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Research in Teacher Education: Trends, Status, and Prospects

• First Online: 26 September 2023

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• Jessy Abraham 3  

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This chapter gives an overview of the research in teacher education. There are many meta-analyses on the status of the teaching profession and how it has changed over time globally. There has been decline followed by marginal improvements in the status of teachers. The studies on teachers’ perception on professionalism and accountability and the effect of the pandemic on the teaching profession are also reported at all levels. The number of studies in the area of teacher education has increased tremendously. There are exploratory studies, experimental studies, qualitative descriptive studies, case studies and studies on sociological and psychological dimensions of teacher education. But very few studies on philosophical areas. Action research in teacher education addressing classroom inquiry, data-based decision-making has also been conducted. Gamification is a very popular intervention strategy because of increased acceptance among the learners. The collaborative teaching environment, use of social media in teaching, use of video and other ICT tools such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality in instruction are topics covered by many researchers.

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Abraham, J. (2023). Research in Teacher Education: Trends, Status, and Prospects. In: Ahmad, J., Masih, A. (eds) Teaching and Teacher Education in India. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4985-4_8

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JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

The Journal of Teacher Education and Research (formerly Ram-Eesh Journal of Education) is the bi-annual peer-reviewed and referred journal of Ram-Eesh Institute of Education. Ram-Eesh Institute of Education was established in 1999 under the aegis of Rama-Eesh Charitable Trust, New Delhi. The Institute has been publishing this Journal since November 2004. The purpose of this Journal is to foster intercultural communication among educators & teachers nationwide; encourage transactional collaborative efforts in research & development and promote critical understanding of teacher education problems in a global perspective. The Journal is designed to reflect balanced representation of authors from all over the world. The Journal was upgraded to an e- journal in June 2015.

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Impact of a game-based interprofessional education program on medical students’ perceptions: a text network analysis using essays

• Young Gyu Kwon 1 ,
• Myeong Namgung 2 ,
• Song Hee Park 3 ,
• Mi Kyung Kim 3 , 4 ,
• Sun Jung Myung 5 ,
• Eun Kyung Eo 6 &
• Chan Woong Kim 1 , 2  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  898 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

Metrics details

The increasing complexity of the healthcare environment and the necessity of multidisciplinary teamwork have highlighted the importance of interprofessional education (IPE). IPE aims to enhance the quality of patient care through collaborative education involving various healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. This study sought to analyze how game-based IPE activities influence students’ perceptions and reflective thinking. It also aimed to identify the shifts in perception and effectiveness caused by this educational approach.

The study is based on a game-based IPE program conducted at University A, involving medical and nursing students in structured learning and team-based activities. Data were collected using essays written by the students after they had participated in IPE activities. Text network analysis was conducted by extracting key terms, performing centrality analysis, and visualizing topic modeling to identify changes in students’ perceptions and reflective thinking.

Keywords such as “patient,” “thought,” “group,” “doctor,” “nurse,” and “communication” played a crucial role in the network, indicating that students prioritized enhancing their communication and problem-solving skills within the educational environment. The topic modeling results identified three main topics, each demonstrating the positive influence of game-based collaborative activities, interprofessional perspectives, and interdisciplinary educational experiences on students. Topic 3 (interdisciplinary educational experience) acted as a significant mediator connecting Topic 1 (game-based collaborative activity experience) and Topic 2 (interprofessional perspectives).

This study demonstrates that game-based IPE activities are an effective educational approach for enhancing students’ team building skills, particularly communication and interprofessional perspectives. Based on these findings, future IPE programs should focus on creating collaborative learning environments, strengthening communication skills, and promoting interdisciplinary education. The findings provide essential insights for educational designers and medical educators to enhance the effectiveness of IPE programs. Future research should assess the long-term impacts of game-based IPE on clinical practice, patient outcomes, and participants’ professional development.

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With rapid changes in the healthcare environment and the advancement of systems, effective collaboration among various healthcare professionals is crucial to meet patients’ high expectations [ 1 ]. This underscores the growing importance of interprofessional education (IPE), which aims to develop the ability to collaborate efficiently as multidisciplinary teams [ 2 , 3 ]. IPE involves students from two or more healthcare professions learning about, from, and with each other through collaborative education. The primary objective of IPE is to assist healthcare professionals, including doctors, pharmacists, and nurses, in developing the competence to collaborate more effectively in multidisciplinary teams to enhance patient care [ 4 ]. Its history began in the early twentieth century and has evolved to include numerous healthcare professionals such as nurses, pharmacists, and dentists [ 5 ]. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that IPE provides highly collaborative teamwork experiences that improve job satisfaction and enhance access to and safety in patient care [ 6 ]. Recent studies have also shown that IPE is pivotal not only in promoting professional autonomy, understanding of professional roles, teamwork, and collaboration, but also in providing essential knowledge and skills for improving healthcare services [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ].

