The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a difference in knowledge and application of the SIOP ® Model among in-service teachers who participated in an online professional development course on the SIOP® Model. Although these teachers all participated in the same course, information on the number of English Language Learners…

The writing performance of many school-aged children is consistently below levels necessary to produce positive outcomes. Early intervention frameworks are designed to help remedy this problem before it becomes more severe, but a key feature of early intervention frameworks--the use of data for targeting interventions--has not been sufficiently…

As the number of enrollments in online adult education continues to increase, instructional designers must address the issue of how to foster the desire for sustained and enduring learning; and more importantly, prepare students for this lifelong learning process. The purpose of this study was to obtain consensus on an integrated set of components…

Through this research project, I aim to address three problems in the instruction of basic skills students. First, despite the large number of students enrolled in community college basic skills programs, the success rate is low. Second, many basic skills courses are taught with drill and memorization, with little attention paid to intellectually…

Asynchronous discussion boards are an important element of online courses in higher education settings. Currently, questions persist about the quality of online interaction and discussions in which students are engaged. In addition, online instructors may not be utilizing instructional strategies that are appropriate for web-based learning…

Learners often report difficulty maintaining social connectivity in online courses. Technology is quickly changing how people communicate, collaborate and learn using online social networking sites (SNSs). These sites have transformed education in a way that provides new learning opportunities when integrated with web 2.0 tools. Little research is…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceived challenges of attempting to integrate topics related to social and cultural issues into the coursework in graduate programs in Instructional Design and Technology (IDT). Design/methodology/approach: An open-ended online survey instrument was developed for this study for three reasons.…

Some recent proposals on CSCL scripts have suggested that one key factor for their effectiveness is the ability of the teacher to adapt the scripts to the students and to the specific teaching and learning situations. In this context, this paper presents a multiple-case study dealing with the relationship between the assistance given by the…

A high school drama coach informs assistant principal Laura Madison that the money students earned through fund-raising activities seems to have vanished and that the male assistant principal may be involved in the disappearance of the funds. Laura has to determine how to address this situation. She considers her past experiences with problematic…

In this article the authors present Five-Picture Charades, an instructional activity designed to introduce preservice and in-service teachers to the technical and pedagogical uses of digital images in the classroom. Because digital images can be repurposed into several different types of digital media projects, Five-Picture Charades is described…

The purpose of this study was to develop a scale in order to measure prospective teachers' attitudes towards the Curriculum Development and Instruction course. The study group was composed of 286 prospective teachers. The process of developing the Attitude Scale involved a literature scan, taking student opinions through essays, creating an item…

In this paper, guidelines for designing virtual change agents (VCAs) are proposed to support students' affective and motivational needs in order to promote personalized learning in online remedial mathematics courses. Automated, dynamic, and personalized support is emphasized in the guidelines through maximizing "interactions" between VCAs and…

Although inclusion has provided access to the general education classroom for students with disabilities, there are significant questions about whether these students have gained full access to the curriculum. To design curricula for diverse learners, designers must have a clear picture of the obstacles and barriers that some students encounter.…

The purpose of this research was to probe the philosophical beliefs of instructional designers using sound philosophical constructs and quantitative data collection and analysis. We investigated the philosophical and methodological beliefs of instructional designers, including 152 instructional design faculty members and 118 non-faculty…

Evidence-based research relevant to social work practice has grown dramatically. This article describes a method that was implemented to teach master's and doctoral social work students how to synthesize and evaluate evidence-based interventions for social work-related problems and populations. The method includes eight steps: conceptualize the…