The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how secondary teachers describe the role that the elements of the community of inquiry framework (social, cognitive, and teaching presence) play in a virtual learning environment in a rural school district in South Carolina. The community of inquiry framework was used to guide the…

Project-based (PBL) learning has been found to improve student achievement, engagement, and interpersonal and intrapersonal skills; however, it is not widely implemented in K-12 schools in the United States. Prior research has established several barriers and challenges to implementing PBL in K-12 schools including challenges related to teacher…

Writing professional learning is often overlooked amidst public-school system demands, which include scarce funding and competing state mandates and priorities (Tooley and Connally, 2016). In addition, writing teachers are often subject to professional learning experiences that are directed by others rather than being tailored to their own needs…

Children in schools are experiencing high levels of anxiety and stress (Muris et al., 1998), which has a critical impact on a child's ability to learn (Hammond, 2015).According to MindfulSchools.org, there is a clear link between an emotionally positive classroom climate and academic achievement. As a school leader, during an unprecedented time of…

This Mixed-Method Action Research study aimed to implement an extended Project-Based Learning professional development series with middle school science teachers. The professional development series took place during the teachers' Communities of Practice, offering them high-quality support, active participation, and content-specific conversations.…

There is a significant need for young people to advance their education and prepare for science, engineering, math, and technology careers in agriculture. The Supervised Agriculture Experience (SAE) is a requirement of all high school students enrolled in agriculture education courses in Connecticut. SAE bridges the knowledge and skills developed…

Teachers' voices about the effects of teacher professional development on student achievement are absent from the literature. Researchers have spent decades examining best practices regarding teachers' continued learning. Traditional professional development for teachers is made up of one-time, sit-and-get, workshop-style learning. This archaic…

Student-centered active learning strategies have been found to have a positive impact on student learning outcomes when compared to courses using traditional lecture methods in higher education. The practice of active learning is strongly linked to physical active learning classrooms (ALCs). Comprehensive studies show ALCs outperform traditional…

This study explores, through a single case qualitative study, how one school successfully leveraged academic conversation as a schoolwide instructional practice to foster rigorous learning opportunities for all learners. Furthermore, it explores the professional learning leveraged to support teachers and their professional growth in order to…

Professional learning continues to be one of the most widely used methods for raising student achievement and teacher development, yet school districts continue to use antiquated models that often dismiss the core features needed to be effective (Desimone, 2009). These core features include being content focused, active learning opportunities,…

In this study, I explored how (a) a team-based instructional method rather than a one-teacher-one-classroom, traditional teaching model and (b) an inquiry-based learning approach affected teachers attitudes and self-efficacy for teaching and students attitudes, self-efficacy, engagement, and connections to school. The study was conducted within…

Cross-community collaboration which expands community members' interaction to a larger social scale plays a crucial role in increasing information exchange and extending inquiry learning. This dissertation uses a design-based research approach which aims at testing a multi-level emergence design in multiple learning communities. This design serves…

Charrettes have a long history of use in medical, architectural, and planning professions. An extensive literature search found little application of the charrette model implemented to advance, support, and identify transdisciplinarity (TD) research, transdisciplinary teaming models (TDM), transdisciplinary learning (TDL) supporting transformative…

This mixed methods study aims to describe and explain the effects of co-regulation on students' self-regulation, which is hypothesized to lead to better learning. Students (N = 42) in six online undergraduate and graduate courses worked in dyads for six weeks on shared activities. Variables of interest included students' self-regulated learning,…

International tests indicate that students in the United States rank lower in mathematical achievement than students in many other countries (NCES, 1998; OECD, 2014). More than one-quarter of American 15-year-olds do not reach a baseline proficiency in math and do not have the requisite skills to effectively participate in day-to-day life…