Educational psychologists in most parts of the world report that they take ecological approaches to their work. But what does working ecologically mean? How do we recognise ecological practice? This article discusses some salient aspects of the practice of psychologists who say they work ecologically. The first section of the paper presents a…

Since the 1990s we have seen an increase in consideration of social and cultural aspects of learning as a way to foster organizational learning and human performance. Despite strong interest among practitioners and scholars, the study of organizational learning is lacking in empirical research. The study described here calls attention to the…

The Missouri Professors of Educational Administration (MPEA) initiated the Leaders for Learning project to create technology based instructional materials aligned with the standards of the Interstate School Leadership Licensure Consortium (ISLLC). With funding from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), faculty from…

This paper explores how academic staff are supported in attempts to develop their use of educational technologies. It identifies the work undertaken by academic staff in the development of an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) application and relates this to the direct support (helping staff to teach using ICT) and professional…

Literature suggests that developing a community of learners is the key to a successful online-learning experience. In this study, the instructor of a multimedia authoring course adopted a synchronous communication tool (Yahoo Messenger) to interact with learners orally on a weekly basis and, thereby, to establish a sense among the learners that…

Primary sources in religion and history enable first year university students to connect "content-based" linked courses in the core curriculum. Fifty-four first year university students in three separate pairs of courses worked in teams to present oral critical reports on texts related to the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the…

"Instructional Design: Case Studies in Communities of Practice" documents real-world experiences of instructional designers and staff developers who work in communities of practice. "Instructional Design: Case Studies in Communities of Practice" explains the strategies and heuristics used by instructional designers when working…

In recent years, some endeavours have been made to overcome the gap between theoretical and practical knowledge. In many countries projects have been conducted that aim to disseminate research-based knowledge in the practical field of education. This article presents an approach to the implementation of research results. This approach is referred…

It is often stressed that the pedagogic models and approaches of Collaborative Online Learning support a learner's shared knowledge building within collaborating groups of learners, the individual construction of knowledge and the formation of an ongoing learning Community of Practice. Based on a recent case study of a Danish Master's programme,…

Drawing on an activity theory analysis, Elizabeth A. Wardle considers whether cross-disciplinary FYC collaborations can help us achieve current FYC goals. Her analysis of learning community linked FYC courses at a large Midwestern university suggests that learning community teachers are faced with as many--if not more--challenges as traditional…

Social capital has recently emerged as an important interdisciplinary research area. It is frequently used as a framework for understanding various social issues in temporal communities, neighbourhoods and groups. In particular, researchers in the social sciences and the humanities have used social capital to understand trust, shared…

This is the culminating report of a three-year study of seven small schools in Washington State. It examines adult learning in the context of school redesign and highlights three schools where teachers are beginning to capitalize on adult learning opportunities to turn the corner to instructional change. In our view, effective adult learning…

This chapter presents a basic overview about psychological theories that are foundational to cooperative learning: social psychology, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, humanistic psychology, and motivational theories. In so doing, our purpose is to acquaint readers with aspects of theory and research that may be helpful to teachers…

This article draws on Lefebvre's rhythmanalysis to interrogate and extend Bernstein's theory of pedagogic framing. It develops a typology of modes of pedagogic practice differentiated in terms of the dominance of one of three potential organising referents. These are (a) the grammar of the instructional discourse configured by a regulative…

A novel approach to improving instruction in an introductory computing course for freshmen non-computer-science majors is to couple it with a logic course as part of a Learning Community. Research has shown that effective Learning Communities can lead to higher academic achievement, better retention rates, diminished faculty isolation, and…