Quality Matters (QM) is an international benchmark for quality assurance in online learning. However, few studies to date have analyzed the impact of instructional designer-supported QM professional development using a validated framework of student success. This study examined the impact of QM training and guided support on course quality and…

The nature of the digital divide in schools is changing. Once understood to be about gaps in access to computer and internet technology across demographic and geographic groups, the gap is now more complex. Schools still experience inequity in technology, but it is as much about educators' capacity and opportunity to apply technology in meaningful…

Educational theories offer teachers useful conceptual tools for developing teaching. However, such theoretical concepts are often hard to learn, and to teach. Phenomenography and Variation Theory (PVT), and especially the concept critical aspect, is an example of a powerful tool for teachers when designing teaching. When teaching this concept,…

Learning design has become increasingly important in the context of expanding and dynamic digital learning environments. More traditional teaching approaches are no longer sufficient to engage learners in these changing learning environments. Teachers and aspiring learning designers therefore increasingly need learning design expertise, which…

While faculty are subject matter experts in their fields of research, they are often lacking the pedagogical training to support student academic success. Additionally, career readiness skills are increasingly a focus in higher education through the intentional inclusion of soft skills or "21st-century skills" in the classroom.…

After years evaluating teacher professional learning programs, researchers Andrew J. Wayne, Jordan Rickles, Mengli Song, Seth Brown, and Michael S. Garet describe a study that changed their perspective. The study's takeaways about the design of teacher professional learning are important for everyone who seeks to create systems to support teaching…

Today's high-quality curricula are focused on inquiry and making meaning from real-world phenomena and experiences. Many teachers didn't learn in this way when they were students or when they were teachers in training, so they need and deserve opportunities to dive into the curriculum and become experts at applying it. The implementation of this…

Higher education institutions are increasingly moving from traditional education approaches to incorporate online and distance learning (ODL) models, and this represents a substantial educational challenge for many educators. One way to support this challenge is by providing appropriate professional development (PD) for the design of ODL. Based on…

While reports of teachers' use of curriculum materials are common, that of teachers as designers of their own materials are far less so. We argue that these (rare) instructional materials, defined as materials that are classroom-ready and that carry the teachers' actual instructional goals, are 'objects' that are suitable as records of teachers'…

A number of studies have been conducted exploring competencies expected of instructional designers in the field. The results of these studies that have explored competencies and the alignment and discrepancies between instructional designers and their clients' and employers' expectations demonstrate the need for instructional designers to be…

Research has demonstrated the need to prepare higher education faculty for transitioning from in-person to online modality. Researchers note the need to train faculty in course design, building classroom community, and establishing a teaching presence, among other things. This paper describes a professor's participation in a university-funded…

This reflection on practice presents an exemplar of an integrated distributed leadership and reciprocal peer review of an academic development initiative. Distributed leadership, characterised by collaborative responsibility, is flexible and adaptive and -- when integrated with reciprocal peer review of teaching -- fosters quality learning…

Reform efforts in different parts of the world call for the adoption of integrated approaches to STEM education. However, little is known about how teachers work, as members of learning communities, to design STEM teaching material such as lesson plans. To address this gap in the literature, we examined the design of STEM lesson plans by…

Teachers' decisions for instructional design and technology integration influence their teaching practices and student learning performances. Technology-integrated learning environments have been widely leveraged due to the recent global health crisis and student learning needs (Polly et al., "TechTrends," 65(3), 240-242 2021). Teachers…

The pedagogical development (PD) for educators in higher engineering education is indispensable to the promotion of educational changes and high-quality teaching and learning necessary to train twenty-first century engineering talents. With the expansion of various PD activities in engineering education in recent decades, there is a growing need…