Browsing by Author "Thomas, Christy"

Now showing 1 - 13 of 13
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    6 Chapter Six -- Optimum Learning Literature Synthesis: What is Quality Teaching?
    (2019-06-30) Brandon, Jim; Parsons, Dennis; Brown, Barbara; Friesen, Sharon; Thomas, Christy; Delanoy, Nadia
    This synthesis of the literature is designed to undergird our 4-university longitudinal mixed methods study Optimum Learning for All Students Implementing Alberta’s 2018 Professional Practice Standards. Our ambition is to gain insights into how and how well Alberta’s Teaching Quality Standard, Leadership Quality Standard, and Superintendent Leadership Quality Standard are being put into place, how the standards are impacting practice, and what changes occur over time in teaching and learning. Indeed, our longitudinal design is premised on “uncovering sustained changes and implementation success” (Derrington, 2019, p. 8). Given this, our goals in preparing this manuscript were to (a) synthesize scholarship on policy processes so that we can situate our inquiry into the standards in a process-oriented way; (b) provide a jurisdictional review of standards-based approaches to teaching and leadership and what we know to be effective with respect to this approach so that we can discern how Alberta’s standards and pathways to certification are positioned compared to others who have gone before us; and (c) synthesize scholarship that demonstrates the link between the professional practice standards and quality teaching and leadership so that we are anchored to evidence when interpreting the forthcoming empirical data. Considering the comprehensiveness of the professional practice standards, we covered the waterfront, so to speak. But though we plumbed many strands and sources of knowledge, we do not claim it to be exhaustive or necessarily complete.
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    Building instructional capacity for online teaching and learning
    (2021-06-23) Hartwell, Amber; Thomas, Christy
    The goal of this systematic qualitative literature review is to inform building collective instructor capacity in online teaching and learning. Galvan’s (2006) framework of searching, reviewing, and writing was utilised as the method for this literature review. Themes related to building collective instructor capacity for online teaching and learning were used to present the results and include: (1) understanding the multiple roles in online teaching, (2) the importance of online presence, (3) intentional course design, and (4) providing targeted professional learning. The literature review begins with an introduction and is followed by the method, results, conclusion.
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    Building Leadership Capacity Through High-Quality Professional Learning
    (2018-08-20) Thomas, Christy; Turner, Jeffrey; Brandon, James Edward; Friesen, Sharon
    The purpose of this literature review is to synthesize the body of work that can inform leadership development through high-quality collaborative professional learning. In this literature review the authors draw on a combination of literature gathered by the Battle River School Division as well as literature gathered by researchers. The literature review is organized with an overview and followed by these sections: (1) capacity building, (2) leadership development, (3) professional learning, (4) assessing growth. At the end of the literature review a synthesis is provided along with recommendations for system leaders interested in designing professional learning for leaders in their districts.
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    Exploring Online Pedagogies for Social Connectedness and Advancing Professional Collaboration: Research Brief
    (2022-08) Hartwell, Amber; Nogueira, Bruna; Thomas, Christy; Brown, Barbara
    This research brief describes a research project funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant in 2021. The research explored how instructors from two teacher education programs designed online group work to promote pre-service teachers’ professional collaboration skills and connectedness. Data collection involved surveys, interviews, and a review of course documents related to group work in online courses.
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    Exploring the Impact of Professional Development Partnerships on Teaching and Learning
    (2016) Thomas, Christy; Scott, Dr. Donald; Scott, Dr. Shelleyann; Brandon, Dr. Jim
    Professional development for teachers is essential for embracing change and there are a variety of ways to provide it. The purpose of this study was to review a professional development program facilitated through a partner organization linked to a school. The research question guiding this study was: What are teachers’, administrators’, and partners’ perspectives about the impact of sustained professional development provided through a partnership at an alternative school for K-12 in Southern Alberta? The researcher followed the design of mixed methods methodology using interviews and document analysis. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with 29 teachers, three administrators, and three partners to explore the impact of the partnership. The perspectives of participants offered a rich understanding of the professional development program facilitated by the partners. Qualitative data were thematically analysed and quantitative data, which included accountability pillar and school review data, identified during document analysis were utilized to analyse trends to explore the potential influence of the partnership. Qualitative and quantitative data were integrated and triangulated to increase legitimation and to reduce the potential of researcher bias. The results of this study were presented through three major findings that emerged from the analysis: (a) scheduled time for professional development; (b) culture of pressure and support; and (c) changes in teaching practices. The importance of this study is multi-faceted and offers significant contributions to the body of research about the value of partnerships particularly in relation to the provision of sustained professional development within schools. The Partnership Model for Transformational Teacher Professional Development was developed based on the results from this study and offers a framework for those considering forming partnerships for sustained onsite professional development directed towards changing teaching practice and improving student learning. A variety of stakeholders hold potential as Professional Development Partners (PDP) and offer partnership opportunities for schools in different contexts. Potential PDP could include representatives from various stakeholders such as school districts, Ministries of Education, universities, teachers’ associations, teacher-leaders, permanent coaches, consultants, and innovation designers.