One innovative approach to enhancing IPE involves game-based learning, which integrates educational content with interactive gaming elements to create engaging and effective learning experiences. Game-based learning has been shown to enhance students’ motivation, participation, and retention of knowledge by providing a dynamic and immersive learning environment [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]. In the context of IPE, these activities can simulate real-life clinical scenarios that require collaboration, communication, and problem-solving among diverse healthcare professionals [ 17 ]. This method allows students to practice and develop these critical skills in a safe and controlled setting, thereby preparing them for actual clinical practice [ 18 ].

Previous IPE studies involving students primarily used surveys, interviews, and participant observations to assess changes in students’ knowledge acquisition, collaboration, teamwork skills, and attitudes [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. While these approaches have provided valuable information for evaluating the effectiveness of IPE programs, they have limitations in terms of exploring students’ direct expressions and deep thinking. Recent research has started exploring game-based learning in IPE, emphasizing its potential to enhance collaboration, communication, and problem-solving skills among healthcare students [ 24 , 25 ]. Game-based learning activities, such as serious games and simulations, offer engaging experiences that promote interprofessional collaboration and reflective thinking [ 17 ]. However, there is still a scarcity of research on students’ personal experiences, changing perceptions, and in-depth understanding of interprofessional collaboration through game-based learning. Addressing this gap can provide better relevance and context to the study of IPE.

Medical education literature has highlighted the importance of various educational strategies in enhancing reflective thinking skills [ 26 , 27 ]. Dewey defines reflective thinking as conscious thought in the problem-solving process, which can be considered as the active utilization of knowledge gained through experience [ 28 ]. Narrative materials, such as essays, are useful tools for gaining an in-depth understanding of students’ experiences and perceptions. Thus, analyzing reflective thinking through essays can help students better understand their learning experiences and improve their problem-solving abilities through effective collaboration across different disciplines [ 29 , 30 ].

This study aimed to analyze students’ perceptions of collaboration by examining essays they wrote after participating in game-based IPE activities, thereby providing evidence for the effectiveness of such education. The results of this study are expected to serve as foundational data to help design and implement more effective collaborative learning strategies for IPE programs.

Course design

The IPE program at a South Korean university targeted fifth-year medical and fourth-year nursing students to prepare them for clinical training. The course was divided into two phases: a six-day shadowing period and a four-day IPE activity period.

During the shadowing period, students observed various healthcare professionals in different clinical settings, including emergency rooms (ERs), ambulatory care, critical care, and outpatient environments. This phase emphasized understanding interprofessional roles and the importance of collaborative practice skills.

In the subsequent IPE activity period, students were grouped into teams of five or six, consisting of both medical and nursing students, to engage in team building exercises. These activities aimed to promote students’ collaboration, communication skills, mutual understanding in clinical settings. The activities during this phase were meticulously designed to develop essential soft skills through structured game-based exercises. These included the Marshmallow Challenge, which aimed to enhance understanding of team building dynamics; the Puzzle Game, which focused on defining roles and fostering teamwork to achieve a common objective; and the Message Game, which underscored the importance of clear and effective communication. Additional activities, such as the Drawing Shapes Game and the Drawing the Story Game, were designed to improve skills in accurate verbal description and to enhance understanding of the SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) communication protocol, respectively. Finally, the Board Game was specifically developed to reinforce systems thinking and to illustrate the need for interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing complex issues in a hospital. Table 1 outlines the key activities included in this period.

This study aimed to analyze essays written by students after participating in the IPE activities to assess their reflections and learning outcomes.

Research procedure

The fundamental premise of text network analysis is to extract keywords representing the core content from the literature [ 31 ]. This study focused on understanding students’ thoughts and perceptions by analyzing their essays. The research process comprised (1) data collection, (2) keyword selection and data processing, (3) core keyword extraction and network construction, (4) network connectivity and centrality analysis, and (5) topic modeling. This approach facilitated a nuanced understanding of the conceptual relationships within the text, yielding deeper insights into students’ reflective thinking and experiences with interprofessional collaboration, thereby aligning with the objectives of this study.

Data collection

Data were collected in 2021 after the IPE program. Of the 82 medical students who participated in the program, 77 voluntarily submitted essays, representing a 93.9% response rate from the entire cohort enrolled in the IPE program. The essays were collected after the completion of the entire program, capturing students’ reflections and feelings about the course. These essays were not intended for assessment or evaluation purposes but were written freely by students to express their thoughts and experiences regarding the program. The primary aim was to gather qualitative insights into how students perceived and internalized the IPE activities, which aligns with the study’s objective to understand the impact of game-based learning on developing interprofessional collaboration, communication, and team building skills. We focused on medical students’ essays to explore their specific perspectives and experiences within the IPE program, as these students often play crucial roles in multidisciplinary teams. Therefore, understanding their views can provide valuable insights for improving IPE programs and enhancing interprofessional collaboration in clinical practice [ 32 ].

