of those participating in the practicum and opt for those with administrative experience when possible. As well, further investigation of the UA role would benefit from a multi-perspective stance, including the voices of pre-service teachers, mentor teachers, school coordinators and field experience directors.
- ItemOpen AccessUnderstanding gaps in research networks: using “spatial reasoning” as a window into the importance of networked educational research(Springer Nature, 2015-12-30) Bruce, Catherine D.; Davis, Brent; Sinclair, Nathalie; Francis, Krista; Hawes, Zachary; McGarvey, Lynn; Moss, Joan; Okamoto, Yukari; Hallowell, David A.; Drefs, Michelle A.; Mulligan, Joanne T.; Whiteley, Walter J.; Woolcott, Geoff W.This paper finds its origins in a multidisciplinary research group’s efforts to assemble a review of research in order to better appreciate how “spatial reasoning” is understood and investigated across academic disciplines. We first collaborated to create a historical map of the development of spatial reasoning across key disciplines over the last century. The map informed the structure of our citation search and oriented an examination of connection across disciplines. Next, we undertook a network analysis that was based on highly cited articles in a broad range of domains. Several connection gaps—that is, apparent blockages, one-way flows, and other limitations on communications among disciplines—were identified in our network analysis, and it was apparent that these connection gaps may be frustrating efforts to understand the conceptual complexity and the educational significance of spatial reasoning. While these gaps occur between the academic disciplines that we evaluated, we selected a few examples for closer analysis. To illustrate how this lack of flow can limit development of the field of mathematics education, we selected cases where it is evident that researchers in mathematics education are not incorporating the important work of mathematicians, psychologists, and neuroscientists—and vice versa. Ultimately, we argue, a more pronounced emphasis on transdisciplinary (versus multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary) research might be timely, and perhaps even necessary, in the evolution of educational research