The increase in language minority students in U.S. schools has drawn attention to instructional models designed to assist these students. It is critical that literacy educators understand the potential of these models for literacy achievement. This study was designed to examine reading achievement of elementary English language learners in…

The Community of Inquiry Framework is based on the premise that online learning is a collaborative constructivist activity. However, not all courses are similarly oriented. In general, courses can be divided into constructivist and objectivist. In constructivist courses, learners develop solutions to problems through sustained discourse and…

This paper reports on a qualitative case study undertaken in a remote part of Queensland, Australia. While there is some modest agreement about the capacity of contemporary information technologies to overcome the problems of schooling in areas of extreme remoteness, generally, children educated in such contexts are considered to be disadvantaged.…

This paper introduces and explains a conception of supply chains from a situated learning perspective. This non-conventional supply chain perspective invites the reader to consider supply chain scenarios as "situated learning opportunities involving multiple communities of practice" interacting and participating together. It is argued that by…

The Delaware Enhanced Assessment Grant (DE EAG) project was funded by the U.S. Department of Education in 2006 as an initiative to assist 10 state departments of education (SDE) teams, and local school district and high school teams, in implementing a comprehensive and balanced learning and assessment system (CBAS) with a strong emphasis on a…

Virtual communities of practice (VCoP) have been advocated for some time as a promising means of taking professional development to teachers in widely distributed locations. However, geography, and indeed education literature as a whole, contains very few examples where this has been achieved. This paper reports on two VCoP professional…

This paper discusses some issues that arose in the context of a three-year research project on Indigenous mathematics teacher education in the Northern Territory of Australia. The project was based on the premise that Indigenous student numeracy outcomes are more likely to be improved where students can work on key number ideas and strategies in…

The purpose of this case study was to explore the experiences of participants (practicing teachers) involved in an online course entitled: "Reflective Practice for Teachers." Using a provocative pedagogy in the course, the teachers were challenged to confront beliefs and assumptions about teaching and learning and become active participants in the…

This paper addresses the retention issues presented when large numbers of students from low socio-economic backgrounds and associated disadvantaged educational histories live together on-campus. It reports research in progress on a new approach taken at the University of New England (UNE), Australia, aimed at encouraging the growth of learning…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand how, when, and why emergency medicine residents learn while working in the chaotic environment of a hospital emergency room. Design/methodology/approach: This research used a qualitative interview methodology with thematic data analysis that was verified with the entire population of learners.…

The change from an industrial economy to a knowledge economy forced many organizations to change their modus operandi if they were going to survive in a sustainable way. The introduction of communities of practice (CoPs) by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger shed new light on knowledge sharing and dissemination of information. Sharing, interacting,…

This article analyses the trajectories into teacher education of a group of child minders who are studying to become pre-school teachers. The specific focus is what impact their prior experiences and learning from pre-school have on their trajectories, and how these experiences and learning are recognised in the first year of teacher education. A…

Diversity among university students plays a significant role in raising awareness of numerous issues surrounding cultural heritage, language differences, cross-cultural collaboration, and international education. The integration of technological tools can assist students in cooperating nationally and internationally both in their current…

Research has shown that certain ways of teaching can make a difference in whether students learn standards-based content. Many strategies have proven to be effective in teaching literacy, mathematics, science and social studies. These strategies have facilitated blending academic and career/technical subjects to make learning more meaningful for…

Teaching has long been considered an isolated profession with little opportunity for collaboration. A major task for school leaders is to create improvement from within the school. Teachers are a valuable resource and each one possesses expertise in strategies and methodologies that can be a benefit to others. This action research explored the…