Keyword selection and data pre-processing

The student essays were collected using MS Office Excel. Pre-processing involved an initial review using Excel’s Spell Check, followed by manual corrections to fix typographical errors. Morphological analysis was performed using Netminer 4.5.1.c (CYRAM), which automatically removed pronouns and adverbs, leaving only nouns. To extract the words, 25 designated words, 40 synonyms, and 321 excluded words were pre-registered. Designated words are terms that convey specific meanings when grouped [ 33 ]. In this study, terms such as “interprofessional education” and “Friday Night at the ER” were classified as such. Synonyms, a group of words that have similar meanings, were processed as a single term that can represent the common meaning of those words [ 34 ]. For instance, “Friday night ER,” “FNER,” and “Friday night in the ER” were extracted as “Friday Night at ER.” Words considered irrelevant to the current research focus or general words that did not contribute to meaningful analysis were excluded (e.g., “and,” “or,” “front,” “inside,” “during”). Three professors specializing in emergency medicine and one medical educator handled word extraction and refinement, and the final selection was reviewed by the entire research team.

The data analysis utilized was qualitative content analysis, focusing on both the identification and contextual usage of keywords. This approach involved the descriptive counting of keywords as well as an in-depth analysis of their usage within the essays. This rigorous process ensured that the keywords selected were relevant to the study’s focus on IPE and collaboration, providing both quantitative and qualitative insights into the students’ reflections and experiences.

Extraction of core keywords and network construction

Core keyword extraction was based on the term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) method. The frequency of word occurrences is expressed as “term frequency (TF),” which indicates how often a word appears within a document [ 35 ]. By contrast, “inverse document frequency (IDF)” is calculated using the logarithmic value of the inverse of document frequency [ 36 ]. The TF-IDF value is computed by multiplying TF by IDF. A high value indicates that a word is important in a specific document but rarely appears in others [ 37 ]. This method allows the assessment of the importance of words in documents. For network analysis, the 2-mode word-document network was converted into a 1-mode word-word network. The co-occurrence frequency was set to occur at least twice, and the word proximity (window size) was set to two, following previous studies on text network analysis [ 38 ].

Network connectivity and centrality analysis

Network size and density, as well as the average degree and distance at the node level, were identified to understand the overall characteristics of the network. Network size denotes the total number of nodes (keywords). Density measures the ratio of actual connections to possible connections, indicating network cohesion. The average degree reflects the average number of connections per node, while the average distance shows the typical number of steps between nodes, revealing the network’s connectivity and compactness [ 35 , 38 ]. Centrality analysis included degree, betweenness, and eigenvector centrality, whereas closeness centrality was excluded due to poor performance in lengthy texts [ 39 ]. Degree centrality measures how well a node is connected within a network, helping to identify keywords that play a central role in the network [ 40 ]. Betweenness centrality measures how frequently a node appears on the shortest path between other nodes, indicating how well it acts as an intermediary between two nodes [ 41 ]. Eigenvector centrality assesses the influence of a node by considering the importance of its neighboring nodes beyond the degree of connection [ 42 ]. This study extracted the top 30 words for each degree, betweenness, and eigenvector centrality. Finally, a spring map was used to visualize the keywords and their connection structures in the network.

Text network analysis was chosen because it provides a detailed understanding of relationships between concepts, unlike traditional methods that focus on theme frequency. It visualizes keyword interactions, highlighting central themes and their connections, offering insights into students’ reflections on IPE and their thought patterns.

Topic modeling

Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) is a statistical text-processing technique that clusters keywords based on their probabilities and distributions to infer topics [ 43 ]. In this study, keywords extracted from essays were compiled into a matrix for LDA. To determine the optimal number of topics, combinations of α = 0.01–0.03, β = 0.01–0.03, topic model = 3–8, and 1,000 iterations were tested. The optimal model was selected based on the coherence score (c_v), with the highest coherence score ensuring the validity and reliability of the inferred topics [ 44 , 45 , 46 ].

Key keywords

Table 2 presents the keywords derived from analyzing medical students’ essays selected through the TF and TF-IDF analyses. In the TF analysis, “thought” appeared most frequently (365 times), followed by “group” 359 times, “class” 322 times, and “game” 278 times. The top 20 keywords in TF-IDF included “patient,” “game,” “group,” and “person.” Keywords that appeared in both TF and TF-IDF analyses included “nursing school,” “nurse,” “game,” “hospital,” “person,” “mutual,” “communication,” “time,” “group,” “important,” “progress,” “puzzle,” “patient,” and “activity.” Comparing the keywords between TF and TF-IDF, new terms that emerged in TF-IDF included “IPE,” “room,” and “clinical practice.”

