In summer 2020, Northeastern University developed a fully online curricular pathway for incoming fall first-year undergraduate students who could not learn in residence. This pathway included 18 Global Challenge (GC) courses, each designed around project-based learning (PBL), grounded in a complex problem defined by Northeastern University…

Educational providers frequently respond to learning disruptions encountered by refugees, internally displaced persons, and migrant communities through online platforms. Learning modules in these digital spaces are often remotely designed, prescriptive and lack full appreciation of challenging circumstances faced by teachers and learners. To…

Background or Context: This research is situated against the backdrop of viral racial violence, global uprisings for racial justice, a polarizing presidential election, the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, widespread economic precarity, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside such urgent reminders of the need for liberatory education, the daily…

Because e-learning encompasses such a wide array of learning methods and tools, its components lend themselves to boundless applications. This study describes one such frontier of e-learning: its use in raising awareness of crucial social issues. Specifically, we describe the development of the first human trafficking awareness e-learning game…

This study aims to develop an SSI-based electronic learning material [e-LM] that will respond to the current educational landscape. Socio-scientific issues are utilized in the e-LM recognizing it can be useful in resolving societal issues and assisting learners in developing scientific habits of mind. A Mixed-method research design was employed in…

Northeastern University's EdD faculty faced unique challenges during the pandemic and racial reckoning following George Floyd's murder. During this period, however, we found opportunities to adapt and improve our program. We prioritized compassion and connection. We made significant strides in curriculum development through design and…

Deliberation as a necessary attitude in contemporary life seems to be specifically rooted in the early stages of education. However, as a primarily moral and evaluative stance, it is a powerful tool for shaping more reflective, critical, and proactive citizens. Furthermore, it establishes a way of engaging with knowledge, others, and, above all,…

Purpose: This study developed an online lesson study, investigated teacher professionalism after following an online lesson study and examined students' environmental literacy. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a mixed-method research design. The qualitative approach entailed observing science learning focussing on environmental issues…

Low levels of students' critical reasoning and environmental literacy can negatively influence their attitudes toward environmental issues in their surroundings. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a Socio-Scientific Issue (SSI)-based electronic module on the topic of environmental change to enhance critical reasoning and…

In the ongoing pandemic context, short-term study abroad opportunities remain limited for many students. As a result, there has been a need for universities to develop educational innovations for home context learning to meet institutional intercultural learning aims. The purpose of this action research paper is to outline how a small-scale…

COVID-19 required educators and students to rapidly move to online learning. Simultaneously, while navigating the pandemic in lockdown, citizens were exposed to the brutal murder of George Floyd. The increased exposure to online activity and discrimination generated a hyperawareness of the potential link between the two. Our interest was to…

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, formal education underwent a period of rapid transformation. Beyond this period, the virtual learning environment proposed a reevaluation of curriculum design and didactic strategies. The Classroom Laboratory NTNU-WUT Joint Course (CL) was introduced as a novel learning experience for students at West…

This study examined how students' position on social-scientific issues (SSIs) influenced their performance on attitude toward science, science conceptual and argumentation learning. It defined two positions adopted by students regarding SSIs: affirmative and oppositional. The interactions between student position and two learning environments --…

Design problems are highly ill-structured, having "ambiguous specifications of goals, no determined solution path, and the need to integrate multiple knowledge domains" (Jonassen, 2000, p. 80). Design problems are generated by stakeholders to meet needs that exist outside of the classroom (Simon, 1973; Jonassen, 2000)--this is in…

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on all levels of education has been well documented. In this article, the authors drew on self-study methodology to explore how one member of the research team applied principles of democratic pedagogy in response to COVID-19 enforced changes to a service-learning course in a three-year undergraduate degree. The…