Though there has been debate regarding the effectiveness of online teaching and learning as compared to face-to-face or in-person modalities, the online experience has gained credence and momentum (Brenneman and Karpman 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic and its resultant global lockdown warranted the closing of schools and the adoption of online…

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,…

This work outlines a model for creating momentum for active learning at the departmental level through a Community of Practice. This approach focuses on empowering members of the community by providing easy access to active learning tasks, pacing guide, and teaching tips for the course.

This article describes a practical approach for implementing instructional strategies in order to build a Community of Inquiry (CoI) into an online course. Online community building has positive effects on the quality of student learning, increases student engagement, and encourages motivation of students in online courses. The CoI is a…

Multimodal learning refers to teaching strategies that involve multiple sensory systems simultaneously. Teachers can create materials for students with different learning styles (auditory, visual, kinesthetic reading, and writing). Multimodal learning keeps students engaged, encourages them to apply what they learn in real-life situations,…

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,…

This "Practices from the Field" article describes the rationale and operationalization of an interdisciplinary team-taught first-year inquiry seminar and learning community program at a large predominantly White research institution. The authors both serve as faculty members in the College of Education and Human Development and teach in…

When students and teachers behave in ways that reinforce learning as a spectator sport, the result can often be a classroom and overall learning environment that is mostly limited to transmission of information and rote learning rather than deep approaches towards meaningful construction and application of knowledge. A group of college instructors…

This article addresses how we can develop learning environments that establish a need for scientific practices and provide a context for developing content knowledge through practice. It argues that Pickering's (1995) notion of "The Mangle of Practice" informs these efforts by focusing our attention on how resistance, or push-back from…

Since the article "Beyond Instructional Design: Making Learning Design a Reality" (Sims, 2006) was published, much has changed in the opportunities we have for learning, and Professor Rod Sims's thinking has evolved. In this article, Professor Rod Sims reflects upon his original article, and he offers an evolved model of learning design,…

A three-year study was conducted involving teacher interviews and observation in one high school in NSW. Initially the contact between teacher and researcher came from an Australian Government Quality Teaching Program that provided 12-month funding to support teachers in professional learning. The role of the academic partner was to facilitate…

Educational blogs are currently gaining in popularity in schools and higher education institutions, and they are widely promoted as collaborative tools supporting students' active learning. However, literature review on educational blogging revealed a lack of a complete and consistent framework for studying and assessing students' engagement and…