This paper investigates how an EFL teacher negotiates her identity to adapt to the "new work order" in an English education department at a university in China. From a narrative inquiry perspective, it aims to illuminate the complexity of teacher identity in the context of a reform where teachers must reconcile conflicting selves in…

In recent years international trends towards teacher empowerment and leadership have gained increased attraction in East Asia's education policy and practice. Yet, as scholars have noted, the values underlying these practices often conflict with traditional cultural norms of East Asian societies which stress hierarchical and status differences.…

Engineering, the "E" in STEM, is seldom taught as a distinct curriculum subject in English and Welsh schools to pupils under the age of 14 years. This contrasts with design and technology (D&T), taken in this paper to represent the largest contributor to the "T" in STEM (the remainder being taken to be the computing and…

Utilizing a qualitative case-study design, this study explored how a mid-sized urban high school professional learning community was used as a reform effort to increase student achievement in mathematics on standards-based assessments. From a year-long interaction with the math professional learning community, which consisted of 3 school leaders…

A community of practice provides a forum for professionals to exchange ideas and discuss concerns related to the profession. Within this forum, technology can eliminate many of the constraints face-to-face communities of practice encounter by providing a convenient and highly interactive environment. A description of how to set up an online…

The chapters in this volume set a rich context for understanding the challenges that environmental evaluators face in their everyday work. In particular, the authors highlight the need for responsive, contextual, flexible, adaptive, multidisciplinary, and mixed-methods evaluation approaches. In this chapter, I reinforce their call and further…

Through this study we explored a community of practice framework applied to faculty professional development at a mid-size state university in order to examine the issues unique to discipline-specific professional development in higher education. Through content-focused professional development activities conducted by the authors, several key…

As lecturers of English and Spanish for international students in higher education, we frequently read reflections supporting the notion that the interaction between teacher and student has a direct influence on their learning and possibly even on their future studies and lives. Using examples taken from language learning histories, student course…

What happens when international doctoral students participate in a creative writing workshop? Very often, students at our large midwestern U.S. university enter classes having learned English in their native countries with a heavy emphasis on only skills and grammar. They have not had the chance to play with language, to express themselves through…

At the university level, introductory science courses usually have high student to teacher ratios which increases the challenge to meaningfully connect with students. Various curricula have been developed in physics education to actively engage students in learning through social interactions with peers and instructors in class. This learning…

The research project will be conducted with a target focus group of six students who have been identified as struggling students in 3rd grade mathematics. The research project will study the effect of using different teaching strategies and methods to increase motivation and focus among these students. The research project will be conducted at…

More and more, ESL/EFL teachers are required by their employers to obtain a Master's degree in TESOL. Thousands of ESL/EFL teachers are acquiring professional skills and knowledge through online and distance education instructional models. Filling a growing need and making an important contribution, this book is a forerunner in addressing some of…

The majority of California's students seeking higher education are enrolled in a community college and approximately a third are Latino. Yet as the number of Latinos in community colleges has risen, their degree completion and transfer rates lag in comparison to other major ethnic groups. To investigate the academic aspirations and barriers of…

The 2012 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages focused on ways to integrate culture into every facet of the World Language classroom. This publication presents a refereed volume of selected papers based on the theme and program of the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Those who attended the…

This paper reports on a study on the use of social network sites (SNSs) designed for L2 learning, such as "Livemocha" and "Busuu", where learners autonomously seek opportunities for authentic interaction in spontaneous ways. The study consists in a longitudinal multiple case study approach to investigate learners' informal…