Garry Hoban – författare

Teaching is becoming increasingly complex in the 21st Century, creating a need for more sophisticated frameworks to support teachers’ professional learning. Action learning is one such framework and has been used for workplace learning in business settings for many years. It is now becoming increasingly popular in school and university settings, but it is often misunderstood. This book clarifies what action learning is, linking key concepts to illustrate that it is not merely a process, but a dynamic interaction between professional learning, communities, leadership and change. The book brings together more than a decade of the authors’ research in school-based action learning.

Rich and diverse, the research draws on more than 100 case studies of action learning by teams of teachers in schools. The authors:

Addressing the highs and lows, the successes and failures, and their underlying causes, Action Learning in Schools provides insights into theories of cooperation, innovation, leadership and community formation to inform individual projects and large-scale school improvement initiatives. It will be of interest to teacher educators, pre-service and experienced teachers alike, as well as school and education system managers and policymakers keen to enhance teacher professional learning and educational outcomes for students.

Teaching is becoming increasingly complex in the 21st Century, creating a need for more sophisticated frameworks to support teachers’ professional learning. Action learning is one such framework and has been used for workplace learning in business settings for many years. It is now becoming increasingly popular in school and university settings, but it is often misunderstood. This book clarifies what action learning is, linking key concepts to illustrate that it is not merely a process, but a dynamic interaction between professional learning, communities, leadership and change. The book brings together more than a decade of the authors’ research in school-based action learning.

Rich and diverse, the research draws on more than 100 case studies of action learning by teams of teachers in schools. The authors:

Addressing the highs and lows, the successes and failures, and their underlying causes, Action Learning in Schools provides insights into theories of cooperation, innovation, leadership and community formation to inform individual projects and large-scale school improvement initiatives. It will be of interest to teacher educators, pre-service and experienced teachers alike, as well as school and education system managers and policymakers keen to enhance teacher professional learning and educational outcomes for students.

"This timely and innovative book encourages us to ‘flip the classroom’ and empower our students to become content creators. Through creating digital media, they will not only improve their communication skills, but also gain a deeper understanding of core scientific concepts. This book will inspire science academics and science teacher educators to design learning experiences that allow students to take control of their own learning, to generate media that will stimulate them to engage with, learn about, and become effective communicators of science."

Professors Susan Jones and Brian F. Yates, Australian Learning and Teaching Council Discipline Scholars for Science

"Represents a giant leap forward in our understanding of how digital media can enrich not only the learning of science but also the professional learning of science teachers."

Professor Tom Russell, Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada

"This excellent edited collection brings together authors at the forefront of promoting media creation in science by children and young people. New media of all kinds are the most culturally significant forms in the lives of learners and the work in this book shows how they can move between home and school and provide new contexts for learning as well as an understanding of key concepts."

Dr John Potter, London Knowledge Lab, Dept. of Culture, Communication and Media, University College London, UK

Student-generated Digital Media in Science Education supports secondary school teachers, lecturers in universities and teacher educators in improving engagement and understanding in science by helping students unleash their enthusiasm for creating media within the science classroom.

Written by pioneers who have been developing their ideas in students’ media making over the last 10 years, it provides a theoretical background, case studies, and a wide range of assignments and assessment tasks designed to address the vital issue of disengagement amongst science learners. It showcases opportunities for learners to use the tools that they already own to design, make and explain science content with five digital media forms that build upon each other— podcasts, digital stories, slowmation, video and blended media. Each chapter provides advice for implementation and evidence of engagement as learners use digital tools to learn science content, develop communication skills, and create science explanations. A student team’s music video animation of the Krebs cycle, a podcast on chemical reactions presented as commentary on a boxing match, a wiki page on an entry in the periodic table of elements, and an animation on vitamin D deficiency among hijab-wearing Muslim women are just some of the imaginative assignments demonstrated.

Student-generated Digital Media in Science Education illuminates innovative ways to engage science learners with science content using contemporary digital technologies. It is a must-read text for all educators keen to effectively convey the excitement and wonder of science in the 21st century.