Browsing by Author "Coats, Teena"
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- Secondary engineering design graphics educators: Credentials, characteristics, and caseloadBowen, Bradley D.; Coats, Teena; Williams, Thomas O. Jr.; Ernst, Jeremy V. (2018)Although the caseload of students with categorical disabilities and limited English proficiency has increased in recent years for secondary engineering design graphics teachers, the level of preparation to teach students with these characteristics has not. Given that teachers must develop inclusive classroom environments for all students, the current state for teacher preparation in regards to working with students with categorical disabilities and limited English proficiency needs to be explored. This study analyzes data from the School and Staffing Survey Teacher Questionnaire to determine the current characteristics, credentialing, and caseload for secondary engineering design graphics teachers. The results show that almost two-thirds of engineering design graphics teachers have a bachelor's degree or less, while half of those have less than a bachelor's degree. In addition, approximately one-third of all engineering design graphics teachers are certified through alternative licensing programs, which include little to no preparation in working with students with categorical disabilities and limited English proficiency. The implications of these results are that as caseloads increase for teachers working with students with categorical disabilities and limited English proficiency, more preparation is required to provide teachers with evidence-based pedagogy in order for these students to achieve their learning potential.
- Technology Education CurriculumBowen, Bradley D.; Coats, Teena; Guseman, Christine (2022-05)Technology education is a field with specific content knowledge that embeds a variety of problem-solving process to create solutions to technological challenges. Using the Standards for Technological Literacy as its foundation, technology education prepares students to become technologically literate. Studies on how technologies are developed and used as problem-solving tools, allowing them to create novel solutions for any technological challenge. Although the use of computers can be an important tool in a technology education classroom, the field is not focused on the use of educational technologies. Educational technologies, generally used to enhance the student learning in the classroom, are only one aspect of a breadth of knowledge and tools used in the field of technology education. Falling under the Career and Technical Education umbrella, technology education offers courses primarily in middle and high school classrooms. The courses offered are up to each state’s education department and include a wide variety of topics from carpentry and metalworking to engineering design and robotics. Technology education teachers typically incorporate a variety of instructional methods, allowing for students to be more motivated, and providing opportunities for students to connect to prior and subsequent knowledge, engaged in higher-order thinking process, and develop problem-solving skills. One the most critical components of technology education is the integration of hands-on activities and design-based learning activities in the classroom. Teaching the standards through interactive activities allows students to be engaged with the material in an authentic manner, solidifying the meaning of the learning in a much more meaningful way. Technology education also has the potential to enhance student learning in other subject areas, particularly in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). An effective technology education program creates technologically literate students by using the nature of technology to bring other subjects together for the sake of creative and effective problem-solving.