This study describes how a professor-instructor of a Master of Arts (MA) programme in Contemporary Issues in an Adult Education classroom applied constructivist tenets to address an ICT-mediated teaching and learning class. The study provides an analysis of the professor's constructivist pedagogical approach in designing curriculum, engaging in…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) Lessons Learned: Graduate Student Assessment (Michael Cherry and Lesley Page); (2) Assessing the Assessor: A Response to Fulcher and Bashkov's "Do We Practice What We Preach? The Accountability of an Assessment Office" (Christine Robinson, John G. M.…

The notion of synchronous office hours in an asynchronous course seems counterintuitive. After all, one of the tenets of asynchronous education is to not require students to be online and participating at any time during the course. Having taught higher education online asynchronous courses for twenty years, the researcher experimented with online…

Teachers appreciate nonverbally responsive students, but what is missing is an understanding of the direct influence of teachers' self-perceptions on their perceptions of how engaged their students are in class. Using the emotional contagion theory as a lens, this study examines the premise that satisfied instructors expect students to mirror…

Purpose: The notion of vulnerability underlies relationships of trust. Trust between leaders and staff is needed to solve concerns that hinder equity and excellence in teaching and learning. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether and how leaders show vulnerability by disclosing own possible contributions to concerns they try to resolve.…

This study qualitatively analyzes the challenges presented by international undergraduate students in a freshman composition course at a large Midwestern university in the US. 15 students were divided into five groups, of three members each, with varying proficiency levels in writing. They were asked to submit reflections as journal/blog posts, on…

This inquiry into a course on adolescent literacy education uses a case-study and descriptive review analysis to understand how multimodal spaces engage preservice and in-service teachers' sense making around concepts of race, language, and culture. Drawing on critical feminist and practitioner inquiry frameworks, this article presents what a…

In Australia, schools are experiencing increasing cultural diversity, alongside of nationalizing assessment and curricular and professional standards. It is raising concerns regarding the pace of systemic reform and sector wide professional renewal. Culturally responsive schooling practices may be helpful at this time because it locates the…

This qualitative study explored the influence of student affairs on academic adjustment and adaptation for 10 Indonesian graduate students at a single campus. Semi-structured interviews explored student affairs' role in adaptation and transition to collegiate life in the United States. Analyses illuminated ways in which participants experienced…

In the article, "What examiners do: What thesis students should know", we identified 11 things that thesis examiners do as they read and judge a thesis. But, we left a gap in the research: knowing this, What should thesis students do to write for their examiners? In this article, I fill the gap. The advice for thesis students is: first,…

This article reports on a study of research needs and learning preferences of graduate students at a public research university. A sequential exploratory mixed-method design was used, with a survey instrument developed from an initial qualitative stage. Significant differences were found between master's and doctoral students' and on-campus and…

Argumentation has been a prominent concern in science education research and a common goal in science curriculum in many countries over the past decade. With reference to this goal, policy documents burden responsibilities on science teachers, such as involving students in dialogues and being guides in students' spoken or written argumentation.…

Professional doctorates are designed to enable students to blend their doctorate level study with their working lives. During the course of their studies women undergo identity change and transformation as their perspectives change, this has knock on effects at home and at work. Women students, who are mothers, also have to balance and juggle…

This article contributes to the long-running discussion about the gendering of mathematics learning by exploring the social biographies of six exceptionally high-attaining mathematics students, four women and two men. In contrast to some prior studies, these students appeared to feel no need to downplay being "good at maths" in order to…

This case study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016) examines the final projects of two secondary teachers in a graduate course about writing pedagogy. Teachers created digital essays along the lines of the National Public Radio's "This I Believe" essays, which articulated their beliefs about the teaching of writing. We posed two research…