The evaluation of teaching quality and practice is increasingly important in higher education and usually done via student surveys (quantitative data) alone. Much less attention is given to teachers' self-evaluations of teaching practice (qualitative data). This emphasis on quantitative over qualitative data can result in incomplete and biased…

The role of motivation in online learning has been explored mostly as a predictor of course retention or satisfaction, rather than as an adaptive outcome in itself. We thus aimed to investigate how the features of motivation develop in online courses during the semester and how students' perceived teaching and social presences influence their…

The role of professional communities in improving teacher performance is crucial in this era. One such organization is the German language teachers' community. This research aimed to describe two things: i) The role of the German language teacher community as a pioneer of the teacher community; and ii) The role of teachers as learning leaders in…

This reflection essay reports on a book reading inquiry circle (BRIC) on Paulo Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" by English as a second language (ESL) faculty from a college located in the Greater Seattle area. Since professional development is usually not provided for ESL faculty in basic skills programs due to lack of funding at the…

This paper is a report on a year-long action research project with a Community of Inquiry where a group of teachers from across primary, secondary, and tertiary contexts were developing and implementing student-centered, curiosity-driven, inquiry-based science projects to bridge face-to-face and online learning contexts and support their students'…

Preservice teachers need opportunities in teacher education courses to explore arts-based interdisciplinary learning that can inspire connections between communities of practice and allow learners to integrate concepts and imagine creative possibilities. This study reports on preservice teachers engaged in a workshop on arts-based…

Community-engaged research (CEnR) occurs when university and community resources are partnered to enrich knowledge, address social issues, and contribute to the public good. The benefits of CEnR include the translation of scientific findings into public initiatives that can improve practice and provide invaluable learning experiences for students.…

This study contributes to the literature on the role of communities of learners in the professional development of physics teachers. It offers insights from the "Collabora--A Community of Learners on Laboratory Work" program, designed to enhance the use of laboratories in secondary school physics teaching. The program's foundation rested…

The COVID-19 pandemic created unique circumstances for teaching and learning during the spring of 2020. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore elementary administrators' and teachers' experiences in implementing and maintaining an online teaching environment during COVID-19. Criterion and purposeful sampling were used to select…

Professional learning communities (PLCs) are an essential avenue for high-quality change and work. Maintaining unity among groups with differing opinions is challenging. This mixed-methods study aimed to assess elementary teachers' current perceptions of PLCs to determine their effectiveness by answering four research questions: What are the…

Higher education work is often conducted in silos without the in-person interactions that characterize other educational settings. This is increasingly evident since the COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant shift in online communication and remote work. Educators might grow from understanding the types and quality of interactions that social…

Low persistence and high attrition rates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are major challenges in higher education, particularly among underrepresented students. Therefore, it is important to identify barriers and examine strategies aimed at improving persistence, retention, and student completion in STEM courses and…

A multiple-case study design explored how middle school-level expert makerspace educators assess the people, resources, and activities in their spaces. Broadly put, the maker movement is a social movement that brings together a community of people (makers) who share an interest in creating (making) projects in collaboration with other makers in a…

The "new" of new literacies are multifaceted social practices to make and share meanings with new communication tools and technology. Despite gaining considerable research focus in recent times, there is scarce evidence of new literacies as instances of practice in secondary science classrooms. In this article students' engagement in…

Like K-12 mathematics teachers, for whom effective instruction requires a full suite of pedagogical and mathematical knowledge and skills, Mathematics Teacher Educators (MTEs) also need a professional knowledge base to facilitate the development of future educators capable of supporting K-12 students' mathematical learning. In this paper, we…