Purpose: This paper aims to develop a model of measuring student engagement in a blended-massive open online course (MOOC) context. MOOCs are those that are delivered, usually by leading universities, with a promise to provide free high-quality education to an unlimited number of learners. They offer an opportunity for "blended" course…

Cultural and literary texts are used in the foreign language classroom to support learners' language development, cultural awareness, and reading comprehension. While classroom activities frequently facilitate a literal understanding of facts and events, these texts offer another potential level of analysis: symbolic dimensions, which focus on how…

Jean Piaget became a veritable institution unto himself in education and psychology, largely as the result of his developmental-stage theory advanced over the second quarter of the twentieth century. Not until Piaget was 73 did he make mention of John Dewey's work at Dewey's laboratory school, founded in 1894 at the University of Chicago. But here…

As the movement toward international education continues, institutions must be proficient when reaching and teaching international students. Instructors should engage unique learning styles, address individual student needs, and take part in additional training to effectively teach international student learners. These instructional imperatives…

Purpose: This paper aims to describe an attempt to develop a more effective technique to teach self-awareness and relationship skills. Design/methodology/approach: A journal is used in combination with a model of human nature. The model lists human characteristics that the management trainee must identify in themselves and others they interact…

Practitioner inquiry provides a powerful tool for improving practice and addressing critical issues in classrooms, schools, and broader communities. However, it also raises unique ethical challenges that often go unrecognized and unresolved. Structured Ethical Reflection (SER) provides teacher researchers with a process for identifying core values…

In this paper we present preliminary results on a study on the effect of instructional method (observational learning and learning by doing) and reflection (yes or no) on academic text quality and self-efficacy beliefs. 56 undergraduate students were assigned to either an observational learning or learning-by-doing condition, with or without…

With traditional teaching methods pervasive in the U.S., it is crucial that mathematics teacher educators and professional development leaders understand what methods result in authentic changes in classroom instruction. Lesson study presents a promising approach to developing reform-oriented instruction, as it is situated within the classroom,…

Ah ha moments are often mentioned in education literature. These moments are suggested to be a powerful aspect of learning, yet limited research is present regarding this topic. Ah ha learning moments have also not been defined in the education literature, resulting in the likelihood that each educator and learner may have differing definitions.…

Pre-service teachers often have unrealistic expectations of teaching. They often create an inspiration/content dichotomy in which they expect relational activities to trump content delivery. Unchecked, these misaligned expectations can lead to practice shock, the disorienting and sometimes traumatic identity crisis that often occurs during the…

The international trend towards a practice-based approach in teacher education has permeated foreign language teacher education and English language teaching. A practice-based approach is based on the understanding that teachers learn to teach a language by engaging in "actual" teaching rather than "talking" about teaching. We…

Background: Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is becoming more prevalent at the elementary level, and there has been a push to focus on the integration between the STEM disciplines. Researchers within this study sought to understand the extent to which triads composed of a classroom teacher, student teacher, and an…

This study explores how experimenting with Complex Instruction can broaden teachers' perspectives and develop understanding of the classroom as a complex social and cultural system. It critically presents and interweaves data collected during ethnographic research, which was carried out with a group of in-service teachers, plus four workshops…

In this study, students from a variety of disciplines, who were enrolled in six courses that incorporate the use of social media, were surveyed to evaluate their perception of how the integration of social-media tools supports deep approaches to learning. Students reported that social media supports deep learning both directly and indirectly,…

The VIDEO-LM project (Viewing, Investigating and Discussing Environments of Learning Mathematics) is aimed at enhancing mathematics teachers' reflection on their professional practice, through watching and discussing videotaped lessons of unknown teachers. The discussions are guided by the use of an analytic framework, comprised of six detailed…