Using a case-study approach, the structures, interactions and cultures in four teaching groups at a New Zealand university are explored. The aim of the research is to better understand the potential of teaching groups for assisting academic development. To contextualize this work, the case-study outcomes are compared to research on microcultures.…

The study reported in this article investigated the processes and the effects of collaborative writing on 64 students' writing skills in two Arabic as a second language (ASL) teachers' classrooms. The authors employed a mixed methods approach that integrated a qualitative case study and a quasi-experimental design. The data collected included…

Many engineering faculty have limited skills and/or assessment tools to evaluate team dynamics in multidisciplinary team-based capstone courses. Rapidly deployable tools are needed here to provide proactive feedback to teams to facilitate deeper learning. Two surveys were developed based on industrial and organizational psychology theories around…

This paper proposes a way of integrating self-directed reading into a collaborative classroom with formative and summative tasks as well as facilitating integration with the target culture, and familiarity with the target language in a variety of settings. Linking to literature on motivation, and drawing on case-study experience, an approach to…

This chapter reports the challenges that both the students and the teachers experienced in a telecollaborative project between a Japanese university and an American university. In this semester-long project, the students in groups of three to five from both universities worked collectively mainly asynchronously and in occasional synchronous…

The use of data for educational decision making has never been more prevalent. However, teachers and school leaders need support in data use. Support can be provided by means of professional development in the form of "data teams". This study followed the functioning of 4 data teams over a period of 2 years, applying a qualitative case…

This study explored the impact of a parent education program and the contextual factors that influenced the experiences of families in the program. Seventeen parents completed a 9-week, face-to-face program and 15 parents completed a similar online program. This study was designed as a multiple case study and utilized multimethods for data…

This case study compares the teaching strategies employed by a novice and an expert instructor of two beginning children's group-piano classes. In the United States, there is a century-long tradition of teaching piano to children in groups, and group teaching is championed in pedagogy texts and at professional educator conferences throughout…

The effective use of technology is increasingly important in many fields where online and digital communication, collaboration, and production have become more prevalent. Although it is clear that many higher education students come into the classroom with skills involved with consuming technology, they often are much less capable of producing…

This article examines "inter-ministerial cooperation" (IMC) in the education sector as a form of development cooperation, whereby a ministry of education in the north collaborates with counterpart(s) in the south for purposes of mutual interest and development. It explores the characteristics and dynamics of IMC, and addresses the…

This paper analyses how adult learners on a professional development course learn and develop through online dialogue. The research uses Wenger's community of practice framework, and assesses whether the concept of "legitimate peripheral participation" is useful in relation to this specific case study in which the students are practitioners and…

Recent empirical evidence suggests that the updated DeLone and McLean's information systems (D&M IS) model can identify the determinants of success of online communities in terms of member loyalty (Lin and Lee 2006). This study is similarly concerned with the challenge of identifying the determinants of success of online communities, but it…

Identity formation is a critical dimension of how and why students engage in science to varying degrees. In this paper, we use the lens of identity formation, and in particular identities in practice, to make sense of how and why Melanie, over the course of sixth grade, transformed from a marginalized member of the science class with a failing…

Purpose: This article explores distributed leadership as it relates to two teacher teams in one public secondary school. Both situational and social aspects of distributed leadership are foci of investigation. Methods: The qualitative study used constant comparative analysis and discourse analysis to explore leadership as a distributed phenomenon.…

Suggests that the single most important common denominator of the various types of self-help groups examined may be that the role of the person who has already lived through the experience is critical for helping others. (Author/AM)