• Text network analysis

Network structure

In this study, a network was constructed based on a co-occurrence frequency of at least two words with word proximity (window size) set to two words. The resulting network comprised 1,218 nodes and 627 links. The network density was 0.012, with an average degree and distance of 3.919 and 3.447, respectively.

Centrality analysis

Table 3 lists the top 30 keywords according to degree, betweenness, and eigenvector centralities, providing insight into the overall network characteristics. The top three keywords across all three centrality analyses included “patient,” “thought,” “group,” “doctor,” “nurse,” and “communication.” The ranking and composition of the keywords were similar in both degree and betweenness centrality analyses. In the eigenvector results, “doctor,” “nurse,” and “communication” were ranked highest. When comparing the top 30 keywords from eigenvector centrality with those from degree and betweenness centrality, new terms such as “future,” “society,” and “need” emerged. These findings are presented in Fig.  1 , which illustrates the spring network map of centrality.

Spring network map of centrality. a  Degree centrality. b  Betweenness centrality. c  Eigenvector centrality

Topic modeling: selection of the number of topics

To determine the optimal number of topics, 54 combinations of options were tested, including α = 0.01–0.03, β = 0.01–0.03, topic models = 3–8, and 1,000 iterations. Three topics were identified.

In the topic modeling process, after reviewing the keywords and contents of the assigned original documents, the research team convened and named each topic to reflect the trend of the subject matter, as shown in Fig.  2 . Following prior research, the final topic model was visualized using a topic-keyword map displaying the top eight to thirteen words [ 44 ]. Topic 1, accounting for 17% of the total topics, includes keywords such as “group,” “game,” “puzzle,” “delivery,” and “activity.” This reflects the inclusion of group-based, game-centric activities in the IPE classes; hence, it was named “game-based collaborative activity experience.” Topic 2 comprises 23% of the topics centered around the thoughts of doctors and nurses about patients in clinical settings, with keywords including “doctor,” “thought,” “patient,” “hospital,” and “nurse.” It was thus named “interprofessional perspectives.” Topic 3, with the largest share at 60%, incorporates keywords such as “class,” “nursing school,” “thought,” “activity,” and “student.” It primarily addresses class activities involving nursing students, thus the term “interdisciplinary educational experience.” Visually examining the entire network of topic modeling indicates that Topic 1, “game-based collaborative activity experience,” and Topic 3, “interdisciplinary educational experience,” are connected through the keywords “person” and “activity.” Topic 2, “Interprofessional Perspectives,” and Topic 3, are linked by “thought” and “class.” In the network, Topic 3 plays a vital role in connecting Topics 1 and 2, as illustrated in Fig.  2 .

Semantic keywords of topic modeling

This study is the first attempt to demonstrate the educational impact of game-based IPE activities on fostering an interprofessional perspective, communication skills, and team building skills among healthcare professionals through a text network analysis of student essays. This distinguishes this study from previous studies. This approach can help students develop collaborative skills, thereby effectively addressing various challenges in clinical settings. The primary findings and implications of this study are as follows:

First, the keywords with the highest degree of centrality were “patient,” “thought,” and “group.” High-degree-centrality keywords play a central role in the entire network, suggesting that the overall program should be designed around these keywords. The keywords with high betweenness centrality were also “patient,” “thought,” and “group.” These keywords act as necessary connectors within the network, indicating that they are crucial for establishing communication channels between different professions and ensuring a smooth flow of information in medical education. Keywords with high eigenvector centrality included “doctor,” “nurse,” and “communication.” The prominence of keywords such as “doctor,” “nurse,” and “communication” in centrality measures signifies their strong connections to other important terms in the network. This highlights the pivotal role of doctors and nurses in collaborative practices and underscores the importance of communication skills in IPE programs. The central positioning of these keywords within the network emphasizes the need to prioritize interprofessional roles and communication competencies to enhance collaborative practices in clinical settings. These results align with previous findings emphasizing the importance of education in promoting effective collaboration and communication among healthcare professionals [ 47 ]. The centralities thus provide quantitative evidence supporting the critical roles and interactions that are essential for successful IPE.

The relevance of these keywords can be understood within the framework of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Core Competencies, which emphasize patient-centered care, reflective thinking, and effective communication. The central keywords align with IPEC’s domains: values/ethics for interprofessional practice, roles/responsibilities, interprofessional communication, and teams/teamwork [ 4 , 48 ]. For instance, “patient” and “group” correspond to the emphasis on patient-centered care and teamwork, while “thought” and “communication” are essential for reflective practice and effective interprofessional communication. Integrating IPE into medical education strengthens transparent and efficient teamwork across different specialties, minimizes errors in clinical decision-making, and improves patient outcomes. Consequently, medical schools should develop curricula that provide students with ample opportunities to collaborate with team members from various specialties [ 49 ].

