Diversifying Learner Experience A kaleidoscope of instructional approaches and strategies

This book brings together strategies and innovations that educators from diverse educational contexts have conceptualized and implemented to cater to differences in academic ability, as well as in other domains such as psychosocial contexts and developmental needs. The emergence of IT and new technologies have altered the educational landscape and opened a multitude of opportunities for diverse modes of instruction catering to diverse student populations.

1 Introduction.- Part 1 Diversifying learner experiences within the classroom.- 2 "It is there but you need to dig a little deeper for it to become evident to them": Tacit knowledge assessment in the primary science classroom.- 3 Team based learning, personality traits on achievement emotions.- 4 The effect of Positive Psychology interventions on school conduct, peer acceptance, subjective well-being.- 5 The role of collaborative art class in promoting motivation from a self-determination theory (SDT) perspective.- 6 Diversifying the experience of Gifted Learners: A review of recent trends and practices.- Part 2 Diversifying learner experiences beyond the classroom.- 7 Learning beyond the museum walls: Virtual excursions at Te Papa Tongarewa.- 8 Play-Flow-ness: Harnessing flow through the power of play in adult learning.- 9 Initial teacher education in a neo-liberal system: Making one-size fit all.- 10 Cultivating learner experiences: Using information technology to counter locationaldisadvantages.- Part 3 Diversifying experiences for learners with special needs.- 11 Catering for diversity in psychosocial and learning needs in a low-income country.- 12 A multitier system of support for students with emotional and behavioral disorders.- 13 The use of self-prompted video modelling on teaching daily-living skills to adolescents with autism.- 14 Using serious games to support learners with mobility and sensory impairments.

Caroline Koh is Associate Professor and Head, Psychology and Child & Human Development, National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. An educator for over three decades, she has researched and published on areas as diverse as learner motivation, group work, moral development and reasoning, national education and more recently, the use of technology-enhanced pedagogies. Through her career as a teacher and researcher, she found that IT and other new technologies have offered a multitude of opportunities for the proliferation of diverse modes of instruction catering to the diverse student populations. However, though educators have been constantly creating and adopting new pedagogies and instructional approaches, many of these have remained within the confines of the classroom and have not been shared with the wider community. Associate Professor Koh's work was conceived as an attempt to close this gap.