COE Spring 2016 Student Teacher of the Year Anna Wilkinson with UH Teacher Education Director Amber Thompson in the KIVA Farish Hall on Tuesday, May 3, 2016.

The College of Education (COE) held the Spring Teacher Education Research Symposium on Tuesday, May 3, 2016. Teacher candidates presented the results of their teaching inquiry research studies to their fellow students.  The symposium is an important opportunity for prospective teachers to ask questions about their own teaching practices, then present and discuss their work in a professional setting.

I wonder . . .

Each semester, student teachers are asked to reflect on something they wonder about in their teaching. This then becomes the foundation for their research presentations.  There were several interesting topics presented by the teacher candidates.  Some of the topics included: exploring effective transitions to increase instructional time, maximizing the benefits of group work, and addressing differentiation.  Other issues, such as student engagement, participation, and motivation, were also presented at the symposium.

“The symposium is an opportunity for teacher candidates to share, in a professional setting, what they’ve learned from conducting research in their own practice,” said Amber Thompson, Director of UH Teacher Education.

Teaching & Learning (Special Education) student Emily Jackson learned about collecting data and providing an intervention in general education and special education classrooms. "The presentations were relevant to me as a future teacher as well as helpful for learning about working with all kinds of problems in the classroom," she said. "It's really cool when we get to learn from each other as teaching students."

At the conclusion of the symposium, students gathered in the KIVA auditorium to hear closing comments from Thompson and visiting assistant professor, Jane Cooper.  They also announced the finalist for the COE Student Teacher of the Year.  The award was given to Anna Wilkinson who will receive a B.S. in Teaching & Learning, EC-6 Generalist at the Spring 2016 Graduation convocation.  “It's an honor to receive this award from the College of Education,” said Wilkinson. “UH has been a fantastic place to study and I'm so grateful for all my professors and mentors I have had throughout my time here. I know we have all put in so much work in the past four years to become the best educators we can be, and this truly feels like the culmination of this."

Wilkinson said that the symposium was incredibly inspiring and useful for the students, especially at the point in their college careers when they are poised to take on the exciting challenge of leading their own class. “They benefited hugely from the insights and perspectives that other students shared in that environment,” she said.

Wilkinson’s research was focused on reducing off-task behavior in the classroom. “I gave instruction in various places around the room and collected data to discover whether it had impact on student engagement,” she said. “The result gave me useful pointers for the future as I believe that creating a conducive environment is vital.”

The UH Teacher Education Program has been recognized by the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) as a Distinguished Program in Teacher Education.  Students in the program learn to teach with the latest research-based strategies and modern technologies from world-class faculty. Future teachers participate in early and continued field experiences in urban schools, working alongside experienced teachers in a realistic classroom setting.