Second, the topic modeling analysis indicated that Topic 1 provides a collaborative experience through group-based gaming activities in an IPE course. This aligns with previous research, indicating that game-based learning can enhance participants’ socialization and communication skills. Thornton Bacon et al. [ 50 ] and Sanko et al. [ 51 ] reported that students who participated in the Friday Night at Emergency Room (FNER) game demonstrated a statistically significant increase in systems thinking scores. In addition, Fusco et al. [ 52 ] confirmed that gameplay positively affected students’ systematic thinking, effective collaboration, and socialization skills. This suggests that game-based learning is useful for developing collaborative problem-solving skills and can be effectively integrated into various educational designs of IPE programs. Topic 2 highlights the significant focus on the perspectives of healthcare professionals in clinical environments. According to Bridges et al. [ 53 ] and Prentice et al. [ 54 ], IPE provides opportunities to develop a better understanding of roles and improve communication among healthcare team members. In this process, improving knowledge about one’s own roles and responsibilities as well as those of other professions can enhance teamwork between professionals [ 55 ]. This finding suggests that IPE programs can improve the quality of healthcare delivery by fostering mutual respect and understanding among different healthcare professionals. Topic 3 primarily addressed class activities for nursing students and included interdisciplinary educational experiences. These results show that game-based IPE activities are an effective educational method for enhancing interprofessional perspectives and communication skills, going beyond traditional lectures that simply deliver knowledge to students.

Additionally, Bjerkvik and Hilli [ 56 ] stated that expressing thoughts through writing facilitates the understanding of personal experiences. This enables learners to explore their emotions and attitudes, ultimately leading them to deeper self-understanding and professional growth. Consequently, this study analyzed students’ reflective thinking through topic modeling and presented evidence that game-based IPE activities are crucial in promoting learners’ reflective thinking and professional growth.

This study has several limitations. First, a limited group of students from a specific university participated in this study, which may have restricted the generalizability of the findings. Additional research is required to verify the results of this study across multiple student groups from various backgrounds and environments. Second, the research methodology relied on text analysis of student essays, focusing only on students’ subjective experiences and perceptions. To address this limitation, we used a rigorous coding scheme, inter-rater reliability checks, and TF-IDF for keyword extraction. Our methodology included keyword selection, data pre-processing, network construction, and LDA-based topic modeling, optimized with the coherence score (c_v). These steps ensured that the data analysis was both robust and reliable. Additionally, incorporating multiple methods for data analysis allowed us to cross-verify the findings and enhance the overall rigor of the study. Future research should integrate a range of methods, including interviews and surveys, to achieve a more comprehensive evaluation. Third, the effects of IPE programs on students’ collaborative competencies in clinical practice and healthcare settings is limited. Future research should explore the long-term impacts of game-based IPE on clinical practice, patient outcomes, and students’ readiness for clinical environments. Additionally, tracking the career progression and professional development of participants will help assess the sustained benefits of these educational interventions.

Conclusions

This study is the first to explore changes in reflective thinking and perceptions among students who participated in IPE programs. This demonstrates the positive effects of IPE on professional healthcare students. Specifically, through the analysis of degree, betweenness, and eigenvector centrality, we identified keywords such as “patient,” “thought,” “group,” “doctor,” “nurse,” and “communication” as crucial to interprofessional perspectives and communication among healthcare professionals. Topic modeling further underscores the importance of game-based learning, interprofessional perspectives, and interdisciplinary educational experiences.

These findings emphasize the need for innovative teaching methods in medical education and reaffirm the importance of promoting effective inter-professional perspective, communication skills and team building skills. Medical schools should strive to improve the design and implementation of their IPE program by incorporating students’ experiences and reflective insights. This will ultimately improve the quality of medical education. This study can serve as valuable foundational data for future research. Future studies should investigate the long-term effects of game-based IPE on clinical practice and patient outcomes. Research should also explore the impact of game-based IPE on participants’ career progression and professional development to assess sustained benefits. Additionally, future research could examine how different game-based learning activities influence specific interprofessional competencies, such as teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills, to identify the most effective approaches for IPE programs.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to ethical constraints but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

• Interprofessional education

Friday night at emergency room

Latent Dirichlet allocation

Term frequency

Term frequency-inverse document frequency

Inverse document frequency

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Study conception and design: YK, MN, CK. Data collection: YK, MN, CK. Data analysis and interpretation: YK, MN, SM, EE, CK. Drafting of the article: YK, MN, SP, MK. Critical revision of the article: YK, MN, SP, SM, EE, CK.