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    Exploring the Impact of YouthLink Calgary’s Crime Prevention Program on Youth
    (2023) Thomas, Christy; White, Christina; Dewar, Adriana; Brown, Barbara
    Traditional methods of crime prevention have proven to be ineffective in reducing the occurrence of crime, especially among youth. Early intervention and educational crime prevention programs are recognized as more efficient forms of mediation than remedial or compensatory forms of reducing crime (Winterdyk, 2013). Community-based programs encourage youth to make positive life choices and increase the prospects of high-risk adolescents avoiding the criminal justice system all together (Vallee, 2010). The Calgary Police Interpretive Center, YouthLink program, focuses on crime prevention by empowering youth to make positive life choices, thus avoiding crime and the risk of being victimized. Crime-based prevention programs have struggled to provide evidence-based measures of their success through research. Through a partnership between the University of Calgary and the YouthLink Calgary this research study was developed to explore the impact of their one-day and week-long crime prevention programming on youth. The research design focuses on the short term impacts these programs have on youth participants, both from the perspective of the students and their teachers. A mixed methods approach was used in this study to collect and analyze both qualitative (open-ended survey questions) and quantitative (survey) data. Data was collected immediately after the completion of the program and again three months later. Findings showed students were comfortable and open to learning while attending the program. Pedagogical approaches such as authentic experiences and hands on investigative activities were helping students learn. Students were also applying what they are learning after attending and recalling messaging and strategies learned before making decisions. Findings also showed students were making safe decisions when faced with crime related pressures and challenges and were using tools and strategies they learned during the program. These findings highlight the short-term impacts of the YouthLink Calgary’s crime prevention and youth education program. This study has implications for crime-prevention programming and may be of interest to others engaged in developing or evaluating community based and crime prevent programs for youth.
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    Fostering Collaborative Learning in an Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Education Course
    (2019-04) Brown, Barbara; Thomas, Christy; Hill, Joshua; Alonso-Yañez, Gabriela
    An interdisciplinary approach to designing lessons requires collaboration among teachers. In undergraduate programs in education, faculty often assign group tasks and students struggle with negotiating ideas and effectively engaging in collaborative learning with peers. In this study, researchers used repeated surveys and social network analysis to examine pre-service teachers’ peer-group interactions while co-designing an interdisciplinary unit plan. Findings suggest effective relationships are needed to support collaborative learning, peer leaders can support collaborative learning and instructors can make leadership roles and strategies visible to help manage collaboration including how to use technology to support collaborative learning. Findings from the first year of this design-based research study serve to develop recommendations for teaching and learning strategies that will tested over the next year.
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    Hacking for collaboration towards redesigning group work
    (2018-05) Hill, Joshua; Thomas, Christy; Brown, Barb; Alonso-Yanez, Gabriela
    In this session you will design scrappy little experiments called “hacks” to work towards redesigning collaboration in your practice. You will use a design thinking process and engage with findings from our design-based research study focused on improving the design of student collaboration through scaffolding, technology and assessment.
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    Partner Research Schools: Conversations About Research Relationships
    (2019-10-30) Brown, Barbara; Thomas, Christy; Roy, Sylvie
    Research in and with communities is emerging as a strategy to make research matter for everyone involved. One key condition for successful research-practice partnerships is to develop strong relationships among project team members. Partners also need to develop meaningful research projects that can withstand unexpected changes in the research plan. This working document is intended to support researchers and practitioners as they consider how to foster relationships when planning to partner and then continue to strengthen their relationships as they conduct research together in schools. The working document may also be applicable to those responsible for making decisions about conducting research in K-12 Schools, post-secondary institutions, graduate students and others involved in research-practice partnerships. Three fictitious scenarios are provided to guide beginning conversations about some common issues and questions raised by researchers and practitioners related to developing research relationships when involved in K-12 school research. The purpose of the discussion questions presented at the end of each scenario is to facilitate conversations about research relationships.
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    Professional Development Partners
    (University of Calgary, 2017-05) Thomas, Christy; Werklund School of Education
    Professional development is integral for improving teaching and learning. This paper highlights research from a mixed methods study on the potential impact of a partnership providing teacher Professional Development (PD) at a school in Southern Alberta. In this paper, three main findings will also be discussed: (a) scheduled time for PD; (b) a culture of pressure and support; (c) changes in teaching practices. This research is valuable for leadership and those considering innovative ways to provide PD through partnerships.
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    Quality Teaching: A Literature Review for Northern Gateway Public Schools
    (2018-04-30) Brown, Barbara; Thomas, Christy; Delanoy, Nadia; Brandon, Jim
    The purpose of this literature review is to synthesize the body of work that can inform quality teaching. In this literature review the authors draw on a combination of literature gathered by the Northern Gateway Public School District and their Steering Team as well as literature gathered by researchers. The literature review is organized according to four key dimensions of quality teaching: teacher as designer, teacher as engaged professional, teacher as expert in pedagogical knowledge and teacher as cultivator of quality learning environments. The dimensions are linked to Friesen’s (2009) principles of Teaching Effectiveness. Implications for teachers and school leaders are synthesized at the end of the literature review.
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    The role of authentic assessment tasks in problem-based learning
    (2018-05) Koh, Kim; Delanoy, Nadia; Thomas, Christy; Bene, Rose; Hone, Gabrielle; Chapman, Olive; Abidi, Ali; Diaz, Zulay
    A group of instructors will share their perspectives on using authentic assessment tasks to engage students in assessment for and as learning in a problem-based learning (PBL) oriented course. Discipline-specific dialogues on PBL and authentic assessment will take place at the end.
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    Strategies for Successful Group Work
    (University of Calgary, 2017-05) Brown, Barb; Thomas, Christy; Werklund School of Education
    Working collaboratively is a necessary competency for students engaging in complex interdisciplinary learning. However, students struggle when there are issues with the quality or timeliness of peer contributions and when negotiating ideas with others in a group. Instructors can use participatory technologies and formative assessment strategies to support collaborative work and set conditions to promote positive social networks. In this paper, three scenarios from instructors’ reflective journals are used to discuss challenges in designing an interdisciplinary group project for undergraduate students. Reflecting on the challenges and strategies employed by the instructors can be used to inform subsequent iterations of collaborative activities.