Facilitation is a key factor in ensuring the success of class discussions. Traditionally, instructors are the ones who assume the role of facilitators in discussions. Online learning environments open opportunities for students to assume the role of facilitators. In well-designed online learning communities, spontaneous facilitation would likely…

Social interaction is important for the development of knowledge (M. Chapman, 1991). Social interaction, however, takes many forms, and J. Piaget (1977/1995) proposed that the construction of knowledge is facilitated in cooperative as opposed to constraining relationships. These views of knowledge development were drawn on in a study of classroom…

This article recounts the experiences of a team of faculty, graduate students, and instructional technologists facilitating Rhetorical Composing, a writing-focused Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). When first offering the MOOC, we recognized quickly that we needed to emphasize the global makeup of our learning cohort to foster a stronger sense of…

Classroom management is a challenge for beginning teachers. To address this challenge, a model to provide support for beginning teachers was developed, consisting of a one-day workshop on classroom management, followed with online support extending over eight weeks. Specific classroom management strategies included (a) developing a foundation…

Homeless youth and youth in foster care are often unprepared for the transition to adulthood. Given the economic benefits of college, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to examine the college experiences of these vulnerable youth. GAO examined: (1) college enrollment and completion for foster and homeless youth; (2) the extent to…

This article reports on findings from a mixed-methods validation study of the "Online Survey of Students' Experiences of Learning in Learning Communities". In the quantitative part of the study, we found strong correlations among survey items related to faculty behaviors, student behaviors, and critical thinking. Factor analysis yielded…

Technology is often touted as the savior of education (Collins & Haverson, 2009). However, is technology the panacea that it is made out to be? This paper is an extended conversation among a group of faculty members at three different universities and their attitudes and beliefs about technology and education. Three professors shared their…

This study explored teacher questioning as a formative assessment strategy by examining the practices of teachers of English as a Foreign Language in Chinese tertiary institutions. It investigated how teachers deployed questions to stimulate student thinking, uncover students' current level of learning, and allow responses to inform pedagogic…

This article reports on a year-long project carried out in three UK primary schools, which aimed to understand the expectations and experiences of children participating in a series of workshops delivered by the chamber music organisation, Music in the Round. Through drawings, discussions, questionnaires and observations, the children's developing…

This study investigates the effects of using interactive computer animations based on predict-observe-explain (POE) as a presentation tool on primary school students' understanding of the static electricity concepts. A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test control group design was utilized in this study. The experiment group consisted of 30…

A critical aspect of teacher education is gaining pedagogical content knowledge of how to teach science for conceptual understanding. Given the time limitations of college methods courses, it is difficult to touch on more than a fraction of the science topics potentially taught across grades K-8, particularly in the context of relevant pedagogies.…

The purpose of this case study was to assess a history instructor's attempt to redesign an introductory history survey course. Traditionally, it has been taught in a face-to-face environment within the university's core curriculum program. It was redesigned as a synchronous online course that provided students with opportunities to work…

A comprehensive educational program for teaching behavioral teamwork and team leadership skills was rigorously evaluated with 148 MBA students enrolled at an urban regional campus of a Midwestern public university. Major program components included (1) videotaped student teams in leaderless group discussion (LGD) exercises at the course beginning…

This interpretive case study is framed within recent sociocultural conceptualisations of learning. It draws on research on teacher-led classroom discussions, and investigates the conversational intricacies through which "dialogicity" is accomplished in adaptive ways in one content and language integrated learning (CLIL) science…

Recent political and educational policy shifts within Australia have renewed concerns with achievement and engagement "gaps" when Indigenous and non-indigenous school students are compared. The position taken for this article however, hopes to demonstrate that this shift is unlikely to result in improved outcomes because of an ongoing…