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Trump's Agenda47 on education: Abolish teacher tenure, universal school choice, patriotism

With former teacher Gov. Tim Walz rounding out the Democratic ticket, education could become a talking point in this election.

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump has laid out his education policy plans in Agenda47 . Separate from the oft-mentioned Project 2025 , Agenda47 covers Trump's official policy platform on issues including crime, health care and immigration. Agenda47 on education proposes 10 ideas for "great schools leading to great jobs" that range from curriculum requirements to preferential funding for schools with internship programs.

This election comes at a pivotal time for educators, says Jon Valant, director at the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. Between the pandemic and the culture wars, teachers have had a rough few years and he says Trump's proposals are unlikely to alleviate the core of those issues.

"All of these are politics more than policy," Valant said in an interview. "My worry is distraction, these types of proposals... they're averting people's eyes from what we should actually be talking about."

The National Education Association , the largest teachers' union in the U.S., has thrown its support behind Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz. NEA President Becky Pringle said Trump's agenda is rooted in his time in office, appointing Betsy DeVos as Education secretary . Pringle said she hopes for an administration that will help teachers get more resources and respect to alleviate the teacher shortage.

"When I started teaching many years ago... I didn't really have a clue every decision that was made about my kids, my classroom, my colleagues, was made by someone who was elected or appointed to some position of power," Pringle said, explaining that they want more educators in public office. "We will have an educator in the White House."

Here are some of Trump's proposed education policies that impact teachers and school systems, as quoted in Agenda47:

Tim Walz career timeline: From high school teacher to Kamala Harris' vice-presidential pick

Give preference to schools that abolish teacher tenure

"To reward good teachers, President Trump will  implement  funding preferences and favorable treatment for states and school districts that abolish teacher tenure for grades K-12, adopt Merit Pay to reward good teachers and give parents the right to vote for the principals who direct their children’s education."

◾ How we got here: Valant called this proposal "an oldie but a goodie for conservative education reform," as it tends to be popular among conservatives. About a decade ago, several states sought to reform teacher tenure by extending the probationary period, but in recent years the push has been more muted as other education battles took the forefront.

◾ In today's context: Valant said union politics come into play here, as teachers unions want to protect tenure as a way to defend against unfounded firings. "This one is primarily the... direct shot at teachers unions," Valant said. He also said teacher recruitment and retention after the last few years is already under stress, and he worries taking away tenure could exacerbate that.

Universal school choice

"President Trump supports universal school choice so that parents can send their children to the public, private, or religious school that best suits their needs, their goals, and their values... President Trump commends Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah, and West Virginia for leading the American school choice revolution – and he looks forward to working with other states, as well as the U.S. Congress, to provide for universal school choice for every American family."

◾ How we got here: School choice can include a range of policies that give parents the ability to use public money for private school tuition or homeschooling. Valant said there was once bipartisan agreement on limited school choice policies that allowed for charter schools. But more expansive school choice policies, like providing vouchers that give money to parents for their kids to attend private school, dramatically expanded in the last few years. According to Education Week, proponents of school choice say it helps provide another option for kids in underperforming schools.

◾ In today's context: Many outcomes of expanding school choice policies have yet to be seen. But Valant said vouchers are often not enough to cover tuition costs for private schools, and as a result they mostly end up helping relatively wealthy families, many of whom already have kids in private school. He said it could also change the landscape of school enrollment if wealthy kids end up in private schools and low-income kids end up in public schools. "To me...it feels like incredible risk for the damage they may do to their public education systems."

Create a credentialing body to certify patriotic teachers

"President Trump will reinstate the  1776 Commission , which he originally created but was disbanded by Joe Biden on his first day in office, to ensure America’s children learn the truth about their country’s history and the timeless principles of liberty and equality... President Trump will  veto  any effort to weaponize or nationalize civics education. And he will create a credentialing body to certify teachers who embrace patriotic values and support the American Way of Life."

◾ How we got here: Trump created the 1776 Commission in November of 2020 as part of the backlash to the New York Times' 1619 Project, which examines the history of slavery in the U.S. That backlash also included conservatives passing "critical race theory" curriculum bans, as a key part of the erupting culture wars. The report the commission produced days before Trump left office excused America's history of slavery and undercut the legacy of the civil rights movement.

◾ In today's context: Political messaging on critical race theory and history curriculums seems to have waned in the last year. Valant said creating a new credentialing body would be politically driven, yet derails from traditional conservative values of stripping down government regulation.

Pringle also said this type of body would be politically driven, and this credentialing body could be made up of unqualified appointees.

"They don't know what our kids need, they haven't trained to be able to teach the diverse learning needs and the skills and meet kids where they are, let alone the preparation of educators," Pringle said. "So we know that anything he does has a political nature to it."

Contributing: Kayla Jimenez, Matthew Brown

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Roger Rossier MA ’63, EdD ’72, lifelong educator known for his significant contributions to educational research and policy, passed away at 92

The namesake of the USC Rossier School of Education passed away on Aug. 11, 2024.

Roger Rossier MA ’63, EdD ’72, a lifelong educator known for his significant contributions to educational research and policy, and the namesake of the USC Rossier School of Education, passed away on Aug. 11, 2024. He was 92.

A two-time alumnus of USC, Rossier had a long career in education and service, including positions as a geography teacher, dean of guidance at Pacifica High School in Garden Grove, a counselor at Cypress Community College, and as a member of the United States Navy.

Although Roger and his wife, Barbara J. Rossier EdD ’71, attended USC, they didn’t meet until after graduating in the early 1960s with master’s degrees in educational guidance. Before completing his degree at USC, Roger worked as a driver’s education instructor and as a geography teacher at Santa Ana Valley High School. In 1964, they formally met while serving as school counselors at Westminster High School. They both later returned to USC for their doctorates; Barbara completed hers in 1971, and Roger completed his in 1972. What followed was a lifelong journey to positively transform education across the nation.

In 1980, Roger and Barbara Rossier purchased a small private school in Orange County dedicated to special-needs students with delays in academic, social and/or emotional development. Under their leadership, it became one of the largest special-education schools in the state. Roger served as vice president of Rossier Educational Enterprises, overseeing the career counseling, transportation, and travel divisions, building on his expertise in counseling international students at Cypress Community College. Both Roger and Barbara dedicated their lives to pursuing educational equity and strived for a society that offers a strong education to people of all backgrounds.

In September 1998, that work culminated when the couple announced a $20 million gift to USC’s School of Education. At the time, it was believed to be the single largest gift ever made to a school of education in the United States. In recognition of their generosity and commitment to excellence in education, the USC Board of Trustees voted to rename the then 90-year-old school the USC Barbara J. and Roger W. Rossier School of Education.

“Roger Rossier’s impact on the field of education will be felt for generations,” said USC Rossier Dean Pedro Noguera . “Roger was a person of conviction and integrity who worked to provide opportunity for those without it. His support and leadership transformed our institution into a modern, influential school of education that impacts research and practice worldwide. Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the passing of Roger Rossier, and we are eternally grateful for his positive and lasting influence.”

“[Barbara and I] both feel that we have the responsibility to make sure that others have the opportunity that was afforded to us,” Roger Rossier said when announcing his historic gift to USC’s School of Education.

Rossier remained steadfast in his commitment to USC over the years. In 2016, Roger was inducted into USC’s Half Century Trojan Hall of Fame. He also served on USC’s Athletics Board of Counselors, chaired the USC Rossier Counseling Advisory Council and chaired the USC Alumni Association Board of Governors Scions Scholarship Committee.

Roger Rossier is survived by two sons, Dan and Steve; grandchildren Jennifer, Seth and Sophia; and daughters-in-law Linda and Anne. Barbara Rossier passed away on Aug. 11, 2013, at the age of 78.

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Microsoft Teams launches as a single app for work, personal, and education

Microsoft Teams has finally become one. Previously cobbled together as a confusing mix of two separate Windows 11 apps for work and personal use, Teams is now one unified app that lets you switch between different accounts and access types. Rolled out on Tuesday, the new app brings work, personal, and educational accounts under one roof for Windows 11, Windows 10, and Macs.

Also: How to install Windows 11 the way you want (and bypass Microsoft's restrictions)

Teams has long been a mainstay conferencing and chat app for business users. With the release of Windows 11, Microsoft positioned Teams as a one-stop communications app for personal use. But that led to an awkward situation with two separate apps, one for personal and another for work or school, each with a different layout and features.

In a Tuesday blog post , Microsoft said that the new app is now available for all users. If you already have Teams on your Windows PC or Mac, the app will automatically be updated. Otherwise, you can download it from the Teams website as well as grab it for iOS and Android devices.

The new Teams app is the result of feedback from both personal and professional users who said they'd prefer a single app that allows them to switch between different accounts rather than try to navigate two separate apps.

Launching the new Teams app presents you with a screen showing all your accounts for work, school, or personal use. Simply select the account you wish to access. After signing in, you can switch to another account by selecting your profile picture in the upper right and choosing the account you want.

Anyone who taps into Teams for personal use can connect and work with other people for free. You can schedule free meetings and invite participants to them or join a community for calling, chatting, and file sharing.

Also:  The best VPN for Windows: Expert tested and reviewed

You can even join a Teams meeting as a guest without signing in. But if you want to log in, you're able to select your preferred account as you join the meeting.

Any notifications you receive in Teams will indicate which account they reference. Plus, notifications for personal accounts will contain more details so that you can respond to them directly from the notification banner.

For now, the new unified preview app will be known as Microsoft Teams (work or school), though the name will automatically change to simply Microsoft Teams in future releases. At the same time, the standalone consumer version called Microsoft Teams (free) will be removed from Windows.

More Microsoft

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Texas A&M Researcher Explores Benefits Of AI In Veterinary Medicine, Education

A researcher at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) is discovering new ways for veterinarians to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools in both the clinic and the classroom.

Dr. Candice Chu, an assistant professor in the VMBS’ Department of Veterinary Pathobiology , has developed a study tool for veterinary students based on ChatGPT technology called VetClinPathGPT. 

The tool helps students in learning clinical pathobiology, a field of veterinary medicine that focuses on disease diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Using the tool, students can “chat” with AI to ask questions about terms and concepts or even ask the tool to provide a list of study questions.

Chu has also published a list of ways for AI to increase efficiency and expand the abilities of educators and clinicians.  

“AI is a powerful assistant that can help clinicians, educators and students reduce the time they spend on repetitive work,” Chu said. “By reducing repetitive tasks, individuals can spend their time on the most important parts of their work, like completing assignments or helping students and patients.” 

Improving Veterinary Education With AI

Chu believes AI will become a regular part of the veterinary medicine classroom.

“Imagine having a microscope connected to a camera with AI capability, so students can look down at their slides and essentially have a clinical pathologist there to explain what they’re seeing,” Chu said. “They could ask the AI, ‘What’s that cell?’ and it could tell them not only the type but also how to identify it.

“Veterinarians are in high demand and it’s a good thing to have lots of students in the classroom,” she said. “But one instructor cannot work with every student individually at the same time, so in my ideal world, AI would be able to help with that.” 

For now, Chu is helping to bring AI to veterinary education by creating tools like VetClinPathGPT that provide students with a virtual study partner.

“One of the best ways for students to use AI is to upload their course readings to an AI tool and ask it to make study questions based on the text,” she said. “Once you read a passage, you can test your knowledge or use the AI to help you prepare for an exam.”

Educators can also use AI to reduce the time they spend on repetitive tasks like writing exam questions.

“The key to getting high-quality, relevant answers to your prompts is to make sure that the information uploaded to the AI is reliable,” Chu said. “For example, VetClinPathGPT doesn’t use just any information from the internet — it uses the eClinPath website , an online textbook developed by the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.”

The Future of Veterinary Medicine

Chu also expects to start seeing AI used in clinical settings to help with tasks that take away time from working with patients, like record-keeping.

“It would be very helpful to have a tool that could go through medical records and pull examples from cases,” Chu said. “Imagine having a tool that could fill out medical records while you’re talking with a patient’s owner.”

While the technology for such things exists, the problem is making sure that the AI tool doesn’t compromise the privacy of medical records.

“Training AI tools to accurately read patient medical records would mean needing to share medical records with a developer, which violates patient privacy laws,” Chu said. “The same is true for a clinician who wants to use AI to identify important information in a patient’s file. If you have to spend a lot of time redacting all of the personal information, you’re probably just going to go through the records yourself.”

But in Chu’s opinion, it’s only a matter of time before someone creates AI tools that meet the needs of hospitals, clinicians and their patients.

“There are already ways to build a custom version of ChatGPT and make it private so no one else can use it,” she said. “Another option is to have an AI tool that only exists locally on your computer or your clinic’s network.”

A Partnership, Not A Takeover

From Chu’s perspective, using AI will always be a partnership between human and artificial intelligence.

“Neither are perfect on their own, so bringing them together increases our ability to diagnose, teach and learn,” she said. “One thing I tell people is not to worry that AI will replace you; it’s the person who knows how to use AI who will replace you. I think that in the future, knowing how to incorporate this technology will be a basic requirement to be an efficient and competitive veterinary educator in the job market.”

In addition to her work on study tools, Chu is also partnering with the VMBS’ Gastrointestinal Laboratory and the Texas A&M Institute of Data Science on a machine learning project to see if AI can help diagnose acute pancreatitis in dogs.

She’s also been invited to give a keynote lecture at the American College of Veterinary Radiology Scientific Conference this fall, and will share her research on AI at two other fall conferences — the Texas Taiwanese Biotechnology Association Symposium and the American College of Veterinary Pathologists Annual Meeting.

“This technology is still very new, so there are many opportunities for innovation,” she said.

Media contact: Jennifer Gauntt, [email protected],  979-862-4216

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